Father and Son | The Pacific E01 'Guadalcanal/Leckie' - Reaction & Review!
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Here we go folks! My father and I finally started The Pacific today, and this was a GREAT first episode! We cannot wait to continue this journey with you all 😄
Remember this is not a substitute for watching the actual show.
If you haven't seen it, then please do so (available on HBO) and then come back to the video afterwards.
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The Colonel at the beginning your dad said "I think they call him chesty". That's Colonel Lewis "chesty" Puller. the most decorated Marine in history. When i went thru basic training years later, every night the DI's had us say " Goodnight Chesty, where ever you are". The man was and is a legend.
Thought so. After all, he WAS talking with his CHEST. K bye
I heard he’s the Marine’s Marine
I remember saying "Good night Chesty Puller where ever you are!" Good times man.
Yep he and the marines he commanded in WW2 & Korea were the finest marines ever to wear the eagle, globe, and anchor. I remember when I attended VMI and when I chose the Corps, and was comissioned in 2007, that Chesty set the example of what I was meant to be as a marine officer. To "The Old Breed!"💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 Lt. General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller (June 26, 1898 - October 11, 1971) "Goodnight Chesty, where ever you are!!!"💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
"They've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards."
Love how your father is a wealth of information. You're lucky to watch this show with someone who can give context and additional information to really appreciate the nuances in the mini-series.
Saves people like me a lot of typing lol
As a Filipino, my grandfathers who fought the Japanese Empire told me stories of their Soldier's brutality. One was a Captain in the military and fought alongside Americans at first then fought as a guerrilla fighter until the end of the war. The other was a resistance member who was forced to work for the Japanese as an engineer. His group gathered intel about building projects and troop movements for guerrilla fighters. Then later on for the invasion of Leyte. The way they told it, the Japanese soldiers didn't really see anyone who wasn't Japanese as humans and treated people like livestock. The stories they told me of what they witnessed I thought were exaggerations, that is until I grew up learning history and hearing what other occupied countries went through. I miss those men. They were the best I've ever known.
My great grandfather landed and fought on leyte and luzon. I never met him. He survived, but Everyone says he was never the same. Freedom has always had a cost, some scars never healed.
I was stationed at Clark Air Base for a while until I was sent to Vietnam 68/69. I was US Air Force Intelligence The indigenous people Negritos taught us survival and tactics with our instructors. My buddy had a Filipino girlfriend that lived in Angles City. Her Grandad was a retired Army NCO that landed with McArthur in Luzon. He returned to the PI after the war to marry the girl he met there. When we visited my buddy's girlfriends house sometimes her grandad was there and I would sit in the living room with him and listen to his stories for hours with a few San Miguel's, he was a great guy and he told me of the atrocities the Japanese committed during their occupation. I can see why our troops hated the Japanese so much, when they were told and saw what they did to the Filipino people and our POW's.
I was reading a book regarding Japanese pow camps in the Philippines during WWII. Apparently, before they occupied the Philippines the locals were fed up with American rule over the land, and treated the Japanese invasion with a slight optimism. Only to find out that the Japanese were far greater oppressors than the Americans had been at the time.
@@joeldykman7591 Depends on the person and their politics. Pinoy history would lend some credence to your book as we did not accept American rule immediately. Even fought America for 3 years before our complete subjugation. We saw them as interfering in our liberating ourselves from the Spaniards at the time. And we often chafed under their yoke. However my Grandfather who was a soldier and chose to serve with Americans during that time might have disagreed with that book. As he once said to me that there's a reason Filipinos are taught and speak English as a second language and not Spanish. Even though America only ruled the Islands for about 50 years. American rule was far more benevolent than Spain's and though Spanish influence is undeniable in our culture, we don't speak Spanish nationally and its rarely taught in schools.
It is exaggerated that ALL Japanese soldiers are evil and sadistic. My grandmother was a little girl in Singapore when the Japanese came. During the Occupation, some of the soldiers would give bread, cereal and chocolates to the children. She learned to speak conversational japanese and the soldiers always say she reminded them of their own children back home and would give advice to stay away from the Kempeitai (secret police) HQ where criminals and spies were tortured and executed. Remember there are always two sides of a story.
Sonny mentioned Eugene Sledge’s wealth. Eugene’s father was a physician, and his mother was university dean of women students which made them a well to do family.
When Sledge joined the Marine Corps, he was placed in a officer training program, where he and half of his detachment "flunked out" so they would be allowed to serve their time as enlistees and not "miss the war".
Sonny: "If you hear noises it's the neighbors moving stuff and vacuum cleaning"
Dad: "Or my old bones cracking"
Damn you dad, made me spit my tea in laughing.
Missing Kat, but Dad's a badass, glad to have him for this one
Side note: Eugene is being portrayed by Joseph Mazzello, from the original Jurassic Park movie! He played Timmy Murphy.
Thanks! I knew I had seen him somewhere but couldn't quite place him.
He also played Queen-bassist John Deacon in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie later on. Then being reunited with Rami Malek, Snafu on The Pacific, playing Freddie Mercury.
I’m from Malaysia,my great grandfather was a member of Force 136,a resistance organization which all their members are trained by the British.He was trained at Sri Lanka and sent back to Malaysia by submarine for mission.He was active from 1943-1945.Fought against the communist party in my country in 1948 til 1953.
My grandfather was a US Marine and was in the Pacific. Luckily he was also an engineer so he was not always on the front lines. He did create a water filtration system that saved over a 100K Australian and New Zealand soldiers from getting sick when drinking tainted water. He received a medal from Australia for his invention even those he was from the US. He also got hit by a Japanese bomb and was injured. He did not really talk about his time in the Pacific but he did say he saw some horrible thing there.
Andrew Crossley I never met my grandfather but he was awarded the silver star after the Battle of Guam. He was training and leading men with flamethrowers. I can’t even imagine the stories he must have had.
Well sounds like your grandfather did good work for mine. When Australians, Kiwis and Americans fight together we are never defeated.
The bulk of Australian forces in the Pacific theater were fighting in New Guinea. Perhaps your grandfather was there.
Loved your reaction, and love the fact that your father is reacting with you! He said that he wasn't as knowledgeable, but I have to say he knows a lot more than he let on lol. The Pacific Theater was known for it's brutality, while all battles are bloody the type of combat in the Pacific and Burma were known for there fierceness, and hazardous geography and climate. While in Europe, battles involved large armored thrust and maneuvering, The Pacific was a war of attrition, so fanatical was the Japanese military that US Marines were forced to kill every last Japanese soldier on a Island before the battle was won.
The naval battle you see was the Battle of Savo Island, in which a Japanese Naval Task Force launched a suprise night assult on a US Naval Task Force, it was followed by many more naval battles in the same general location. And so the stretch of water between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island of the Solomon Islands, became known as "Ironbottom Sound" because of the dozens of ships and planes that sank there during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942-43. Before the war, it was called Savo Sound. Every year on the battle's anniversary, a U.S. ship cruises into the waters and drops a wreath to commemorate the men who lost their lives. For many US Navy sailors, and those who served in the area during that time, the waters in this area are considered sacred, and strict silence is observed as ships cruise through.
Once again love your channel, love your reaction, and glad to see you react with your dad. This series means a lot to me, because I am a former US Marine Corps Captain (2007-2016) but my grandfather was also was US Marine Corp Captain (1942-1947) who served in the Pacific Theater During the Second World War and he lived long enough to see this series. Can't wait till the next episode!!!
Both of my grandfathers fought in the Pacific during WW2. One was an Army infantryman who fought in New Guinea and then in Mindinao in the Philippines. He was plagued with bouts of fever and pain the rest of his life from catching Malaria during his 18 months fighting. My other grandfather was a Sailor who delivered supplies to the grunts on shore in LSTs. He was badly wounded by one of the first deliberate Kamikaze attacks of the war at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was hospitalized for over a year but managed to recover.
Neither of them talked much about the war and simply moved on with their lives. My grandfather who was wounded finally told me about his experience after I came home wounded from my first combat tour in Iraq. My whole family was at his house for a holiday and he woke me up early one morning to go have breakfast with him. Then he just started talking about the war. I listened intently, understanding the gravity of what he was saying. I think it was his way of telling me that I shouldn’t wait 60 years to talk about it if I need to. As I served longer and did more tours in combat, I understand more just how important his words were to me on that morning. The burden of telling the world what war really is falls on those of us who have been. If more people understood what it really was, maybe we could keep ourselves from falling prey to its romanization and the eagerness that comes with it.
Your father is right. There still needs to be ethics and morals in war. (As much as can be)It is terrible enough alone. There must be a distinction between knowing what is necessary and what is retribution. They are absolutely not the same thing.
Very different than Europe. They are on islands here - no place to go and the Japanese do not surrender. So, win or die
I spoke to vets and the reality was that in battles between marines and Japanese during WW2, quarter was neither given nor asked for
All fights were to the death
Little to no mercy was shown by either side (by the Marines accounts that I’ve heard from)
Cheers
Not to mention you couldn't go on leave and flirt with the local girls. My great uncle fought in the Pacific and he told me that he was so jealous of my grandfather and his other brothers becuase he out of six of his brothers fought the Japanese while everyone else was in Europe dealing with fine weather, flirting with French, Belgium, Dutch and even German girls. But he described his experience as being in hell.
Catherine not all who experienced Japanese cruelty responded in kind
The marines certainly did
My grandfather served and refused to speak of his experience during the war.
The cruelties that soldiers can visit on one another in war are always bad
The war in the pacific theater was beyond that
They tortured marines and marines responded in kind
With the wars end both sides wanted to leave such atrocities behind them
The peace in Japan that was built was as successful as it was because of the desire to move forward together and leave the past in the past
Cheers to you
Stay safe
@@zachbocchino5501 Plenty of flirting happened in Japan after the war. lol
@@eodyn7 yeah but I can't imagine American Marines or G.I.s into asian girls at the time.
My grandfather was one of the original 6 Navajo Codetalkers to fought in the Pacific. One of the main reasons I joined the Marines. But the books, and series is our History as an organization. John Basilone, Chesty Puller, pretty much deities in our Corps. So glad that you and your pops are watching this!!!
John Baselone, played by Jon Sena is known throughout the Navy/ Marines. He has roads buildings and various structures named after him at Marine bases like Camp Pendleton Ca. You'll find out why in this series. Eugene Sledge is someone I identify with, as we both wished to serve, but had to overcome heart murmurs first. Mine dissapeared shortly before my entrance physical. I served in the US Navy in 1978, and the US Marines had my back for 20 years.
gravityprone part 2 I think just recently a destroyer was named after Basilone.
@ I was thinking that, but wasn't sure. Good catch.
The surface engagement was called the battle of Savo Island and was a critical defeat for the US Navy. The big explosion the Marines were cheering for was the flag ship's magazine exploding. The Navy completely underestimated the Japanese especially after Midway. They were excellent at night fighters without radar guided cannons. Torpedo hits were scary accurate. By sunrise what was left of the armada withdrew, and the invasion supplies and ammunition are all left at the bottom of the channel. To make it more dire, it was "tradition" the UCMC were given obsolete kit. Water cooled vickers machine guns and bolt action springfield rifles. The fighting was beyond brutal. And it gets worse the closer they get to the mainland. My grandfather was lucky. He was army in the solomons He could see the tracers in the hills above. He would have been a casualty to if he didnt know how to type (28 years old he would've been cannon fodder). Instead he became the company clerk. He and a lot of other guys felt guilty doing their jobs away from the fighting.
The Pacific was even more brutal than Band of Brothers. some hard to stomach gore is more visible due to the more colorful cinematography whereas BoB was de-saturated
Your accent's are very good, you guys must've worked hard in studying English.
Especially considering that the marines fought longer before Band Of Brothers takes place. The training and invasion of Europe didn't even happen until 1944 and they fought until 1945. Marines had already been fighting in the Pacific for 2-3 years at this point
hellowhat890 5 years ? Pearl Harbor happened in December 1941. This episode takes place in 1942. In 1944 when the D-Day happened the Marines had been fighting for over 2 years, not 5.
@@Filip2526 Oops. My bad. Corrected my comment.
Yeah cuz its more near the end of band of brothers where it got more brutal but every episode of the Pacific has at least one stomach churning scene. Whereas the Germans didnt brutalize American POWs on a massive scale, the Japanese took no prisoners except for slave labor
Sledge's father had been an Army Doctor during WW1---he KNEW what War did to young men's bodies and their minds. I imagine he was sick with fear that could happen to his own son.
I asked for your dad Sonny, you and Kat promised and delivered. Reactions with you and your dad as smart as whip, I'm waiting for him to comment and educate. Do the whole series and others. Even a Q&A maybe
I love the father very old school doesn't say much doesn't react much but when he does it count
Great reference to the "battle of Los Angeles." I used to live on Ft MacArthur, now a housing base for military and government employees, right on the coast, in San Pedro, CA. Just behind the base, up the hill, is the old battery emplacement. Every year, on the anniversary of the "battle of LA" There is a reenactment done. It's open to the public. People are encouraged to dress in the period and act out the party that was going on on the base when the battery began shooting at suspected Japanese planes. They sound the air raid sirens and put on the search lights in the sky. It's really something to see.
The sacrifice of Capt. Wild Bill Kelso. 🇺🇸🍻
“My name is Wild Bill Kelso, and don't you forget it.”
According to official records, five people died in the "Battle of Los Angeles." Three in automobile accidents, and two due to heart attacks, caused by the panic. Additionally several buildings and several vehicles were damaged by falling anti-aircraft shell fragments. In reality there were no Japanese aircraft or submarines anywhere near LA that night - it was a pure case of inadequate training and jittery nerves.
I live in Rancho Palos Verdes just southwest of San Pedro, and i know exactly what you're talking about
@@MisterMac4321 yeah, the canon blasts blew out windows
I think sitting down for tea and coffee with Dad to just talk about war history would be a day well spent for me.
Did anyone else notice the Dad knew what “Blue on Blue” was. Deep Cut Sir!
Joshua Frydenlund, I hadn’t noticed until reading your post. Military lingo is standard with me, yet foreign to civilians. I’ll quote a schoolteacher friend listening to a conversation between my military buds and I had at a bar. “We speak the same language but I did not understand one thing you guys just said.” 😂
Al Orange Spc. Fry. Army 88m. You bro?
Joshua Frydenlund, I’m a lifer: 0311, 0351, 0369 (Infantry); 8152 (Security Forces); 8411 (Recruiter). 🍻
Al Orange nice Marine! I fought out of TQ 07-08. You guys called us Motor T.
Joshua Frydenlund, my brother also deployed there (Camp Manion) in 2018 with 3rd battalion, 4th Marines. TQ was handed over to IGF this past April.
Here is some semblance of context for you about the Pacific Theater up to the point of this episode. On Dec 7th 1941, the Japanese declared war on the US, UK, Dutch, Australians, and Thailand. After crippling the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, they took over Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, and invaded New Guinea. During this offensive, they basically kicked the crap out of everyone they fought, and were making a push to invade Australia. Occupation of the many islands of Oceana allowed them to build airfields all over, like the one they were building on Guadalcanal. This was important because land based aircraft could be heavier than carrier based aircraft, with their limited space to take off and land. That meant they could carry more fuel for longer range, more bombs, more supplies, and you could fit a lot more planes on an airfield than you could on a carrier. Carriers allowed a nation to project their air power over a much greater distance, though. At the onset of the war, Japan had 8 fleet (big) carriers to the United States 4. They knew the US could build more quickly though, and thus Japan sought to win the war early before the US could do so.
By May of 1942, the only place the allies were still holding out was in New Guinea. If New Guinea fell, Japan would have a defensive wall of islands around Australia to prevent allied interference in their invasion of it. In early May 42, the Japanese tried to launch a seaborne invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, which was the headquarters of allied forces in the pacific. Americans sent two aircraft carriers and stopped the invasion in the Battle of the Coral Sea, but lost one of their carriers and the other was heavily damaged in the process. This lead to the Japanese attempting to build the airfield on Guadalcanal off the eastern coast of New Guinea, as it would have given them an airbase which prevented Allied forces from being able to defend New Guinea again. This made it necessary to stop them with the invasion of ground troops, and taking Guadalcanal and the airfield would give the Allies a base with which they could launch counter attacks on the Japanese invasion of New Guinea as well as protect their shipping lines from the US to Australia.
The invasion of Guadalcanal, being the first allied offensive operation of the war against Japan, caught the Japanese by surprise because the US fleet was hidden from scout planes by heavy storms and cloud cover. Thus the initial landing was largely unopposed. At night, however, the Japanese fleet was able to ambush the American fleet while they were landing supplies for the marines, doing an incredible amount of damage and causing the full withdrawal of the US fleet. This left the marines alone on the island unsupported, with no supplies, and the Japanese aware of their presence and planning a counter attack. Thats where this episode ends.
kosmokenny *Marines. We always capitalize the “M”.
@@HollywoodMarine0351 Yeah but you also have nametags on your butts for some reason. I could never figure out why, we didn't need them in the army.
kosmokenny, there are several reasons. Tops off in a working party, but you can read their names. Also if trousers are serviceable, they are sure to get lost, stolen, misappropriated or tactically acquired by someone else. 😉
Good informative post by the way. Here’s to you my Army brother.
🍻
The real Robert Leckie's memoir "A Helmet For My Pillow" is what this is based upon. Fantastic book. Couldn't put it down.
That, and it's also based upon "With The Old Breed On Peleliu" written by Eugene Sledge.
The Pacific intro is one of the greatest intros and themes in television history. One of the ones you never skip.
it’s always the “right state of mind” when it’s the state of mind that allows you to do what needs to be done
In 1943 the US launched the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal. In 1944 she was the flagship of a hunter-killer group which captured the German submarine, U-505 which is now on display in Chicago.
Welcome back, Dad! I am so impressed by your knowledge of WWII and the American experience/perspective. Your commentary really adds a lot. My father was in Guam and Iwo Jima. He wouldn't talk about the combat, but he always said how terrible the jungle was, especially the ticks and the leeches. They couldn't stop to take them off while they were hacking through the jungle, and by the time they could rest, they were covered with them, awful welts from the leeches, and they ticks were so numerous, they couldn't remove them all properly. So many tick heads were left in his skin, and then grown over, and they would cause a burning itchy rash, for years.
I enjoy your father's perspective and his knowledge and understanding of us history. Thank you, Sir!
This series is different because it is based off 3 books, BOB was based off the one, so you get to know them much deeper
A main source is “helmet for my pillow “ by Bob Lemke which is why he’s featured so much
@@donaldmurtagh4686 I bought his book after the show, Sledgehammers as well
Daniel Salcido same. Both are incredible reads. Sledge’s book, “With the Old Breed” is the best book I’ve ever read on the Pacific Theater.
@@charlesedwards2856 I agree with you on both points
Including the Pacific it's a shame they missed out some of the characters in the book
The massive ship explosion at night was likely the Juneau. The 5 Sullivan brothers were on that ship. Partially inspiring Saving Private Ryan.
I 👏 Love 👏 Sonny👏 and 👏 Dad 👏 Reaction!!! 👏 👏 👏 Dad has so much knowledge and I am HERE FOR IT.
P.S. Dad your English is perfect ♥️
I have The Pacific on DVD and it is brutal. Both my grand fathers fought in the Pacific and only one ever spoke about it. He fought at Saipan and Tarawa with the Marines. The other was a Navy CB.
The guy who plays Eugene Sledge is also the little kid from Jurassic Park :D
My grandfather was an Army medic in the Pacific Theatre. He ran up to another wounded medic to provide aid and was shot in the head. The Japanese did target them, eventually they go rid of their Red Cross insignia.
Sonny's dad straight look like a SMU member, straight 20 year to lifer SOKOM soldier and ish. Thanks for having him be in this viewing series. The series The Pacific is close to my heart as about a dozen or so members of my clan fought in the Pacific. About 8 members of the USAFFE during WW2.
I loved both Band of Brothers and the Pacific. Both both were done in a entirely different way. Brothers dealt on almost every member of the unit while the Pacific focused on the three. Different theaters and a different way of fighting. The Pacific finally comes into it's own when they hit Pelieu. My Father fought with the 2nd Marine Division at Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. I would serve in combat with the same Division in Beirut, Panama and Desert Storm.
I can’t describe how humbling it is for you guys to be so knowledgeable about American military history, without being from here. I’m damn proud of all our allies. Mange tak, mine herrer. 🤘🏼
Also, Robert Leckie’s book “A Helmet For My Pillow” is an outstanding first hand account of the many adversities these warriors faced.
It's great these stories are finally being told because to be fair the European theater gets the most recognition in ww2 history. But the opposite side deserved to be told also.
Well done, fellows. Great viewing with the two of you. Appreciate your insights! 👍👍👍
Im so pumped for these reactions especially because I love how much of a History Buff your dad is. My great-uncle actually fought and died in the Pacific theatre in the battle of Tarawa. His family actually found out about his death on Christmas eve. Even worse,his body/ remains weren’t recovered and he is still somewhere on that Island. I think about it from time to time about how his family never had a body to bury. “War is Hell”
Of all people who reacts to The Pacific you are my favorite! Yeah, try to react to the movie "MIDWAY" (2019) too.. very good movie.. :)
The large machine gun they are carrying off the landing craft was the WW 1 issue Model 1917. The large tube is a water jacket as this is a water cooled gun. It's connected to a water can and the water circulates around the barrel, thus it can never go over 212F the boiling point. Because of this it was great for fixed positions and long periods of sustained fire. But it was a beast, it's total weight was about 97 pounds! So they had a 3 man crew, one was the gun bearer, then the tripod on the 2nd guys back and #3 was the ammo bearer. But going into WW 2, most country's were trying to go to a light air cooled gun that was much lighter and portable. The US had the M-1919, the Japanese had a light machine gun that sorty worked. Perhaps the best light machine gun design of the war was the German MG-42.
Also the Marines had bought a batch of Model 1928 Tommy guns in the 30's and we see a few here, with their iconic 50 round drum magazines (they also made some 100 round drums, which were huge and never became popular).
Your dad is awesome...he knows his stuff.
Band of Brothers and The Pacific are two treasures. I remember the first time I watched BoB I was mostly drinking the whole time, simultaneously missing the camaraderie and brotherhood I felt in the Army but also thanking my lucky stars that I never had to face combat during my service. I was a medic and I trained for it, but all the training would be nothing compared to the real thing.
You watching this with your dad is amazing!! Can't wait to watch the rest of your guys reactions!!!
Really enjoying your Dad's input, glad to have him watching with you. I am a student of history and he is spot on with his comments.
Gentlemen, I’m very appreciative of your thoughtful analysis of the war our Marines fought in the Pacific theatre. Dad sure does know a ton of the American Pacific war, my hat’s off to you. I don’t know as much about what our Allies went through, maybe I should look that up as well. It never hurts to understand your enemies culture either. I believe the Japanese are pretty decent people, unfortunately in those days, they looked at reality through the lenses of the code of Bushido and a very arrogant attitude toward other cultures.
There is a saying that says, Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. It’s a very sobering thought when there are those that are trying to wipe out our country’s past history, you gotta ask yourself, why.
Anyhow, glad you’re enjoying watching it as much as I did the first time I did.
Cheers.
The machine gun Leckie is carrying is a browning 1917A1 water cooled MG. It was used in WW1 up until the 60s.
The barrel is surrounded by a water jacket for cooling. It weighed a little over 30 pounds. Leckie is carrying over 30 pounds of steel and water on his shoulders. In addition to the rest of his gear. Another man carries the 50 pound tripod. Then there is the ammunition. Not sure of they still used the water can at this point.
The Guadalcanal campaign lasted six months. Sadly the series covers it in only two episodes. This undermines the sense of isolation the marines suffered when the U.S. fleet was beaten back by the Japanese. This is my biggest criticism of the series. It could have used an extra two or three episodes to cover the Guadalcanal, and Pelelue campaigns. Also the experience of Pavuvu island.
Oh the openig music is pure masterpiece gets me all the time!
I get chills every time I listen the opening score. I think it's that low rumble of the drums at one point that almost sounds like bombs in the distance. Love it.
Battle of Alligator Creek (aka the Tenaru River) was pretty much a one-sided massacre. The Japanese forces were mostly from the 28th Infantry Regiment (also called the Ichiki detachment, after it's commander), with a strength of roughly 900 men; of those, over 770 were killed. Against them were some 3000 Marines of the 1st Marine Regiment; less than 50 Americans were killed in the battle. Col.Ichiki had little sense of how many enemies he was facing and was convinced that if he mounted a sudden frontal attack he'd be able to break through and re-take the airfield - obviously, he was wrong.
A curious side note is that Col.Ichiki's ill-considered attack was likely at least partially inspired by his frustration at having missed out on action in the preceding months. His unit had previously been slated to invade both Port Moresby (which was cancelled after the Battle of Coral Sea) and Midway (which was cancelled after four Japanese carriers were sunk at the Battle of Midway) and had basically been floating around for months, waiting to go into action, before being rushed to Guadalcanal in response to the US Marines landing there.
Lancer Macman Col. Ichiki committed hari kiri after that disastrous defeat, correct?
@ There are conflicting accounts about how Ichiki died. Some sources state he was killed in action leading the attack at Tenaru on the night of 21 August; others claim he committed ritual suicide the next day because of the humiliation of how total the defeat had been (effectively he'd lost the entire combat force the Japanese had on the island at the time).
My family has fought in almost all the wars from the American revolution to Viet nam and all came home with PTSD except 1. And the respect I had for my grand father was incredible as he fought under mac Arthur till 2 yours were over then he joined the marines and fought on okinawa and was in Japan in the occupational forces one hell of a guy I miss till I die
What really surprises me. Was just how ignorant we were at the beginning of the war. Thinking the Japanese would just roll over, and play dead. We had no idea, just how tenaciously they would fight...and just how many years the war would go on for. I love the Pacific mini-series, and I'm sure you guys will love it as well. And the thing about the Navy leaving the Marines stranded..was because they were heavily engaged by a very skilled Japanese fleet. Who's crew were well trained at fighting at night...so it was either, lose all of the support ships...or retreat.
The sea battle depicted was the battle of Savo Island. There were 4 other naval battles between Guadalcanal, Savo Island and Florida Island with 17 Japanese ships/subs and 25 US ships being sunk. Thus the nickname Iron Bottom Sound. Like the USS Arizona this area is considered to be sacred to the US Navy.
One of the ships lost around Guadalcanal was the USS Juneau in which 5 brothers from the same family all perished.
Great review! And please thank your dad for his service!
Wonderful discussion at the end of this. I've rather enjoyed the few of Kat and Sonny's reactions that I've seen so far. But I'm a kinda-sorta-semi-serious 20th Century military history enthusiast, and so find your Dad's insight a special joy to take in. (And he's apparently a Star Wars fan, too? Major bonus points!) I look forward to watching more of this series.
Your Dad mentioned the 'Battle of Los Angeles'... the civilians' fear of a Japanese invasion of the West Coast of the USA was indeed very real at the time, and people were quite jittery, leading to many false alarms, with the 'Battle of Los Angeles' being the most well-known. Steven Spielberg made a comedy film that was based on all of that, titled '1941'. It's a brilliant and rather outrageous comedy... absolutely hilarious in spots. It's a flick that could not be made today because it has alotta so-called politically-incorrect humor which would get alotta folks nowadays hot and bothered. I highly recommend it...
The comments about "morality and ethics" will become a much more interesting conversation as the series moves along and develops.
This was war at it's most savage and the feelings were extremely strong....akin to how westerners feel today about ISIS or Al Queda.
I just breezed through your reactions to BoB. Kat will be missed but your fathers input is fantastic. He clearly knows a lot and its great to get that extra input on tactics and how things developed, and of course even talking about the ethical/unethical things that happen in war. I've never seen the pacific but having your fathers input will be a treat going forward. Love your reactions to these. Subbed.
My grandpa was a ww2 VET IN THE pacific, he always said his greatest fear was three of his sons were of age or close for being drafted into vietnam. He told my dad it was one thing for him to go to war and another to send his sons. My dad never appreciated that until my brother was in the marines just after 9/11, he said the sleepless nights were worse than the actual experience because he had no control over the situation. I never got my grandpa to tell me many stories from the war but when i inherited his 1911 .45 after my dad passed he would only say that that weapon had killed people, not person, but people. He would never say another word about it .
the us marines did get other /older equipment issued.
they didnt use the browning aircooled maschinegun, but older water cooled ww1 style maschine guns with very heavy tripods, they didnt get the newer semi automatic m1 garand rifles, but older springfield 1902 repeating rifles etc etc.
the paratroopers on the western front had the newest and most modern us equipment, the marines got shafted and got ww1 equipment.
only at the later stages, they got experimental infrared scopes for snipers etc.
Zhufor TheImpaler That continues as far as I know ( it was like that when I was in the army in the early 90’s). The marines generally get second hand, or ‘hand me down’ equipment. I I always thought it was odd to give an elite force less than the very best. Hopefully this has changed.
Jeez, I hope so too.
We US Marines do more with less. 😉
It's worth noting that at the start of WW2 slightly over half the .30 cal machine guns in use by the US Army were still the older, water-cooled M1917 variant you see the Marines using here. Simply put, Depression-era budgets had kept all branches of the US military from modernizing as rapidly as they'd have liked, and it wasn't until war was declared that production increased to a point where the older M1917 models began being replaced with the lighter-weight and superior M1919 versions. But yes, the Marines were on the lower end of the modernization spectrum and had to keep using the older weapons well into 1943 (although, to be fair, given the fact that the 1st Marine Division was deployed to the South Pacific so soon after the war broke out, it's highly unlikely they'd have been able to be re-equipped before they were committed to Guadalcanal in August '42).
Lancer Macman Thats true. I was recently reading that many soldiers initially deployed with the ‘03 Springfield rifle & not the M1Garand semi automatic rifle that became famous during WWII due to the fact that the budget wasn’t able to get the Garand into soldiers hands, sometimes until late 1944. I’m not sure how many marines ever got them.
I've always revered my dad's generation,he was pacific Navy heavy cruiser,to be able to here and see accurate portrayed speech and behavior,from that time is stirring.from what my dad says about Japanese he met at occupation,and what I've read ,the soldiers were expected to obey the empirors orders to the death or not come home dishonored.
The music in The Pacific is absolutely amazing.
I’m so glad that Papa is joining you.
Once you read Leckie's "Helmet For My Pillow" and Sledge's "With the Old Breed" the show becomes alot deeper. After reading the books i put The Pacific and Band of Brothers on the same level. Both my favorite mini series of all time.
There's a very interesting set of film clip deconstructions created by "Never2Yung" which are posted here on RUclips. He plays the scene from the film and then compares it to excerpts from the books the series was based on. It's fascinating to see how well the producers/directors of "The Pacific" stayed true to the source material, and where they chose to diverge from it.
This was awesome with your Dad, Sonny. Look forward to more.
The machine gun that guy was carrying is the water cooled version of the 30 caliber machine gun. It's called the M 1917a1 They had another version later in the war. That was an air cooled version called the M 1919
18:03 Hearing the 'happy birthday' song made me smile. Hearing the 'how fucked are you now' song made me shed a tear of joy.
Great reactions! I come from a family of men who served in the United States military forces -- going all of the way back to the Revolutionary War (and even the French-Indian War). I look forward to seeing you watch the rest of the episodes of this series.
We lived on Guadalcanal street at one of the air force bases we were stationed at.
It was a good opening to a conversation on what Guadalcanal even meant
Your Dad looks like he'd tell me to quit my shit and focus.Digging the episodes!
I just finished watching your Band of Brothers reaction and then I see you just uploaded this! (fist pump)
I was an asshole person when I joined the US Army. I was a drug addict that stole and lied. I was a disappointment. I remember coming home from Afghanistan for R+R about 2 months into my deployment. We had not done any missions yet, still training our ANA counterparts with on base training regimens. My parents knew I would start doing actual patrols as soon as I got back to Afghanistan.
The day I left, they dropped me off at the airport and came inside with me as far as they could. When I turned around after the security check point, I turned around to wave at them one last time. I will never forget the worried looks on their faces, even being the asshole that I was. I swore that if I ever made it home, I would try to make them proud of me. I am not perfect, but I have worked as hard as I could to keep that promise. Just 2 more semesters and I'll be done with college. About to be married, and hopefully give them a few grandkids to dote on.
"[The Island]'s a very good aircraft carrier, very hard to sink". Well shit.. when you're right, you're right!
Your dad is awesome! Keep up the great content!
My great grandfather was in the army during ww2. Fought in the battles of PNG, south Phillipines and luzon as a BAR gunner
Nice seeing your dad react with you!
Interesting to note in the brief scene where they show the Battle of Savo Island on the night of 8-9 August 1942 almost as many American and Australian sailors lost their lives that night (1,077) as USMC marines were killed (1,202) in the entire 6 months of the Guadalcanal campaign.
After this can you also do a reaction of "Generation War" it's like a German Band of Brothers☺️😁
That would be awesome
It's a great series.
yes and the original title of that series was "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter"
@@sergmichel something mother something father
@@rhysevans4253 it translate to "our mother, our father"
I've been patiently waiting for this! Thank you Sonny and Sonny's Dad(sorry I didn't catch his name).
War is hell, these series show a glimpse of what happened.
Thank you for all you do
Loved your dad involved in the reaction, he was very attentive to the show.
13:25 The Battle of Savo Island was the worst defeat inflicted on the US Navy in the war. Four heavy cruisers were lost to very minimal damage suffered by the Japanese. Nearly 1100 Allied sailors died in the battle, and by the end of the campaign the US Navy lost four sailors to every soldier or marine who died fighting on land.
My grandpa was a marine in WW2. He told one story. He hated stacking firewood because it reminded him to much of how he handled Japanese bodies after battles. Every so often he said they would shoot the piles of bodies because uninjured Japanese soldiers would get in the pile and then start shooting from inside the mass of bodies.
Between October 1942 until January 1943, the US Navy had only one carrier available (well he was damaged but able to be on action), and they tried to protect a lot that carrier called USS Enterprise, also knowed as the BIG E or as would be later also be called The Grey Ghost (that was because at least 4 times, the Japanese though that they had sunk the Enterprise), and in January 1943, the Big E got relived by the carrier USS Saratoga and the new Essex class carrier USS Essex
Holy shit. You sound just like each other. 5:56 your dad 🦴🤣
That was the Ichiki detachment that got slaughtered. They called the location of the battle, Alligator Creek, but it was also better known as the battle of the Tenaru River. An actual photo below.
Eugene Sledge earned the nickname " Sledgehammer " it was well earned
Awww you and your Papá make the best duo! ❤️ (Kat's still My Queen tho) so’ exited for the next episode! 😄
🦄💜
🙌🏾 Semper Fi from a 10th Marine Vet I loved this show
I think the navel battle they were watching was at Iron Bottom Sound where the Japanese Navy managed to sneak into a group of USN ships and cause a lot of damage. To top it off, the USN ended up shooting at each other because they weren't used to night fighting this early in the war. The Japanese Navy were expert night fighters at the beginning of the war. It was an embarrassment, but a great learning experience.
The naval battle depicted in this episode is the "Battle of Savo Island" (which did, indeed, occur in what would later become called Iron Bottom Sound due to the large number of warships, of both sides, that were sunk in that area during the course of the Guadalcanal campaign). The action in this particular battle was extremely confused, with ships of both sides accidentally firing on friendly vessels. Fortunately for the Japanese, most of their 'friendly fire' missed the intended targets, but at least one Allied ship (HMAS Canberra) was sunk by the intense USN gunfire and several others heavily damaged.
As a result of this debacle the Allies pulled all their ships out of the immediate area. To this day the Marines still remember this and claim they were "abandoned" by the Navy. In actual fact, only Admiral Fletcher's carrier force left immediately; Admiral Turner, against explicit orders directing him to withdraw, chose to remain in the area at great risk (since so many of his covering cruisers force had been sunk) to continue unloading the transports. Eventually, after receiving intelligence reports that an even larger Japanese task force was headed toward Guadalcanal, Turner also withdrew - but his decision to stay allowed over 90% of all the Marine's cargo to be offloaded (which could well have been the logistical margin that allowed the Marines to hang onto the island for those first critical months).
When you guys finish this series, you should check out Generation Kill. It's another HBO miniseries, but it's the USMC in 2004 at the beginning of their war on Iraq. It still holds fairly true to the actions and mentalities of war, but you see it from a much more modern perspective.
Absolutely. And unlike "American Sniper" and a lot of other productions centered around the Iraq War, it actually tried to stay true to events. There was at least one marine who portrayed himself on-screen and others took part advising in production.
Generation Kill is a good series to certain audience, mostly veteran like myself. Generation Kill went to great lengths to display the attitude of combat soldiers from humor to combat situations and I have to say they did that very well. On the other hand, for everyday civilians the series isn't as enjoyable mostly because it makes them uncomfortable, and the humor turns them off because, like Donny O'Malley from VET TV says "they don't understand it." Its a hard series to watch because in many ways its made for veterans an not for civilians, which would make it difficult to react to. But don't get me wrong I love Generation KIll, mostly because I am a marine veteran and I can relate to the situations and context of conversations.
@@David-qu5bn Yeah you hit it right on the head. I watched it with my wife about a year ago it was here first time seeing it, and she found it hard to follow and also she was put off my some of the attitudes and situations that civilians don't understand. I on the other hand found the series great and surprisingly accurate in some parts and things that i found funny she thought was horrible, like I said its hard for civilians to get while vets or active duty will find enjoyable.
While I miss Kat's reaction, I really enjoy your father and his insights. I am really looking forward to this.
By the time the Japanese were getting out of Guadalcanal, the slang term their troops used for it was "starvation island".
Thing about this series is it only depicts half the war. The first part was the Japanese smashing the British in Malaya and then taking the impregnable city of Singapore and crushing the Americans in the Philippines. They also took out the the Dutch in Indonesia, but Hitler had already dealt with the home country there. In Australia at this point we felt we were next. Churchill wanted our guys to go off to fight Hitler, but we were much more worried about Hirohito. It was that point when we switched to the US alliance over Britain. Australians dealt the first land defeat to the Imperial Japanese Army at Milne Bay in New Guinea. Combined with the naval Battle of the Coral Sea where US and Australian forces first turned back the Japanese tide at sea, it was the beginning of the fight back, where this series kicks off.
Been seriously looking forward THE PACIFIC reviews. Thanks!
Fantastic reaction! I can't wait to see the rest! What I love about this series, compared to Band of Brothers, is that they also spend a lot of time showing war-time USA too! Throughout this series, you're going to see a very different type of enemy than the Germans. Very different....
Great to have your father join you for this series, with his knowledge of military history! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series with you both reacting!
Around 775 Japanese soldiers died in that battle at Alligator Creek. There are actual pictures of the dead on the beach that looked like this episode. They kept coming.
Hey Sonny, hey Dad 👋 love the Sgt York Reference, first time I’ve heard it, shout out to dads creaky bones btw 🦴 😎
My great uncle was in the navy.
In the pacific. He would talk about the nightmare of fighting them.
He would sleep to escape, but their navy were so trained. He knew, the more he fought the more the enemy broke.
He saw so many die. He was on a cruiser. It was “sunk” 5 times.
The Americans recovered sooo many ships. They knew they WOULD be hit. The Japanese were amazing at avoidance, but when the got hit, they were glass cannons
He said when they island hopped.. it was like stepping onto hell.
He told me to always thank a marine.
Your dad is so great. You should name him so we can sing his praises. Or just say thanks. You know?
So the first battle at alligator creek was a kamikaze attack but with infantry. They only sent 100 men to fight an overwhelming force knowing they’d lose. Just crazy how dedicated to the Emperor these men were.