The Pacific (Band of Brothers II)

[Stu Monty]

yup - i've sat and watched some of my younger relatives playing CoD at christmas, and i wanted it more than a junkie needs his daily fix.

 

i have way too much spare time and would become a hard-core addict very quickly.

 

Getting repeatedly shot in the face can soon lead to you turning it off, Neko, believe me on that.

 

What I'd do to some of the quickscoping twats on the game I feel I need to keep to myself for fear that I would be declared a monster.

[Joe Le Taxi]

Let it out Stu, let it out.

 

I've never played any Call Of Duty game, ever. My friends think i'm weird.

[Stu Monty]

Let it out Stu, let it out.

 

I've never played any Call Of Duty game, ever. My friends think i'm weird.

 

You are.

[Joe Le Taxi]

Thanks for that.

[Stu Monty]

No problems. Glad to be of service.

[aikido]

Ok, I have to be honest, but I don't think it's a patch on BoB. Some of the battle scenes have been incredible, but it's been a little bit all over the place with character development, and the action scenes are all that's held my interest. With episode 7 on the horizon it's going to take a lot for the series to sway my mind.

 

Give me the boys of Easy company any day.

[Rex Banner]

Ok, I have to be honest, but I don't think it's a patch on BoB. Some of the battle scenes have been incredible, but it's been a little bit all over the place with character development, and the action scenes are all that's held my interest. With episode 7 on the horizon it's going to take a lot for the series to sway my mind.

 

Give me the boys of Easy company any day.

 

I agree with that pretty much, you really don't feel the same connection with the characters as you did with BoB. I'm still enjoying it though and BoB is a pretty high bar to reach.

[Gav]

Ok, I have to be honest, but I don't think it's a patch on BoB. Some of the battle scenes have been incredible, but it's been a little bit all over the place with character development, and the action scenes are all that's held my interest. With episode 7 on the horizon it's going to take a lot for the series to sway my mind.

 

Give me the boys of Easy company any day.

 

 

Im in the exact same boat ..the action scenes have been too few,but those they did do were amazing,especially the last episode (6) .Theres been far too much character shite which would be ok if the cast was very strong but to be honest the cast themselves don't have a patch on the BoB one.Therefore the series itself lags well behind BoB but nevertheless it is superb viewing

[stevensr123]

I watched band of brothers for the 1st time about 2 weeks ago, seriously amazing series.

 

Thanks for the info about this new one, Can't wait to watch it ( it's on the tv this wednesday for me).

[Magellan06]

mmmmkayyy ,no idea if this is sarcasm,wit or fact

 

 

fact!

[aikido]

Horrible and disturbing. The only two words that come to mind when describing episode 7.

[M_B]

Saw the first two of these on the big screen at the British Film Institute last night with a preview from Hanks and Spielberg.

 

Exceptionally good I thought. Unfortunately I'll now have to wait for the dvd set.

[Rex Banner]

Good episode the bit with the open skull was sick, they certainly aren't holding back on the graphic detail.

[Allan]

Good episode the bit with the open skull was sick, they certainly aren't holding back on the graphic detail.

 

I wondered what the splashing noise was at first, then it dawned on me as the camera panned over to the source of said noise.

 

With regards to the Call Of Duty: World at War reference earlier in the thread. Airfield was indeed based on the Battle of Peleliu.

[neko]

i was curious to see the present day conditions from google map - i was wondering if anyone actually lived there anymore.

 

Peleliu Island, Klouklubed, Palau - Google Maps

[Soleilrouge]

i was curious to see the present day conditions from google map - i was wondering if anyone actually lived there anymore.

 

Peleliu Island, Klouklubed, Palau - Google Maps

 

nerd of nerds

[Guest LFD]

Thought the gold tooth bit was disturbing.

[neko]

nerd of nerds

 

guilty as charged - that's a classic example of my interest in geography and military history.

 

did i ever tell you about my map collection ? you must come over and see it some day.

[Soleilrouge]

guilty as charged - that's a classic example of my interest in geography and military history.

 

did i ever tell you about my map collection ? you must come over and see it some day.

 

dont forget the cats - have you a military cat map?

[neko]

dont forget the cats - have you a military cat map?

 

they do cat nap on the maps, if that's what you mean.

[Gav]

Horrible and disturbing. The only two words that come to mind when describing episode 7.

 

Yip,very very disturbing.Particularly the pepple scene .There sure was a hell of a lot of action in it too tho

[Rex Banner]

Part 8 was good, mostly a back home episode dealing with John Basilone but the action kicks up in the end. Sad ending, I was hoping it wasn't going to happen but I thought it would.

Part 9 looks like it's going to be insane, the big climax at Iwo Jima.

[Coro]

Not sure how to put into a spoiler so just stuck it up as NSFW. It is completely safe for work but not safe for anyone to read who hasn't seen episode 8 yet.

 

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

John Basilone's last battle - latimes.com

 

John Basilone's last battle

 

The Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who died on Iwo Jima — and whose heroism is resurrected in 'The Pacific' — is recalled by a World War II comrade.

By William Douglas Lansford

 

May 3, 2010

 

 

(Sunday's episode of "The Pacific" — the eighth of the 10-part HBO miniseries — depicted the death of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone during the first day of fighting on Iwo Jima. William Lansford, a Marine and Angeleno, also fought that day in Iwo Jima and recalls his friendship with the famous Marine gunnery sergeant and his last day.)

 

In late 1944, after two years in the Pacific as a Marine with Carlson's Raiders, I rotated stateside and received a 30-day furlough. I was supposed to rest, visit my family and enjoy life among civilians, but none of it really worked.

 

Unable to adjust to the complexities of wartime civilian life, I lied to my parents, saying my leave was up, and boarded a bus for Camp Pendleton with a week left of my furlough.

 

In Pendleton I reported and was assigned to Company C, 27th Regiment of the newly formed 5th Division, but being early, I was told I'd find the area deserted. They were right. The new barracks stood empty, the bunks had no mattresses, the rifle racks were bare, the empty halls echoing.

 

Outside again, I was surprised to see a young Marine smiling at me. He wore khaki, with sergeant's stripes, and in no way resembled the muscular giant depicted in oils on a recent cover of Collier's magazine. Actually, he looked much like any other Marine, but what caught my eye was the tiny blue ribbon spangled with white stars pinned over his other ribbons. It was, unmistakably, the Congressional Medal of Honor and the smiling guy was John Basilone.

 

Serving with Basilone was a brief but golden period of the war for me. He never barked like the other gunnery sergeants but ruled like a wiser, older brother looking after his younger siblings, with humor and a style all his own. Under the hot California sun, with our faces stuck in the dust of Camp Pendleton, he could pick up a draggy machine gun drill with "Awright, ya goldbricks. Ya cut the time on settin' them guns up or don't expect no liberty come Friday!" And we did it because we knew he was the best machine gunner in the Corps and we wanted to be like him.

 

Basilone did more than train the men. He taught our recruits the meaning of esprit de corps, and in those of us who had fought, he rekindled a willingness to fight again. His simplicity, his cheerfulness, his grasp of human nature — the charm and easy grace with which he carried his honors — gave us not only confidence but pride. We were "Basilone's boys" and were envied for it throughout the division.

 

Our weekend hangout in L.A. was the Biltmore Hotel, where we took over an entire floor. Starting Friday evening, Basilone played and whooped it up with the rest of us until the last hours of Sunday night when we'd all crawl back to our transportation points and head for Camp Pendleton in a rush resembling a Roman chariot race, for at reveille on Monday, John expected us to toe the line, stone sober and ready for duty. We had chased girls and swilled rum and Coca-Cola all weekend, but until Friday it would be "Prepare for gun drill!," "Ready, Sarge" and "On this line, action!" with Basilone's keen eye on you making sure you didn't screw up.

 

Early that summer of 1944 the fun ended. Our division had been ordered to Hawaii. There we began practicing landings on "Island X." It was clear that we would soon be taking the fight to the enemy.

 

Some time back, I'd been promoted to sergeant and transferred to regimental headquarters as an intelligence noncom, so I was no longer one of Basilone's boys and I missed that. I visited Basilone in January 1945, only days before we were to ship out. I wanted to say goodbye to him and the guys, for we wouldn't be sailing together.

 

As I approached their tent area I could see the whole goofy crew giving one another haircuts with the company tools. John, his arms covered with hair, stood back surveying a perfectly grotesque job he'd just performed on another guy.

 

"Not bad," he said. "Mohawk style — oughta scare the hell outta some poor Jap."

 

"It scares me," I said, pulling off Basilone's cap. The handsome John was clipped bald as a brass ball.

 

He grinned. "What d'ya think?" Then, growing serious, "It'll be cleaner. There's no barber shops on Iwo Jima."

 

The words echoed in my ears long after I'd left him. Iwo Jima. So that was "Island X." Then I couldn't help thinking: Shortly before leaving Pendleton, John had married Sgt. Lena Riggi, a pretty female Marine. So why wasn't he back in Pendleton? His answer had always been the same: "I'm staying with my boys. They need me." Perhaps it was the only answer that mattered.

 

On the morning of Feb. 19, 1945, we hit Red Beach on Iwo and started climbing its black sides under a storm of enemy mortars and artillery. Basilone had landed one wave earlier.

 

Having assaulted a pillbox on the beach, Basilone gathered several Marines and left them to hold while he went back for more men and weapons.

 

On his way, Basilone spotted three Sherman tanks struggling up the beach under heavy fire. Knowing their value for knocking out bunkers, Basilone began guiding the tanks and pointing out targets while completely exposed.

 

Once on high ground, Basilone resumed rounding up troops for the assault team he had started building. To do this he'd have to recross the steep volcanic beach where many Marines were still pinned down by the enemy's relentless shelling and well-camouflaged pillboxes.

 

It was almost noon, and throughout the battle Basilone had risked his life repeatedly. It seemed nothing could touch him.

 

Many men have said they saw John Basilone fall on the beach, which he did not. One said Basilone's legs were blown off by a mine. Several claim they heard Basilone's final words, and one said Basilone begged to be put out of his misery with his own pistol. It's all fiction.

 

The most credible eyewitness is Roy Elsner — the headquarters cook who had watched our machine-gun drills back in Pendleton and knew Basilone by sight. He said that when he and some buddies were hunting for their headquarters: "A few hundred yards from Motoyama Field No. 1 we heard an explosion, which caused us to look [toward the field]. We saw Basilone and the three guys who were with him fall."

 

Some time after noon I came across a group of blackened bodies on the edge of Motoyama Airfield No. 1. Company C was advancing half a mile ahead, sweeping the flat field clean, when one of the dead caught my eye. He was a thin, pallid kid. His helmet was half off, and he lay face up, arched over his combat pack, with his jacket torn back and his mouth open. I vaguely recognized someone I had known in that lean, lifeless face beneath its dusty stubble of hair.

 

Someone said, "That's Basilone."

 

I walked around and asked, "Is this Basilone?"

 

A guy I knew said, "Yeah. He was briefing his guys when a mortar scored a direct hit. It killed them all."

 

I sat and studied the dead man closely, but I didn't touch him. The shell had landed at his feet, sending shrapnel into his groin, neck and left arm. He looked incredibly thin, like an undernourished kid, with his hands on his stomach as though it hurt. This was the hero of Guadalcanal, the joy of a nation, the pride of the Marines and my friend, John Basilone.

[Soleilrouge]

saw episode 6 and this is starting to be really predictable

 

 

the most arduos battle yet for a tiny strip of runway

 

marines suffering interminably

 

a few good men stick together

 

focus on a couple of characters and their families

 

minor pre-battle tension

 

horrible japs hiding everywhere

 

massive gory battle that last ten minutes

 

main chyareacter survies but is traumatised by the death of his best mate / gaylord

 

end with guy on ship covered in plasters looking philososphical

 

phase out and see ship heading home as battleships head other way

[Rex Banner]

Nice article Coro, from the sounds of it they captured the man well on the show.