addendum

addendum

I should humbly point out that in no way did I even attempt to demean the the fact that Sledge only served on two island campaigns. IIRC the typical casualty count on every island was shocking high: far higher than the 20 percent figure used in the European theater before pulling back regiments for regrouping and replenishing. In the Pacific, you had to be basically disabled or have won the fight in order to be pulled out. Take those flag raisers at Iwo Jima: three, or was it four, were killed after the photo, which did not mean that the fighting was over.

Add to that, some of the most devastating battles were judged in hindsight to be unnecessary. Some were even argued in the American high command even at the time to be useless (Peleliu, for example). At Guadacanal, US troops were abandoned, essentially, by the US Navy once the Japanese Imperial fleet showed up. It is definitely not a pretty picture.

Even Stephen Ambrose, who wrote the Band of Brothers, was open about admitting that finding a regiment that served successfully throughout the European theater, fighting in almost every major battle was a stroke of luck.

That both series are based on personal experiences shows the disparity of kind of war waged on the two fronts. On one front, the individual role in the general scope of things could readily be seen. On the other, one simply fought for survival. They fought for a tiny scrap of land, fighting both environment and the enemy. There were no real breakthroughs: there was no decisive tactical movements which dislodged the enemy. No one could retreat very far: it was killed or be killed:win or die. It was simply a brutal slug fest.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Gone through five episodes of the Pacific... what crap... - Victor Khomenko 10:48:55 04/13/10 (16)

I wasn't impressed......... - Awe-d-o-file 20:11:51 04/14/10 (0)

THe idea was good... the execution less so.... - oscar 05:38:39 04/14/10 (0)

RE: Gone through five episodes of the Pacific... what crap... - Grant 03:57:38 04/14/10 (0)

I'll continue to watch, but the last episode - Road Warrior 22:24:29 04/13/10 (0)

RE: Gone through five episodes of the Pacific... what crap... - unclestu 19:46:29 04/13/10 (1)

addendum - unclestu 13:47:37 04/14/10 (0)

Why not just buy a loincloth, a whip, and flagellate yourself in public? :') nt - tinear 16:17:12 04/13/10 (1)

You've caught the feeling of it! - Victor Khomenko 16:21:55 04/13/10 (0)

Spielberg understands what people in Peoria and those who view the world in black/white want to see - Tony D. 15:09:49 04/13/10 (0)

Oh dear me - Des 14:55:19 04/13/10 (0)

RE: Gone through five episodes of the Pacific... what crap... - patrickU 14:12:57 04/13/10 (5)

If it were French, he'd sleep with - tinear 16:18:48 04/13/10 (3)

RE: Don´t count you out. nt - patrickU 01:56:14 04/14/10 (2)

My heart belongs to... Sandrine Bonnaire. The - tinear 11:05:35 04/14/10 (1)

RE: My heart belongs to... Sandrine Bonnaire. The - patrickU 12:47:32 04/14/10 (0)

Not a bad first shot! :) nt - Victor Khomenko 14:49:06 04/13/10 (0)

Follow Ups

addendum - unclestu 13:47:37 04/14/10 (0)

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