By Matthew Rowe

If you are a fan of war movies, you may have seen the HBO miniseries The Pacific. The ten-episode project, produced in part by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, was released in 2010 and achieved tremendous success. The Pacific was the companion piece to the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Both series intimately follow the lives of American soldiers in World War II and are impressively detailed and based on the real experiences of American heroes. 

The Pacific DVD cover. Image credit: Flickr user Kenming Wang.

I stumbled upon Band of Brothers on the History Channel during daytime TV over spring break in March. I spent the evenings of the next two weeks binge-watching the show with my dad. The two of us were drawn in by the thrilling realism that came with the interpersonal stories of real men in WWII. As a fan of the legendary 1998 film Saving Private Ryan and other war movies in general, I was intrigued by the soldier’s insight into the war rather than just the names of battles learned in history class. 

The Pacific follows the journeys of three Marines in separate regiments of the 1st Marine Division during the Pacific campaign of WWII. Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge, and John Basilone were in the 1st, 5th, and 7th regiments, respectively. The storyline is based primarily on Sledge’s memoir With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, Leckie’s memoir Helmet for My Pillow, and Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum, a Marine who fought alongside Basilone at Iwo Jima. 

Leckie, played by James Badge Dale, enlisted in the Marines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He fought in the Guadalcanal campaign and at the Battle of Cape Gloucester before being wounded at the Battle of Peleliu, leading to his eventual honorable discharge in 1945. After his time in the war, Leckie resumed his job as a reporter, writing more than 40 books on American war history, including his famous memoir. 

Sledge, played by Joseph Mazzello, joined the military against family and friends’ advice in order to protect his country. He saw combat as a mortarman at Peleliu and Okinawa in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he struggled with emotions of grief and suffering. Sledge eventually became a university professor and author, detailing his war experiences in his famous memoir, which helped him cope with his feelings. 

John Basilone, played by Jon Seda, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940 after a few years in the Army. He was stationed in Guadalcanal as a machine gunner, where he earned a Medal of Honor “for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action against enemy Japanese forces, above and beyond the call of duty.” Basilone became a famous U.S. hero, selling war bonds for a few years until meeting and marrying his wife Lena Mae Riggi in 1944. Basilone returned to action in 1945 in the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he fought heroically and died saving fellow Marines. He was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross for his actions at Iwo Jima. 

As for The Pacific as a whole, many viewers found the miniseries brilliant, horrifying, yet fascinating all at the same time. Rotten Tomatoes summarized the miniseries as “An honest, albeit horrifying, exploration of World War II. The Pacific is a visually stunning miniseries not for the faint of heart.” The close focus on gory details in the lives of the U.S. Marines is stunning. Through its three main characters, the miniseries allows you to build a strong connection with these individuals. 

Unlike Band of Brothers, the soldiers depicted were in three separate regiments, rather than just one. Some viewers noted that this made the miniseries somewhat hard to follow. Upper School English teacher Vlastik Svab, who shows Band of Brothers in his Literature of Conflict English class, said, “I felt it was structurally choppy. It felt like three different movies edited together.” The storylines of Leckie, Sledge, and Basilone do not really cross in the miniseries. 

An important aspect of The Pacific is the illustration of the brutal conditions of the Pacific Theater. Unlike the European front, American soldiers battled with the elements as much as they did the enemy. Soldiers faced hot temperatures and humid climates on desolate jungle islands, which often led to health complications including dysentery, cholera, malaria, and more. The miniseries brings the challenges soldiers endured to light, which are not always taught in history classes that usually just cover Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb. 

Furthermore, in the Pacific Theater, soldiers were fighting against a much more ruthless enemy who refused surrender, unlike the Germans. Collegiate senior and viewer of The Pacific Ethan Clark (‘21) made note that they were “fighting a different enemy with different tactics.” The experiences of American soldiers on the Pacific Front were definitely different from the American soldiers in Europe, who sometimes lived in other people’s houses and enjoyed luxuries, such as fresh food. Overall, soldiers in the Pacific were much less comfortable than those in Europe, which the miniseries did a fantastic job of portraying.

Real U.S. Marines rest at Peleliu. Image credit: Flickr user Cassowary Colorizations.

I felt that “Peleliu Hills,” Episode Seven of the ten-part series, truly portrayed the harsh conditions that soldiers had to endure on the island. Sledge witnesses friends and fellow soldiers dying all around him, which puts him on the verge of insanity. The toll the war had taken on him was very evident, which is why I really enjoyed this episode. It also highlights a battle of the war that is hardly ever discussed in school, so I appreciated learning about a new segment of the Pacific Theater.

For fans of war films, tv series, and literature, The Pacific meets all expectations. It illustrates the stories of important World War II heroes so that their legacies are not forgotten. It brings to life extremely graphic scenes and images that depict the war in its utmost reality and accuracy. If you are interested in reading further, Eugene Sledge’s memoir With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa includes “really intense descriptions and scenes,” according to Svab.