Small surprise in part 10 of HBO's "The Pacific"

[Omaha Steve]

I watched part 10 late this afternoon. At the end of the episode it talks about what the members of the First Div. did after the war. One
went back to Loogootee, In.. My Uncle Bobby fought in the Pacific not far from where my dad (his step brother) was. Dad past away in 1994. Uncle Bobby still lives in Loogootee today. I have visited there many over the years of my life. It really is a small town. There is a huge balancing rock formation just South of the town as I remember. I think I'll give him a call this weekend.

OS

[Blue_In_AK]

1. That was a really great miniseries.

[aquart]

3. Tried to watch but little details were killing.

I don't have cable so the only place I could see it was at my mom's. First episode, the hair made her crazy. None of them would have had hair that long. Going for so much detail and blowing the haircuts?

Then we were watching the episode where the guy got the Medal of Honor. And a young was it Greek? Australian woman showed up in his bedroom in the middle of the night IN HER PARENTS HOUSE. My mom started yelling NO WAY! So that was the end of watching the Pacific. She'd been gung ho for it originally, but that's just two of the details that were horribly off to her. There were more.

[Tailormyst]

2. I'm going out this weekend to locate some of the books the men wrote after the war.

It was quite a story.

[dhill926]

6. same here.....

just a fantastic mini-series, with a killer main title sequence.

[Omaha Steve]

4. WWII Marine vets to hold reunion May 21-22

The Band of Brother got together there and I missed it. We have family plans Friday night. I think I'll be there Saturday. :-)


http://www.omaha.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/705169867#wwii-marine-vets-to-hold-reunion

WWII Marine vets to hold reunion

By Scott Stewart
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Sgt. Davis Thompson Hargraves Jr. was at Guadalcanal for the first major offensive there by U.S. forces in World War II.

During his four years of combat in the South Pacific, machine gun section leader Hargraves earned four Purple Hearts for “stepping out, stepping forward” into the line of fire.

“It was just taking care of people who were in my outfit,” Hargraves said. “That’s basically it.”

Hargraves will join 17 other Marine Corps veterans of the war this weekend at the Strategic Air & Space Museum near Ashland, Neb.

They will talk about serving with Robert Leckie, Josh Basilone and Eugene Sledge, whose experiences were the basis for the HBO miniseries “The Pacific.”

Based on two memoirs, Leckie’s “Helmet for My Pillow” and Sledge’s “With the Old Breed,” the 10-part miniseries depicts the battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The miniseries concludes tonight at 8 on HBO.

FULL story @ link.

[handmade34]

5. I miss my husband and stories of Peleliu

he was on the 1st wave... I still have some of his ashes, hoping to get them to Orange Beach some day.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. He must have been a very brave man. n/t

[handmade34]

10. he was a warrior

I married him late, he was older and he got sick shortly after we married. He told me all the stories of Peleliu, Korea and then wanting to go to Vietnam... I have not seen the series Pacific, but have heard the stories...

(my current partner was a medic in Vietnam and he has many stories also)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Part 1 depicted marines watching flashes from a naval battle off Guadalcanal.

They're surprised by a particularly large explosion, probably a ship's magazine getting hit. Next day there's a flotilla of Japanese destroyers off the beach.

I kind of thought it might have been a depiction of the Battle of Tassafaranga. Where a relative of mine was killed on the cruiser New Orleans. Turret 1. Japanese torpedo hit the magazine and forward fuel tank. Took out the entire bow of the ship. She stayed afloat though.

Then again, the show could have just as easily been recreating a similar scene out of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. With Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.

[neverforget]

11. My uncle was on the New Orleans. I don't have the dates but he did

say he was at Okinawa. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago.

[Omaha Steve]

8. I should mention Uncle Eddy

He was Navy in the South Pacific. Like dad and Uncle Bobby, he doesn't talk about the war much either.