The Pacific

[roque_riojas]

Upon talking with hubby and the feedback he got on one of the forums he belongs to, the only thing really lacking was character development. It did move along too fast. Would have liked to seen a bit more homeland scenes so we could get to know the men better, before they shipped to Guadalcanal.

 

As he stated, by the time the first episode of BOB was done, you had a real feel for each of the guys.

 

Haven't seen anything about the Pacific. I wuz busy somewhere else.

I just read my book, cuz I'm just a lowly dogface. D.W.S.T.T.

[CaptO]

Before the Goddamned Marines get all of the credit

 

High praise from Patton indeed. He was right though, there were a lot of dogface soldiers (like you, Rocky) in the Pacific, too. Marines have to have a great PR team or we wouldn't exist today. There was a major push to eliminate the USMC for quite some time following WWII. Incidentally, here is a website with the whole Patton 3rd Army speech.

 

More high praise from an Army commander: “The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!” J. J. Pershing

 

Rocky, I bet there were a lot of Marines who would have preferred being in Italy. Each place had a tenacious enemy and it's share of crappy terrain and weather, but Italy had Italian women and wine!

[roque_riojas]

Before the Goddamned Marines get all of the credit

 

High praise from Patton indeed. He was right though, there were a lot of dogface soldiers (like you, Rocky) in the Pacific, too. Marines have to have a great PR team or we wouldn't exist today. There was a major push to eliminate the USMC for quite some time following WWII. Incidentally, here is a website with the whole Patton 3rd Army speech.

 

More high praise from an Army commander: “The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!” J. J. Pershing

 

Rocky, I bet there were a lot of Marines who would have preferred being in Italy. Each place had a tenacious enemy and it's share of crappy terrain and weather, but Italy had Italian women and wine!

 

Capt. Italian women !! Wine!! Don't remember--- likehellidon't !!

[Walt's Daughter]

Thought I should jump on the bandwagon before all hell breaks lose...

 

I'm sure some of you have heard about the latest comments from Tom Hanks regarding war and racism.

 

I am still waiting to hear more, but according to some news sources, Tom made some comments regarding war and racism. You may not agree with his comments, or think they were inappropriate, but some veteran's groups and articles are falsely accusing Mr Hank's of saying "WWII veteran's were racists." I'm sorry, but after doing some extensive research, I have found no comments to match this accusation.

 

Here's an article presented by CBS News:

 

(CBS) Comments actor and producer Tom Hanks made in interviews regarding the conflict with the Japanese during World War II are sparking controversy.

 

In an interview with Time magazine, Hanks, who starred in the World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan" and produced both "Band of Brothers" and the current HBO series "The Pacific" with Stephen Spielberg, compared the Japanese conflict to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods," he told the magazine. "They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"

 

Hanks brought up the comparison again while promoting "The Pacific" during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

 

"'The Pacific' is coming out now, where it represents a war that was of racism and terror. And where it seemed as though the only way to complete one of these battles on one of these small specks of rock in the middle of nowhere was to - I’m sorry - kill them all. And, um, does that sound familiar to what we might be going through today? So it's-- is there anything new under the sun? It seems as if history keeps repeating itself."

 

 

The remarks have stirred a backlash from conservatives.

 

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly said Hanks is trying to "inject racism" into both wars.

 

"We had to kill the Japanese because the Japanese wouldn't surrender, period…and the jihadists, if they were Thais, Burmese, and they attacked us, we'd be doing the same thing today," O'Reilly said on Saturday.

 

Karl Rove, in an interview with O'Reilly on Monday, said that Hanks is "impervious to rational discussion."

 

Rove said Hanks is "a wonderful actor, he's a superb director, he's a good storyteller, but he's a conventional Hollywood liberal…He receives his opinions in whatever they drink or smoke or eat out there in southern California in the acting community."

 

Hanks defended his remarks to CNSNews.com during an appearance at the World War II memorial in Washington on Thursday.

 

"I said it's familiar with what’s going on today," he said. "You can walk into the National World War II museum in New Orleans, in the Pacific wing, and Steven Ambrose himself has made that very point. It's up in black and white, that after Pearl Harbor, these people that were very, very different from each other, the Americans and the Japanese, who had different heritages, who had different theologies and different ways of government, had a different sense of society went at it tooth and nail."

 

Hanks continued, "I have talked to all sorts of people who have, in the vernacular, used incredibly racist terms about the people on the other side of the fence, and we can see all the time that comes over in the regular news media from their side, from the other side, terms that can only be viewed as racist. But let’s just take the word 'racism' out of it and put 'ignorance' instead, because it’s, racism, is a mere virulent form of what that ignorance is."

 

I’d like to think that as our time has gone by and as Americans have found themselves in 2010, ignorance is being replaced by a certain amount of enlightenment and racism is going to be replaced eventually by an acceptance. It’s just taking an awfully long time."

 

[CaptO]

Well his being a liberal doesn't surprise me after things he has said in the past. Comparing the racism in the Pacific in WWII to today defies either an education of how things are done over there, logic, or both. There was a lot of racism for the Japanese in WWII. You can see that in the art work of the time. The anti-German propaganda of the time (in general) made fun of the leaders. When they weren't focused on Hitler et al., they were portraying a German figure as a sinister person. They weren't racist in that the average Germans looked a lot like the average American. The anti-Japanese propaganda consisted of caricatures of Japanese people in general.

 

 

 

We were at total war with both nations and no holds were barred.

 

There is NO comparison to what is going on now. The way we are fighting on the tactical level is different, the way we are pursuing the war on the strategic and operational level is different, the enemy and the way they fight is different, the reasons the enemy fights is different, there is no American propaganda against the enemy, I could go on and on. And on that last note, not only is there no propaganda that decries the brutality of the jihadists, but we can't even bring ourselves to say that is who our conflict is with!! Even in the Bush years it was "Global War on Terrorism". Terrorism is a tactic, not an opponent. Were we at war with "naval aviation" following the Pearl Harbor attack? Maybe Roosevelt should have pronounced the "Global War on Attacking". We aren't at war with Basque terrorists, we aren't at war with the IRA, we aren't (weren't more appropriately) at war with the Tamil Tigers. The "terrorists" who use the "terrorism" that we are at war with are Muslims! That's the common thread!! AND WE CAN'T SAY IT!!!

 

And as far as the troops "racism" in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have not seen it. You certainly get an appreciation for how great it is to an American by going over there, but if there are harbored racist feelings about Arabs (of course it exists) it does not rear its head outside the main gate of the FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). The Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the US military are the most professional bunch that has ever stepped foot on the battlefield. [And the same goes for our European allies there in the fight with us.] Comparing the Racism of the servicemen fighting the brutal (and VERY racist) Japanese to what is going on now is asinine. Anyone who is familiar with the Pacific war as he obviously is should know that - unless they know absolutely nothing about today's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that, I believe, is the problem.

[roque_riojas]

Marion--I encountered racism in combat. I would rather not talk about it, All I will say

is that eventho I had experience I was past over for Sgt.stripes for a greenhorn from the South.

For awhile I was pissed but then I shrugged it off when we went on patrol. nuf said by

thisdogfacevet

[Walt's Daughter]

I agree with many things you stated, and it's very difficult comparing WWII to the current situations which exist around the world today.

 

There has always been racism and there will always be racism. No ifs, ands or buts. That is human nature.

 

Racism was sure prevalent during WWII. YEAH! Look at Hitler. He wanted to wipe out every Jew on the face of the earth.

 

Somethings in life don't change. Sad fact.

 

While today's events aren't spurred by what we would typically called racism, they are spurred by intolerance of others. The fanatics want to wipe out all Christians. Call it what you want, but one race, one culture, one religion wants to rid another off the face of the earth.

[roque_riojas]

I agree with many things you stated, and it's very difficult comparing WWII to the current situations which exist around the world today.

 

There has always been racism and there will always be racism. No ifs, ands or buts. That is human nature.

 

Racism was sure prevalent during WWII. YEAH! Look at Hitler. He wanted to wipe out every Jew on the face of the earth.

 

Somethings in life don't change. Sad fact.

 

While today's events aren't spurred by what we would typically called racism, they are spurred by intolerance of others. The fanatics want to wipe out all Christians. Call it what you want, but one race, one culture, one religion wants to rid another off the face of the earth.

M-1 You always say the right words. That's why everbody loves you

Just one word for the above-------------AMEN !!----------

[Dogdaddy]

I didn't read 100% of all the previous posts, so forgive me if this viewpoint has already been stated. I have read before that to some degree racism is used a tool to dehumanize an enemy, which makes it easier for a man to overcome a natural human tendency to view killing another human being as something vile and repugnant to his nature.... Makes sense to me. If there is anyone reading this post who is at least 50 years of age and has never uttered a racial slur of any kind in his lifetime...you are a better man than I am. I don't know about you, but on 9-11 I was not calling the enemy "Islamic Fundamentalists". It was more like "F'n Ragheads!!!!" or similar utterances, and I am probably more liberal than most of you here. I would like to believe that I overcame all that stuff back in the 1960's during the Civil Rights movement, but that's just not realistic. We are all human beings regardless of what ethnic group we belong to, and this never more apparent than when our country is at war with a culture unlike the one we grew up with. Does that justify racism?.....Hell No! Do we all have a ways to go before this truth finds it's way past our upbringing?....Hell Yes, It Does! Each succeeding generation seems to be closer to that ideal than the one before it as witnessed by our Society today, but let's not condemn the generations before us..especially the Army, Navy,Airforce and Marines who fought WWII .

 

Sincerely,

[Walt's Daughter]

I say let's move on and honor the Marines and the guys portrayed in this wonderful series. That is what's important. Not some minor things someone mentioned in passing, and certainly not rumors which escalated due to this. Let's get back...

 

We saw the second episode and it was just great. Inspiring, stirring, depressing and shocking. At one point I was yelling at the TV, and just about broke out into tears. I kept thinking about "my boys" too and sometimes it gets to be too much.

 

Guadalcanal was HELL!