I'm working hard...

Expect me to be 100% done by Wed... but I just finished the Peleliu campaign episodes. I wanted to comment:

Knowing I haven't finished the show, I think I can honestly say that this program did a fantastic job of showing just how different a "fight" it was in the Pacific, compared to the ETO. Everything was different... it was a different climate than the boys could possibly have been accustomed to, it was an enemy of almost alien nature with no shared or understood common ground, and the campaign itself (in the grand strategy-sort of way) made almost no sense to the common sailor or marine.

I will hold my final opinion to the end of the series, but there are aspects of this series that I can say I question... not in accuracy or content, but in format and presentation. I'm not thinking of this in light of "my eyes", but instead of what the veterans of the 1st Marines that actually fought in the Pacific might think of how this portrays their efforts. I'd hate to think that the whole series is going to pass and leave "me" (the general audience) with the possible impression that the effects of combat stress on the individual Marine were as debilitating and lasting as this program has (so far) presented.

I was especially touched by the scene of "Gene" wanting to finally "cash out some Jap gold" (i.e. collect gold teeth) at the end of the Peleliu battle scenes, before they returned to Pavuvu in the Solomons. I will watch that scene again to be sure I saw things right... but I can't say I'm a fan of the message that particular scene seemed to be sending.

Still... one can't argue the point that the difference in the combat scenes between this series and the BOB series is pointed, clear and a huge success. The enemy was mysterious, alien, unknown and almost universally misunderstood by the troops and marines "on the line".