The Pacific Episode 6 was beyond terrifying
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- Опубліковано 1 тра 2024
- THIS EPI was SO HARD TO WATCH!
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Original Movie: The Pacific Mini Series (2010)
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Snafu: "Saw ya writing in that bible last night"
Eugene: "Yeah when it's published in 40 years it will be on the Commandant of the Marine Corp's Reading list and 20 years after that it will be a 10-part miniseries that everyone's watching right now."
And thankfully won't be spoiled.
“We ain’t supposed to write shit down give Japs valuable intel they find it”
“So I won’t show it to them then”
Snafu: 😁 “Got a cigarette?”
Sledge hands him a cigarette and Lights it for him
“Thanks Sledgehammer” and just like that their friends who are far from “out of the woods” yet whole squad going to see the horrors of war together and develop a trauma bond like a lot of men do when fighting a war as brothers in arms. Fuck the Pacific mini series is so good I love It so much. Band of brothers and Generation Kill are amazing too. BoB, The Pacific, and Generation Kill all have gotten me through a lot of tough times in my Life, they are definitely My “Comfort tv shows // 10 hour long movies (GK only 7 hours long but you what I mean)
One thing about Peleliu that some don’t know is that it’s almost entirely rock/coral land. Meaning they couldn’t bury dead bodies, human waste, nothing. They were stuck living with it all above ground everywhere they’d look
It could’ve been skipped for Iwo Jima which was not defended like it was later on in the war when we invaded. The reason is because McArthur made his promise to go to the Philippines.
Jesus Christ
Sledge mentions that quite a bit in his book.
@@Shadow_Wolf3490 Yes. The description of it there is really horrific.
It still was very useful for bomber crews to use the airfield but I guess it doesn't matter much if more were lost later on Iwo Jima but the thing was we didn't know how many Japanese were stationed on these islands we just assumed by size of the island itself what kind of force was there and almost every time we were wrong of the Japanese landed more troops since we arrived
The incident with the guy having the nightmare is unfortunately something that really happened. According to sledge they stuck the guy with several sticks of morphine and 6 or 7 men tried holding him down and choking him out but he was so manic that he fought all of them off. The shovel became the last resort and was never meant to kill him just knock him out. Unfortunately they either hit him too hard or hit him just right and dealt him a killing blow. The event severely affected everyone involved in it and sledge makes a point not to name anyone involved by name including the man killed likely to save them from the shame of the tragedy that became of the unfortunate situation.
War is hell.
“Dog save me! The nips are gunna throw me in the ocean!” Or something like that from the book
I Live in Mobile Alabama, grew up here , never knew my town was full of the men that served in WW2, until I was in my mid 20s, had the privilege to met a man named Maurice Bell at a church function, he survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, staying in the water with the sharks, so proud to have met him 😊
To this day, anytime I feel like complaining whenever a heat wave gets over 110 degrees, I always, always think back to this episode and am in absolute awe over what these men went through.
An interesting note: the barrels they were scrubbing in the last episode were old diesel barrels that needed to be steam cleaned so they could hold water for the Marines on Peleliu. But somehow, the purpose of the barrels wasn't stressed enough, so the Marines, who couldn't figure why they had to clean fuel barrels, only gave them a quick rinse. Thus, much of the fresh water that came ashore was fouled by diesel fuel. Thus, the reason for the critical water shortage.
Lack of communication kills. In the military sphere, it loses campaigns and wars.
Whoever came up with that idea was an idiot, you can't clean those barrels 10x over to get them clean enough for human water consumption. There's a reason jerry cans and water cans look different, and some city fool will think he can swap them around without harm.
Keep your marines informed.
Sid was lying through his teeth. The mortar men were always in the thick of it.
The things I do not know!
He told the mother what she wanted to hear, Dr. Sledge definitely knew the truth.
@@scarymonsterrs Yeah they were doing it for Eugene's mom, Eugene's dad and Sid exchange a knowing look.
@@holddowna there's a Australian movie called kakoda you might like watching. Our men that we sent their at the beginning of the new Guinea campaign were militia soldiers, part time fullas who were sent against the Japanese with bolt action rifles and old ww1 Lewis machine guns left over grenades from ww1 etc. There job was to buy time for the 2nd AIF to sail back from the middle east to join the fighting. The militia battalion my uncle fought with started with 300 men and left new Guinea with 32 men. The pacific theatre was about a brutal a front as you could go to . Some of the stories are quite amazing that come out of that conflict.
@holddowna a proper respectful half-lie to give hope, esp as undue worry does no good to anyone. Oh wait, I'm just piling on the obvious. That's my rank, by the way. Captain. Last name Obvious. Pleasure is mine.
I appreciate your compassion for the sacrifices made by the Marines and G. I.s who found themselves on Peleliu. The men of K/3/5 were fortunate to have "Ack Ack" Haldane and "Hillbilly" Jones as their commanding officers, leaders of the same caliber as Dick Winters of the Band of Brothers.
Unicorn company grades.
I lived in Palau for 5 months back in the mid 90's. Visited Peleliu 12 times. It's a living museum. You couldn't walk 50 feet without finding remnants of the battle. Everything from vehicles, to aircraft and small arms litter the jungle. The heat and humidity was staggering in shorts and a t-shirt, with plenty of water. What these men (on both sides) went through is unimaginable by modern standards. The hardships we have today are so trivial.
Eugene Sledge's brother was in the army as an officer with the 3rd Army division. He fought in Italy, landed on the beaches of Normandy on D Day, and fought in several battles in Europe. He was highly decorated for heroism in combat and was awarded the Silver Star, a couple of Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart.
Not going to give spoilers, but later in the series we meet him and the show does not do him justice in the way he was portrayed. He also was deeply affected by his combat experiences.
Just some background for you that this series doesnt give you. Just before peleliu the japanese high command had given the command of iwi jima to a little known general named tademichi kuribayashi. Kuribayashi got the job because it was a suicide mission and kuribayashi did not have the networks for a better one. Unlike most japanese generals, kuribayashi did his general staff training in the usa, not germany. As a result he was very familiar with the american way of war and politics.
Rather than dreading the appointment to command iwo jima (literally, ‘sulphur island’), kuribayashi embraced it, because he saw it as a way to stop the bombing of mainland japan and negotiate peace with the USA. He came up with a new set of strategies and tactics that involved digging tunnels inland, where his forces could move around, safe from superior US firepower, and inflict heavy casualties. He believed inflicting heavy casualties was the key to getting the USA to negotiate peace. He also banned the notorious banzai attacks (suicide charges) because he wanted his men to stay in cover to inflict as many casualties as possible.
This plan was adopted by the japanese high command - but without kuribayashi’s proposal to start peace negotiations. It was partially implemented on peleliu, nearly fully implemented on iwo jima (the tunnels to mt suribachi were not completed before the US landings, meaning the active fighting only lasted 36 days. US planners - anticipating the customary banzai attacks on day 3 - had expected it to last only 4 days) and perfected on okinawa. In each case, the japanese defenders, badly outgunned and without resupplies, inflicted increasingly heavy casualties from their tunnel systems. Kuribayashi died leading an attack on the airfield on iwo jima (which was not a banzai attack) - the only japanese general in the pacific to die leading his men. The US marine and naval commanders, some of whom knew him personally, searched for his body to give him a military funeral with full honours but his body was never found.
Kuribayashi’s plan backfired. By refusing to negotiate with the USA, as proposed by kuribayashi, but adopting the rest of his plan, the japanese high command ended up inflicting massive casualties on US forces on peleliu, iwo jima, and okinawa, and forcing the USA to use the atomic bombs to get the japanese to surrender. Elsewhere other generals failed to match kuribayashi’s performance, mostly because the more traditional german trained japanese generals preferred to use banzai attacks, which were almost always ineffective.
While it leaves out a lot of the complexities of kuribayashi and his ideas and actions, the Clint Eastwood movie, ‘Letters from iwo jima’ does a pretty good job of telling kuribayashi’s story and the japanese experience of iwo jima.
Incidentally, the irony of all this was that kuribayashi was without question a humane man - even by western standards - who very much wanted the war to end quickly. His final message to tokyo started with the now famous words ‘so sad to fall in battle’ and lamented the loss of his men. The only japanese general who expressed grief for his men. The text of Kuribayashi’s final radio message was censored by the japanese high command and kuribayashi’s actual words were only made public in 1971.
Kuribayashi was man who is very much worth reading and learning about. His portrayal in "Letters from Iwo Jima" was, I think, about as fair & accurate as possible.
It wasn’t until I read Sledgehammer’s book that I realized when they finally got water it was from the oil barrels they scraped out in the previous episode. That is a nightmare.
Pisses me off how they ordered the Marines and Army Dogs to push forward WITHOUT FUCKING WATER TO DRINK
Higher ups: “We didn’t know our Men needed water” so stupid and annoying. Makes me so thankful to have clean water to drink
What makes me mad is that I served in the USMC and they taught us all about the island hopping but never mentioned Peleliu because it was a waste of lives for nothing.
If I recall, this was something MacArthur insisted on. MacArthur, IMO, was and is greatly overrated. Not just for this. When the Japanese attacked and he order the troops to stand where they where instead of falling back to the narrower part of the isthmus they were on so they had a dense line. Later he did fall back there, but by then they were stretched thin there as well. He, IMO, was like our version of Monty who really didn't think things through, but he's still seen as a military genius by many.
@@Anon54387 MacArthur was a complete tit, but fairly sure Peleliu was Nimitz mistake not his, one of the few he made
@@Anon54387 Monty thought too much , he tried to control all variables and it showed in his progress.
Not nothing - it boosted MacArthur's ego slightly. Nothing useful, though.
@@Anon54387marine corps is navy. Under the ultimate command of admiral Nimitz. Macarthur was army. The us army and navy had an unhealthy competition going in the pacific, which resulted in both forces trying to do too much too fast, with too little thought and planning. Peleliu was the worst example. It was planned as an attack to capture the airfields on the peleliu islands to prevent planes attack us army forces from there but in fact even before the first american landed on peleliu the us army had advanced far enough north in the phillipines that peleliu had become cut off and its airfields irrelevant. This same stupidity caused massive unnecessary casualties among Australian forces in papau new guinea and almost wiped out the us army’s rainbow division there. Because macarthur wanted to claim the first victories against the japanese before the marines on guadalcanal could. He actually succeeded in that but at such a cost and with such rancorous relations with the Australians that macarthur effectively wrote it out of the history of the war. As a result, when most people think of the early days of the pacific war they think of guadalcanal and not the much bigger and more significant campaigns fought by the australians in papau new guinea. To put that in perspective, guadalcanal was actually a tiny sideshow to the new guinea campaigns. But outside australia and papau new guinea few people know that.
Great reaction Ames.
These men were called the Greatest Generation for a reason !! They grew up in the Depression Era, and as men had to fight in the war with distinction.
When they had to kill their own guy, everyone agreed it had to be done.
thought of Colonel Kurtz; making a friend of horror, doing what had to be done quickly, directly without feeling. ✌️❤️
I read Robert Leckie’s book Helmet For My Pillow while I was on rotation at the National Training Center and what is interesting is his book parallels the show well. He was wounded in action at Peleliu that’s where his story ends, whereas Eugene Sledge’s story begins as Peleliu is his first battle. Also in the book, most of the very last of the original Marines that were with Leckie from his training and Guadalcanal tragically were killed during Peleliu. The scene where Snafu is looking for gold fillings is based also around one of the Marines in Leckie’s book who would search for gold fillings, going so far as to buy a dental flashlight in Melbourne on leave. He was killed during Peleliu.
I’ll add to that my grandfather was one of the few who lived thrhpugh Guadalcanal-Okinawa (along with another 2 wars later) with the 1st Marines he has stated personally to me and I’ve also read in Many books. men knew by island 3 their number was up it was just gonna happen and you can’t do anything about it
Getting captured with gold teeth in your pockets, or even an enemy weapon, was usually punished by death.
The 'others' do not like looters, trpohy hunters or anything like them.
My father had a camouflage jacket made from a German or Italian shelter, and he got rid of it when he was wounded, in case he was captured. The two German badges he had on his belt, as well. Buried them.
Ames, you are so invested in the story. It really moves me. You've seen Band of Brothers, which is almost the story of a typical unit in the ETO. The Airborne divisions got pulled back to England after they wrapped up the Normandy invasion, and they were pulled to rest areas after Holland. From the Bulge on, they just stayed in combat. Most US Army divisions got committed to combat and just stayed in battle. The divisions that landed on the beach at Normandy were constantly on the line for some 330 days solid. Day after day, week after week, grinding the men down. The Marines, in the Pacific got a "rest" (if you can call places like Pavuvu restfull) between battles. But each battle they were committed to was utterly savage and brutal. The enemies they fought neither sought nor gave quarter. Very few Japanese were captured, and they were basically all wounded and incapacitated first. Stories I got from veterans of the fighting in the Pacific Theater are even more horrific than the images in this miniseries. Thank you for choosing to react to this series, and thank you for your thoughtful, heartfelt responses.
And this is not even as bad as it is going to get. let that sink in
😭
@@holddownaEpisodes 7 & 9 are the worst (IMO). Episode 10 is the final, gasping breath of fresh air when the war finally ends.
This show was brutal as hell, literally
Having seen both Pacific and Band of Brothers now you realize the distinct difference between the Nazi and the Japanese. The Nazi could occasionally be insane in a fight but they WOULD often surrender. Teh only way to capture a Japanese soldier was if they were unconcious.
Woohoo! More pacific! These are the reactions I'm here for 😃
Yes. Such an underrated mini series. Im sick of people comparing it to Band of brothers because they’re both COMPLETELY different and the battles were fought on opposite sides of the Earth. Though I love both The Pacfic and BoB. Pacific is more disturbing and depressing though BoB does have its fair share of disturbing and depressing moments too.
@@wattsnottaken1 Exactly! Pacific brings the grit unabashedly.
As I’ve gotten older, and started to look back, more and more i’m convinced surviving combat is 10% training, 10% not doing anything stupid, 5% doing something stupid and 75% blind dumb luck. That last part could be divine intervention, not sure, maybe luck really is just unnoticed divine help.
I suspect you're right, especially when it comes to large scale combat. It's like they said in Episode 2. He steps left, he's alive. He steps right, he's dead. Some things are just out of your control. Military training is just about trying to control what you can.
I think that's what Lt. Spiers was getting at in Ep 3 of Band of Brothers. You just gotta accept you're already dead, because you can't control whether or not you're gonna survive. Once you get that out of the way, you can focus on everything else that you CAN control.
The training is what enables you to take the best advantage of what the dumb luck gives you.
@@randomlyentertaining8287 "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity", etc
The war with the Japanese was so brutal because the Japanese did not adhere to any of the rules of war that they had agreed to in 1907. The Japanese, like the Nazis believed they were the master race destined to rule the world. They were all taught from childhood that their lives belonged to the emperor. Being captured was the ultimate disgrace. Death in battle was considered a joyous experience. Given these beliefs it is no wonder that the Japanese abused and used civilians in their tactics ( this was especially true on Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa.) The Japanese even booby trapped wounded and dead left behind. It was dangerous for a US soldier to take a prisoner.
I had a friend who did 2 tours of duty in Vietnam as a combat Marine. According to his wife, his PTSD stemmed from survivor's guilt and men he knew that never made it back. He was also deeply affected by civilian deaths. We have no idea what our troops in combat have to deal with on a daily basis. We should love and honor all those that fought under the US flag.
This battle is a prime example of just how savage the war in the Pacific truly got as it went on. The things the Marines and Japanese endured and did to one another. Sledge was so appalled by the slaughter and waste of human life as well.
All I am going to say about this episode is how much respect I have for Captain Haldane. Ack-Ack was a true leader and one I would have gladly followed if I had served in the Navy during World War Two instead of the 1990's/2000's. Much respect to Gunny Haney as well.
It only gets worse...so much respect for those young men...cant thank them enough
"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell." Gen. Sherman.
The Pacific is Raw, Honest, Depressing, Disturbing, and Compelling but also my comfort tv show as well as BoB I’m so happy my dad showed me the Pacific and Band of brothers when I was a little kid. “We need water Cap, I’m working on it Corporal”
I have so much respect for the Marines and Army Dogs who fought in The Pacific and Europe as well.
The method of this miniseries is good for the drama, but you have to remember the battles in between carried out by other divisions on different islands were just as brutal. Tarawa, Tinian, Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima... Europe was a different kind of warfare, the Marine Island Hopping campaign was pure brutality with a merciless enemy.
I've heard someone said once, across the Atlantic the Germans were selective with their brutality. But over in the Pacific, the Japanese were indiscriminate in their brutality. Quite the hell for them over there.
Overall right but there was a few times where the Japs were selective. When Manila was taken, there was a LOT of non-Filipino civilians there. While their armed forces had surrendered, the Japs understood and accepted that they had no part in that. While they were detained, at least initially, they were treated relatively well compared to military POWs. That changed when a new commander of the camp was brought in who was 100% evil and was justly executed after the war for war crimes. A fate too many Jap officers escaped after the war.
I'm glad you're watching this series. It's tough, but worthwhile and important.
I’ve said it before, but this show doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It just unimaginable what these guys went through. They deserve so much respect words can’t express just how much respect they deserve
And not one of those guys ever disclosed what happened that night with the panicked marine.They carried their silence to the grave.
After the series is done, there’s a documentary that was made back in the 80’s or 90’s called “Peleliu 1944 : horror in the pacific” and it has some of these men in it. I won’t say which names so I don’t spoil it! (You don’t have to react to it but still recommend it if you’re interested in Peleliu in general)
“From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.
Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev’ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines
Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.”
- Marine Corps Hymn.
Cheers, man. I checked the documentary out as soon as I read that. Great companion piece to this part of the show. Good shout.
Peleliu was one of Gen. McArthur's several F'ups during WW2. The reason why the Marines invaded the Island was because McArthur claimed he needed the airfields on Peleliu for his plans to retake the Phillipines. He never used the airfields on Peleliu.
The intro comment about what seemed like a lack of intelligence the US had about Peleliu, under estimating the number of Japanese defenders, how long it would take to take the Island, the cave and tunnel system the Japanese defenders used, etc was not just pertaining to Peleliu. That was common with almost every island the Marines invaded. It was very difficult for the Naval intelligence to get accurate numbers due to the cave and tunnel systems the Japanese used.
On Iwo Jima, the bloodiest battle in the History of the Marines Corps to this day and the only battle of WW2 in the Pacific where US casualties were greater than Japanese casualties, the Japnese had over a year to set up defenses on the island and built such a complex tunnel system that the Marines who fought there would say, We (the Marines) fought above ground and the Japanese fought under it."
The estimated that it would take 5 days for the Marines to secure the island, it took ober 30 days. The Japanese General who defended Iwo Jima was the military general the Japanese had. The Marine General who commanded the 5th Marine division who invaded Iwo commented that if the Japanese had more generals like Kuribayashi he doubted the US would have won the war in the Pacific.
Peleliu was a particularly nightmarish battle...but there's still the meatgrinder of Iwo Jima, and the river of blood that was Okinawa.
The water they did find was found in the bottom of oil barrels. They were so thirsty they drank the oil fouled water and, obviously, got sicker than dogs.
“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”
-Gustav Mahler
These Marines are immortalized around the Corps and will long be remembered when we are all dust.
Semper Fidelis
The savagery of the Pacific theatre compared to what was almost civilized conduct of Europe was unimaginable. The Japanese had been on those islands preparing for years. Every inch known and plotted.
The thing that cannot be imagined was the smell of death. Heat and inability to bury or remove the dead was so absolutely horrifying that no matter how it's shown, it was exponentially worse with the smell of death.
The one thing I've learned from my time in combat, an inch or a second matter between life and death.
Just wanted to say I Love the crap out of you. Started watching your reactions with Saving Private Ryan, and you’ve been my therapy for the past couple of days with my PTSD as I’ve watched your reactions to some of my favorite movies. It’s honestly a joy recapping the greatness of these movies and shows with you, especially the war stuff. I find myself sharing at least one tear every time you cry for the people who went through so much. You are such a sweetheart. I wanted to suggest to you the absolute most intense movie I’ve ever seen… 9th Company… it’s about the Soviet Union in Afghanistan before we went in… you really see how it was unwinnable like Vietnam, but we ended up going in too anyway afterwards. This movie is like Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates with Jude Law & Joseph Fiennes, and Sand Castle with Nicholas Hoult all put together. It is in Russian, but it has subtitles, and you practically don’t even need them because the movie is Non-stop action as soon as they get to Afghanistan. I highly recommend it as far as this genre goes. And just like how Vietnam War movies are a whole genre here in America… Afghan-Soviet War movies are a whole genre in Russia. Took a deep dive recently since most of these epics are available on free streaming services like Tubi, and I love these movies too, and I’m pretty big into history. It was my Major. And Bless your heart for being so open with your emotions and giving good commentary, and sometimes great advice, your Forrest Gump video resonated with me because of the moment you reached out to people with suicidal thoughts, because I’ve been there. Thank you so much for these videos.❤
This series is so well done that it feels like it encompasses the entire Pacific War, but it is only about what happened to the First Marine Division. The war was far bigger than just what we see in these episodes.
This battle was a real nightmare but yet these poor Marines did their duty they deserve all the respect in the world all the branches of the US military deserve a lot of respect
One thing that was hinted at but never shown - remember earlier in the series when they were cleaning out the oil drums on Pavuvu? When water finally was transported in it was in those same oil drums, and because they had not been fully cleaned, the water was full of oil and rust and gave the marines severe stomach cramps.
So all that waiting for water, and when they finally got it, it was undrinkable.
For years after the war, Sledge's wife said that the only safe way to awaken him in the middle of the night was to whisper "Sledgehammer" into his ear - otherwise he would wake up fighting.
My father was the same way had to use a broom to wake him up
For comparison, this was happening at about the same time Easy Co was parachuting into Holland in episode 4 of BoB.
As an American, its actually a sense of pride. Our boys went to hell and back and WON. Both in the Pacific and in Europe. We fight and fought to proclaim Liberty throughout the land. Like Admiral Yamamoto said - They only awakened a great dragon and filled him with a terrible resolve. The Japanese never knew what they brought upon themselves.
Your question about water reminded me of the rule of 3: You can survive for 3 minutes without air or in icy water, 3 hours without shelter in harsh environment, 3 days without water if sheltered from harsh environment, 3 weeks without food if you have water and shelter.
The infuriating thing about these episodes is that Peleliu could have just as easily been neutralized by a couple days of carrier strikes and left to wither on the vine, but for some reason unknown to history both King and Nimitz insisted on taking the island. Amazing that so often in the history of the war both King and Nimitz were spot-on with their assessments and decisions they made. All this operation did was bleed the 1st Marines white.
Pretty sure Dugout Doug wanted it neutralized to protect his frankly pointless push on the Phillipines. The unauthorized history of the pacific war podcast explains the reasoning fairly well.
Wasn't it a fight OVER that very airfield. Who gets to use it for their advance?
@@nicolivoldkif9096 I'm not that big of a MacArthur fan, and I think he was definitely the most over-rated American general in US History, but that is frankly untrue. In fact, both Seth and Bill commend Mac for arguing against the invasion. They both point out that it was King and Nimitz that argued for the Peleliu assault and Halsey and MacArthur as being against it.
13:35
That's when Sledge earned respect. He took the mortar sight off his dead friend and moved on like he was supposed to. He proved he could be depended on in combat.
You’re doing a great job with this series! It’s a tough watch, to be sure.
It took me a couple times through to fully appreciate it for what it is.
Two things in Band of Brothers hit me differently after having seen this series, both from Episode 10.
Speirs saying “The 101st will definitely be redeployed to the Pacific.” and Winters saying “President Truman received the unconditional surrender from the Japanese. The war’s over”
It feels like it means much more after everything we’ve seen and everything you have yet to see.
It gets worse if you can believe it.
A, Episode 7 is hard to watch. When Eugene's father talked about men's souls being torn out, that episode is where that process starts and you will see a marked change in Eugene's character and the acting is going to draw you in like nothing you can imagine. By the end of the episode, what happens to him will shatter your soul and you will have some restless nights from it. I'm just warning you right now. It's quite possibly the best acting / directing that I have ever seen in any movie or series. It pulls you in completely and you will be left there crying miserably for seeing what Eugene is going through, the destruction of his soul. Episodes 8 and 9 are horrible yes, but Seven is where it broke my spirit in watching this series and left me with a sense of sorrow for what these men went through. It left me absolutely speechless.
Fun fact about the water situation. When they were cleaning oil drums last episode, noone told then that the drums, would be used for water on the island. So they "had" water, but a visable oil slick could be seen and it wasnt drinkable.
Site "with the old breed on pelilue and Okinawa by eugean sledge"
So I’ve been to Peleliu and saw where all of this actually happened. I’ve ran across that airfield in the spring and early summer and I can 100% attest to how strong these men were. That island is ungodly hot and humid all the time. It’s all thick jungle now so I at least had the benefit of shade and my water supply was very consistent and I was still pouring sweat the entire time. Being there when all the foliage was gone or incredibly sparse with no drinkable water is truly a feat of determination and strength.
ack ack was the best captain i ever see
Paleliu is just the beginning for Sledgehammer. If you thought this was bad, just wait until you start watching the episodes about Okinawa.
The Japanese were absolutely fanatical in combat and barbaric towards their enemies. Some of the stuff I've read about the Japanese is horrifying and inhumane to say the least. Their experiments on live human beings, prisoner ships called hell ships, Nanking Massacre, treatment of POWs and civilians...the list goes on and on. How humans can do that to one another is beyond me. The history of WW2 is full of the absolute worst of human atrocities that we could never imagine possible.
My parents knew an old guy that was held on one of the Japanese prison ships. Until the day he passed, he wouldn't allow a Japanese car be parked in his driveway. I didn't understand that, as a kid. After I grew and learned what a Hellship was, I understood completely.
What was happening to USMC and US Army soldiers in the Pacific Theater, the Pentagon started developing tactics on trying to get as many wounded Marines and Soldiers with a military surgeon as fast as possible post WWII. During the Korean War and the Vietnam War the use of helicopters and M.A.S.H. units so a wounded Marine or Soldier could be prepped for surgery within 15 to 20 minutes after the incursion. What you were seeing in episode with the Medical Frigates were the WWII era Auxiliary Medical Group. Too many wounded Marines were dying waiting for surgery either on the island or on the boat. Hours after the engagement with the Japanese.
Worked on this series back in 2007 & 08 was a great experience. All of the airfield battle was shot at the You Yangs between Melbourne and Geelong.
God bless you Ma’am, watching this is by far enough to prove without a doubt, you are an American, thank you for sharing 😊👍✌️🇺🇸
The Japanese did not adhere to the Rules of War drafted at the Hague in 1907. They did sign the document but didn't follow it. They committed multiple war crimes many as bad or worse than the Nazis. You will see the Japanese using civilians as shields (boy that sounds familiar) and even murdering them. In the movie Hacksaw Ridge there were 3 clear war crimes committed.
1. Killing medics. The Japanese actually paid their soldiers a bounty for ever medic they killed.
2. Murdering the wounded.
3. Using a white flag to attack your enemy.
They knew our medics would treat their wounded so they booby trapped them or the wounded soldier would volunteer to explode a grenade as soon as American medics were close enough to be killed.
The Germans on the other hand did follow the rules of war but only on the Western Front. You see this in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN on Omaha Beach where the medics are wide open but not targeted. Of course there were some who violated those rules but it was not par for the course.
The water that finally arrived was sent in fuel oil drums that weren't properly rinsed out which caused more problems like dysentery
20:06 the subtitles are actually wrong there. Cpt. Haldane actually said “two heavy *Nambu* machine guns.” These were the Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun. While US medium/heavy machine guns feed from cloth belts of linked ammunition that hold 250 rounds per belt, the Japanese guns feed from 30 round metallic strips that are inserted on the left and spat out on the right. They had a slower rate of fire than US guns, but they were incredibly accurate machine guns.
If you are interested, both Bob and Eugene wrote books that were used in the making of the series. Bob's is Helmet for my Pillow and Eugene's is With the Old Breed, Eugene also had a follow up called China Marine. They are all good books and are very good reads and give you a more indepth look into the things they covered loosely in the series.
We don't always "go to war." Sometimes it's forced upon us, like WW2 & 911!
Many Japanese help island commanders learned the lessons of Guadalcanal, that massed frontal assaults did not work. They learned that the best defense was to dig in and set up a prepared defense in depth. Natural caves, concrete pillboxes, and log covered trenches were remarkably difficult to destroy via artillery, including heavy caliber naval guns. It took men on the ground, perhaps supported by direct air power, to root out and destroy the enemy.
During the two Guadalcanal episodes there were comments about the naval situation at that time where both sides were fairly evenly matched. By Peleliu in September 1944, the U.S. Navy had almost total control of the seas. The Battle of the Philippine Sea that previous June had pretty much eliminated any air threat from the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). While the IJN still had a powerful surface fleet they were saving that fleet for the defense of the Philippines that would occur that coming October (not in this series).
The Pacific war was sheer brutality. Unlike the Germans, the Japanese soldier was there to win or die. There was no retreat for them and the result was an enemy whose only hope is to kill more of you then you can kill of him before he too dies. Surrender was not an option. The soldiers of the Pacific were a breed apart. Believe it or not it will get worse. Prepare yourself!
This battle is a wonderful example of why the atomic bombs were necessary to force Japan to surrender.
I disagree. The US government was out of control. Provoking both Germany and Japan. Roosevelt couldn't have justified the war he wanted without the "unprovoked" attack.
"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with ALL nations, entangling alliances with none" - T. Jefferson
@@frankmiller4550 🤣
@@axelsouth655 npc
@@frankmiller4550 Damn ! You sound out of control in your comment. The irony.
@@paulcarfantan6688 Just a disagreement here. No hard feelings from me. I just said I disagree with the OP. I'm sure he's a cool guy/gal. I was originally just here to thank the young lady for watching The Pacific with the historical background. I'm a huge fan of this series. I saw the OP and was, at first, hesitant to share my unpopular opinion...but figured, why not? Lol
I so much enjoyed watching this, I was binge watching Band of Brothers last night and I had to subscribe! When this came up earlier today, I binge watched tonight to catch up to this episode. It is wonderful to watch your reactions, they are so familiar as I will try to explain why later!🌹
The brutality of this show increases with each episode, down yo even the very last one. Stay strong 🔥
If you thought this episode was tough to watch you haven't seen nothing yet... episode 9 is going to have you in tears
The 60 mm mortar was a very effective weapon, it was capable of rapid fire with a well-trained crew, at least as long as the ammo lasted. The island was basically all rock and coral, it was impossible to bury any bodies, in the heat the dead turned black and decomposed quickly.
Glad I finally had time to see this
For anyone interested, there is a channel called Unauthorised History of the Pacific War, and they do 2 or 3, 2 hour streams on Peleliu. It was way worse than made out here
Spent my early Teens watching saving private, band of brothers and Pacific 😀 what a time back there
If you want to see an artist's rendering of Peleliu, painted by a man who was there, look up Tom Lea's "Peleliu Landing." He was a painter who landed with the assault troops. Some high-octane nightmare fuel, but extremely effective images.
As horrific as this depiction is, you have to know it was unimaginably worse. A living nightmare gone insane.
Here one isn't dealing with the actual heat, fear, adrenaline, smells, feeling the thump of the artillery, etc.
The mortar tube, not including the sight, was a whopping 105lbs. This isn’t including the various other parts, such as the sight and baseplate, needed, in addition to regular infantry equipment. It’s absolutely insane to think they did that all under fire. This shit would be hard under pleasant circumstances
9:20 mortars are not light. The tube and baseplate weigh 42 lbs. They aren’t the heaviest weapons guys had to lug around. I believe the heaviest man portable weapon was the M2 Flamethrower at 70 lbs fully loaded.
I'll never forgive General MacArthur for insisting that we take Peleliu because He Needed That Airstrip to take the Philippines. Then after it was done, it was never used. He sent the Marines in there with incomplete intelligence and not enough men and supplies. This is only one in a list of things I'll never forgive him for.
Peleliu was the Navy’s choice; Dugout Doug didn’t care.
Remember that whatever your bias against Mac (and there is ample reason FOR criticism given his outrageous personality) he still turned in fewer casualties in his entire southwest pacific campaign than Mark Clark did at the single battle of Anzio.
This is where we start to get real….
Its gets worse its such a different war in the pacific i had to space them out the episodes just so heavy
The M1 mortar from Wikipedia tube 44.5 lb, mount 46.5 lb, and base plate 45 lb
From here on out , it will break your heart and how Devastating war can be. And all those scenes will come back to you all through your life
Hope you feel much better and are mending well, Ames!
Yesss been waiting for this
This reaction made me tear up 🥺 what a episode this was keep up the great Ames 💙 i hope ur doing well friend
Great reaction, hope more is coming sooner than later! Such a brutal theater... it's going to get worse too. I can't imagine enduring what these men did - it's excruciating. 😥
Trying to edit fast!
I can't believe i just binged all your videos lol
Leckie was actually wounded by the concussion of the blast - many soldiers died this way - the shockwave can stop your heart or cause internal injuries without leaving a scratch on the body.
Thanks for taking the time to watch this.
It gets worse. And this series doesn't capture half of what Eugene describes in his book, with the old breed. I've read it twice, and his words have a way of describing everything he saw and did entirely too well. Reading that book caused a long depressive episode for me both times. It really does give you a sense of being there through his vivid descriptions.
As hard as this episode is, it's nothing compared to the reality of this battle. I'd recommend reading Sledge's book, "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa". One of the parts that always stuck with me, in the part of the book that describes the battle at Peleliu, is when he describes the flies. They waxed so fat on the unburied excrement & bodies that they could not fly. They multiplied to such a degree that they covered the island, and got into everything - including the men's food & water.
It is a fit description of hell on Earth, and one of the reasons I believe that any politician that votes for war should be drafted into an infantry platoon and put at the front of the front lines.
I believe Sledge wrote that in war, "only the flies benefited".
Semper Fidelis
Worst part is, the worst is yet to come.
Our soldiers from April 19th 1775 To this present day. Fault for things that we take for granted. You're only naive if you don't search for The Truth and the history of the Sacrifice.
That are soldiers gave.
Gave to to this country. I've watched you young lady and you get it.Thank you
Those oil barrels we’re supposed to get cleaned enough to put water in for the Marines to later drink on Peleliu. Obviously it could never work and the few of those barrels that made it ashore made the men who drank it sicker than dogs who had to be evacuated.
Hears some food for thought. Compare these young men to today's youth. Who would you want around in dangerous times? From an old Marine Amtrac crew-chief. BTW, my Uncle was a Para-Marine in that war. He was wounded on every Island he fought on: Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Okinawa. If you met him, you wouldn't have known he was such a badass. The most humble and soft spoken veteran I ever met!
Thanks for watching!!!
You should keep doing this watch through. I'm enjoying your reactions
More to come! Thanks for hanging out
Yay, more of the Pacific. At this rate we should be finished by September? Maybe?
I’m trying!!