Posted on 05/27/2017 11:43:44 AM PDT by EveningStar
Saw it when it first aired. I think it was made for TV.
“Gods and Generals” is awesome.
My family’s Independence Day line up:
July 2 - Gods and Generals
July 3 - Gettysburg
July 4 - 1776 (musical)
RE TCM Movies/Pro-American:
Bender, when those movies were made, the majority of the folks acting in them had actually BEEN in WWII, or Korea, etc. That’s why they’re so amazing and American.
As for “The Pacific” - one of my uncles was a Pacific Gunnery Sergeant. Tougher than nails... and funny as Hell too. I could imagine him being a little crazy as well...
My old man was Airborne in Europe. He’d always said - after living through the Bulge and Germany - that “Battleground” (1949) was the closest to what he remembered of the Bulge, weather-wise.
He hated the cold forever.
I saw his story on I think NatGeo- Many parts of Platoon was based on his experiences.
I’m checking what’s on this weekend. (Actually, i expected Roger Moore Bond movies and reruns of The Saint)
"The Pacific" was loosely based on "With the Old Breed" by Sledge and "Helmet for my Pillow" by Lecky. Read them a long time ago. The old lifer and his scrub brush is a character in the book.
Toss it in the trash? You know what they say about opinions.
I could imagine him being a little crazy as well...
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I think that is part of the ‘territory’.
I used to say I was sane and had the papers to prove it- based on the fact that I was accepted into submarine training.
As I got older I realized the ‘band of psych tests’ one took to qual for acceptance into Submarines, Paratroopers, SEALs, Special Forces etc etc were not solely to ascertain ones sanity, it was to make sure one was/is ‘crazy’ enough to do what is expected of you in the various fields..
Well, even so, I liked The Pacific. It had a lot of inaccuracies just like almost every film or show that tries to portray the military. As a twenty-two years on Active Duty veteran, it’s what I’ve come to expect. And while I was Air Force and not a Marine, I was an old crusty senior master sergeant at the end who would have also pitched a fit about uniform wear and overall cleanliness! But I can look past all that as...
I did read the books—several times— Sledge’s book, With the Old Breed, and Leckie’s book, Helmet for My Pillow. Long before the HBO series. I eagerly anticipated it. The Pacific was based on this two books and was fairly accurate in my opinion. According to EB Sledge, Snafu did pry those gold teeth out and much more.
Did you know Sledge was from Mobile, Alabama, my home state? He went to Auburn University, where I taught for 20 years. And Mobile is close to New Orleans, and he did visit Shelton after the war, who lived a grand old life, and had, at least as far as anyone knows, less demons from the war in his postwar life then Sledge did.
Several of my relatives joined the Army in WW2 because the judge gave them a choice. I see nothing wrong with honoring those who chose to defend our country at the risk of their lives over the safer option of prison.
Where do we get such men? They leave this ship and they do their job. Then they must find this speck lost somewhere pn the sea. When the find it they have to land on it's pitching deck. Where do we get such men?The ending (8:30)
Best Years of Our Lives.
Amazing movie. And Myrna Loy was smoking hot.
L
I worked for a years with a bunch of retired Navy Cheifs that were submariners..
An interesting bunch of folks, to be sure... :^) Fond memories of bourbon, beer, and sea stories... haha!!
Some other famous guy did a battle in Italy. He was a few days late, but the army gave him all the stuff (and men) that he needed to recreate it that same week! Steven Spielburg watches that one once a year. He said he didn't know that it was a reenactment until recently!
One of them did “The Best Days of our Lives” when he came back. Another was big on comedy before the war. He said something about “After seeing what I had seen - how could I go back to doing stupid comedies!?” There was one director that filmed the treatment of guys with PTSD. It was banned from public viewing until just awhile ago.
It gets rave reviews on the filmwork and the subject matter - very well done.
Everyone is indeed bedraggled looking, amazingly similar in appearance to scenes in "The Pacific". I doubt fresh utilities (fatigues to non-Marines) were readily available in the campaign. Not exactly a priority.
Stateside herringbone cloth was likely miserable in the tropical environment, leading to a lot of "accidental" venting for air circulation. Same thing happened in RVN with stateside utilities: far too hot and sleeves got accidentally torn off.
I seem to remember a similar line at the end of 12 O'clock High. However everything I remember is negotiable anymore.
I read both of the books that “The Pacific” was based on. Those books were “Helmet For My Pillow” by Robert Leckie and “With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa” by Eugene Sledge. Much like “Band of Brothers”, which I also read, the miniseries stuck extremely closely to the books that it was based on. I would recommend either of these books if you enjoy first hand accounts of WW2. Neither was as good a book as “Band of Brothers” but they were both first rate.
“Flyboys: A True Story of Courage” by James Bradley really opened my eyes about the atrocities and caniballism committed by the Japanese. I have to admit that I was not aware of these horrible traditions of the Japanese military until I read this book. It was shocking.
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