The scenes of the battle at Peleliu are spectacular... without going strictly first-person POV (point of view), it shows just how unbelievably confused and terrifying jungle combat can be, and WAS, for soldiers that are not used to the environment.
Having seen both the Melbourne and Basilone episodes, I can completely agree with Jambo... too much background, not enough "in the war" material. My concerns are with the scattered scenes where specific marines are shown suffering that "dark night of the soul". The one that hit me hardest was Sledge after the Peleliu battle.
You've both seen it numerous times to my once... so surely you see the rather obvious and pointed connection between Sledge wanting to take out some gold teeth from a dead Jap... and his father's warning about allowing his soul to be ripped out through the horrors of combat. Sledge was willing to lose a part of his soul... not for the value of the gold teeth, but because the pain of watching the suffering and blood shed was getting to be too much. If he did what those other "seemingly" heartless marines did (he didn't see them losing any sleep over pulling gold teeth from a not-quite-dead Jap, did he?) then perhaps he'd be able to "cope" the way they were.
The character/marine that stops Sledge from pulling the teeth seems to want him to stop because the act is "bad"... but it turns out it is bad because the bodies have germs that the divisional medical officer warned them all about (the entrenched Japs were riddled with typhiod fever and thyphus because of their compromised drinking water supplies and lack of sanitation), not because it is a morally reprehensible act of a barberous beast.
A true event (or nearly so) I'm sure... but it doesn't paint an accurate picture of what the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of the Pacific theater were all about, I'm sure too.
Look... I'm tickled to death with this series. The distractions of the "extra" experiences (non combat, that is) not withstanding, the actual battle scenes may even beat those of BOB... so don't think I'm down on Pacific... just making some observations for conversation's sake.
By the way... my laptop is now downstairs and plugged in, but I'm sharing time with Liz and Jake, so if there is a delay in a response here (or anywhere else) from me, don't think I'm not paying attention, okay?
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