The Pacific ep4 full, unedited watch-a-long reaction: bit.ly/3VGXXko We have started season 4 of The Last Kingdom... find all the full watch-a-long REACTIONS here: bit.ly/3TE2bJ8 Had to flip the schedule around a little so The Pacific will be scheduled for Tuesday. If you want to keep up with us, the community, the schedule and everything we have going on, join our discord. It's fun and free: discord.com/invite/stikkerfam We stream LIVE on RU-vid... give it a sub: ru-vid.com
After you are done with this reaction I highly recommend the mini series John Adams. About the founding of America. It is one of the greatest shows I have ever watched. Please react to it.
Seriously. You think this episode is probably the most intense. Then you watch the next episode. Then the one after that. And the one after. EDIT: The fact that any of them made it home alive, and then started their lives and tried to live as normally as possible. Like R.V. Burgin said in a separate interview: "I made it home, hugged and kissed my family, and never spoke of the war again for at least thirty, forty years..."
@@r.b.ratieta6111 awesome comment! just that no need to mention who what when of the future until the final episode. It's unnecessary. You can comment at final episode that very same topic. Leave folks to fund out for themselves. Any case, they won't be in comments.
There is an absolutely unfathomable statistic that if you were born in the year 1923 as a boy in the Soviet Union your likliehood of surviving the War was less than a 1 in 3 chance.
Peleliu wasn't really taught in history class, but Im glad they emphasize it in these episodes because it was one of the worst invasions in the pacific campaign.
@@cardiac19 very useless and just another reason why the Marines disliked MacArthur so much specially after Dug Out Doug abandoned the entire 4th Marine division in the Philippines. It was not until 1943 when the 4th Marine division was formed again. It was MacArthur plan to take Peleliu for the airfield and he never used it.
Something to note, the Japanese did not use gold caps, the full tooth was usually solid gold, so it was more “worth it” too retrieve them as after the war gold was very expensive and could be melted and sold easily
My grandpa joked about using ears as poker chips on Saipan. The Pacific was ridiculously brutal. You’d have German soldiers after the war talking to GIs and getting along; the absolute Hatred in the Pacific was extremely long lasting.
@@McBrannon1000 As peoples of a similar culture the European war was a battle of familiars and the Pacific war was the meeting of different cultures with little understanding of warfare and battle tactics and behavior between them.
In the intro of this episode the narrator 'Tom Hanks' says 'The marines were told the fighting on peleliu would last just a few days, but instead it lasted 2 months. Two months of fighting on that small coral island.
Peleliu was, as mentioned, intended to be a stepping stone for the drive to recapture/liberate the Philippines. However as the capture of Peleliu took so long, the main landing in Philippines at Leyte was over and done, before Peleliu was cleared of Japanese resistance. Making Peleliu as a stepping stone none essential. In short (and in hindsight), the capture of Peleliu turned out to be a waste of time, resources and above all a unnecessary waste of US Marines lives. Of cause none of the planners of the operation and the Marines going ashore knew this at the time, before after the operation was done. So the WW2 battle for Peleliu was a very costly affair for no real significant strategic gain. 😔😔😔
Sgt. Elmo "Gunny" Haney, who I believe shows up in this episode as the Sergeant that got pissed at one of the Marines not practicing gun safety, is a WW1 veteran. He was insanely tough to have come back from one World War only to choose to fight in the next one.
It was said when he showered he used a very rough brush even on his pecker and it would make all the marines wince. Man was a fucking bull and still looked up to by most marines today as are most of the men in this show.
@@really_dont_know1681 Check out Sgt. Major Daniel Daly, a Marine that won the CMoH twice, and it was said that he should have been awarded another, but it was thought that it would have reflected poorly on the other branches of the US military. He was said to have been the originator of the phrase: "Come on you bastards! You wanna live forever?!"
@@dullahan7677 Oh trust me I know about Dan Daly, boxer rebellion and Belleau Wood I believe is where he earned his medals. Him, Chesty, and Basilone are legendary figures in the Marines.
Not to degrade the man’s service in World War II, but there is mounting evidence that came out after the Pacific aired that Haney stayed stateside during World War I. The man never saw combat in WW1.
@@dullahan7677 Proper name of the award is the Medal of Honor, there is no Congressional in the name. The MOH is presented by the president in the name of the United States Congress.
When you're done with The Pacific, check out Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Two movies from Clint Eastwood, Flags is about the American side of the battle (the guys in the flag raising picture/statue) and Letters is the Japanese side of the story.
Letters is such a criminally underrated film, it's infuriating how few people gave it a chance just because it shows a perspective of war that isn't American/British.
@@lelouchvibritannia4028 Agreed - I remember far more of Letters, than I do of Flags, because it helped me fully see the reality of war at the time; that it wasn't a choice for many. Regardless of which side you were on, you've either bought into the nationalist propaganda, or you've been conscripted - there's no winning as a soldier
Opinion: as you watch this, consider the factors leading to the use of the Bomb. I think some people assume this was a conventional war, rules of combat, etc. It was not.
Not sure anyone has mentioned this, but the intro of The Pacific with its music, the charcoal painting and the gorgeous effects is one of my all-time favorite intros for TV shows. My favorite part is the all black screen with explosions lighting up the background so you see the outline of a running soldier in the jungle. So beautiful.
from Pavuvu, ... nuthin but the best R&R for our tired lads, to that ship ramp opening up and Eugene knowing he had zero control over his own fate. They were mostly kids, many still in their teens.
To put things into a wider perspective, many of these events were occurring concurrently with others in Europe. The Normandy invasion (Operation Overlord) occurred on 6 June 1944. Nine days later (15 June 1944), halfway around the world, the Marines were assaulting the beaches on Saipan (Operation Forager). The Battle of Peleliu, depicted here, began on 15 September 1944. Halfway around the world, the airborne assault on the Netherlands (Operation Market Garden) began on 17 September 1944.
True. Actor Tyrone Power joined the Marines as a pilot, and they deemed him too old to fight in combat (which may have been an excuse because he was in his early 30's), so he flew planes to carry wounded Marines from Okinawa and Iwo Jima, as well as flying in supplies. He also refused a commission that was offered because of his fame, and started as a private, then went up to Lieutenant after completing OTC. He remained in the reserves after the war. Lee Marvin was also in the Marines and was wounded at Saipan. That was when Hollywood was patriotic.
Watching Snafu and Sledgehammer’s friendship grow is one of my favorite things in this show! They also have some hilarious banter in the next couple episodes.
I still find it incredible the number of young up and coming actors who got their first big start and more established actors who got a second wind from both The Pacific and Band Of Brothers. I just realised the guy watching the other two scrubbing the barrels is Rami Malek.
Some Pacific beaches were easy, others were terrifyingly hard. Guadalcanal was an easy landing. Peleliu was one of the hardest in the war, comparable to Tarawa and Iwo Jima.
There was very little fresh water on many of these islands. Water was often bought ashore in barrels that were "Reused" fuel barrels! At times the barrels were not cleaned well. The choice was drink the tainted water and get sick, or go thirsty!! These islands could have temps over 100 degrees and high humidity!
Hardly anyone knew about Peleliu because the Marines were told the fighting would last several days, so war correspondents like Richard Tregaskis skipped it and it got very little news coverage. Great reaction, guys, can't wait for the next one!
The comment at 15:00 is great: this episode has all kinds of little "mirrors" like that. When the officer is pulling Sledge out of the hole, it's Winters Yelling at Blight in "Band of Brothers". Love this channel!
If you want to see an artist's rendition of what the Peleliu landing looked like, the painter Tom Lea actually landed with the assault troops. He made a series of paintings which were released as a book, "Peleliu Landing." You can Google many of these images, but fair warning: some of these will stay with you. Especially "The Two Thousand Yard Stare." Maybe the most haunting painting I've ever seen.
Talking about that pressure to live up to the example of a famous hero who is also a family member - Chesty Puller was one of the most famous Marines who ever lived; to this day, in boot camp, drill instructors have their recruits call out, "Good night, Chesty, wherever you are!" when they turn out the lights at taps. Chesty Puller won five Navy Crosses - the Navy Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor among the awards for heroism a Marine or Sailor can achieve. He retired as a lieutenant general (three stars.) His son was named after him. He also went into the Marine Corps, in the infantry. He was leading his Marines in Vietnam when he was blown up by a boobytrapped aircraft bomb. He lost both legs and one arm. From what people said, that was the only time anyone ever saw Chesty Puller (the father) cry in public, when his son came home. The younger Puller struggled for years with depression and alcoholism, and finally killed himself. His father had never pressured him to do or be anything (I thought about that when I saw Dune, the scene where Paul's father tells Paul that even if he doesn't take the path in life people want him to, the only thing his father ever needed him to be was his son); Chesty was a great dad who left his Marine Corps persona outside the door when he went home, and he had a warm, loving family life. But between the external pressures and his son's desperate desire to live up to his father's example, it was like a Shakespearean tragedy. It wrecked them both, really.
13:53 For this being such a brutally graphic series, the subtleties in the performances of Joe Mazzello (Sledge) and James Badge Dale (Leckie) are simply amazing.
One of the things the show changed for dramatic effect: Robert Leckie never lost his faith, he was a devout Catholic. The whole "we're not on speaking terms" and "I believe in ammunition" stuff was fabricated for the show...it's an important conversation to have in the show, but they didn't have any named characters the audience is familiar with to use for it, so they changed up Leckie.
@@KianoUyMOOP There was no Stella. He had an affair with another gal he named "Sheila", (which is Irish for "girl" so I doubt it was her real name), but he found out she was married so he dumped her.
No I wasn't waiting....I just dropped in just now about 30 mins. Tuesday. No lurking. Oh cool, a Pacific reaction. Guess I'll go sit in. Thoughtful preview thoughts and on-point just right thumbnail! This arc: "HERE WE GO, BOYS!!!" Ok, so voiceover intro might've missed: "the men were told that the fighting would last only a few days...but the combat on Peleliu would last more than two months..." PAVUVU: their coconut-crab-rat ruled rest island 🏝 just across from BANIKA, where Leckie recovered. From there, PELELIU: corral island with the airstrip. "Peleliu Landing" episode.
I highly recommend this to you guys if you want to keep up enough to what went on in the Pacific Theatre of WWII on the Kings and Generals RU-vid channel. Its on their playlist called Pacific War - Week by week. So far they are not on the events of this episode yet as they are still finalizing the Guadalcanal campaign and other battlefields the Japanese Empire was in.
The Grand Canyon speech is spot on. It sprung to my mind immediately when I saw the gorge for the first time even though I saw this miniseries long time ago. Great reaction and after episode discussion. Looking forward to the rest of the series, which is brutal in all aspects. You have been warned.
@15:47 Sledge wrote in his book about that specific moment and in a documentary he talks about the same moment almost verbatim. "Everything my life had been before and has been after, pales in the light of that awesome moment when my amtrac started in amid a thunderous bombardment toward the flaming, smoke-shrouded beach for the assault on Peleliu."
This battle was definitely not taught in history classes. I did a research paper on it in a college World War II class and even the professor admitted that he learned a lot from it. My buddy in the marines said that the marine corps definitely never forgot about it luckily and they still teach it
Was looking for this video to be uploaded at work all day, and I had just about given up and gone to bed when this popped up! Good way to end the night, watching some horrific war footage, lol
Yeah this is where the series really goes on a trip of how insane war is. This series was great in showing how this was a front fought with pure hatred. Japanese propaganda that they received since they were children taught them to hate the enemy they fought, and the marines hated the Japanese right back for how hard they fought and their ruthless actions on American prisoners. Crazy to think episodes like this are what made me join the marines despite the pure brutality of it.
Nikki, The islands that you were confused about are Pavuvu, (where the Marines had a camp), Banika, (where Leckie got treated for enuresis), and Pelilu (where the Marines attacked the airfield). And also if you want to see the Grand Canyon I recomend going to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, about 2.5 hours from Las Vegas.
Yes, on the Skywalk. However, viewing the Grand Canyon from the North Rim is a better setting. You're higher in elevation due to the Kaibab plateau. It's forested and cooler in temperature. The downside is the distance one would have to travel from Vegas.
Fun fact, the oil drums they were cleaning out were a real work detail him and the new guys had to do. They did it lazily as depicted, but it turns out the reason they were cleaning them was for their drinking water after the landing. That's was really what led to water shortages, but it was never depicted as being the reason here.
“That was brutal” it gets worse. Peleliu was a completely pointless battle; the island could have been completely ignored, but MacArthur was a prima Donna who HAD to have his way. They never even used the airfield.
My stepfather was a plankholder in the 6th Marine Tank Battalion in WWII. His battalion formed up on Peleliu one year after the 1st Marine Division took that rock. He had inspected the caves that the Japanese used before he shipped out to fight on Okinawa.
14:15 I LOATHE this scene. Lecke made it very clear in his book that he was a devout Catholic through the entire war and that it was his faith that got him through. Erasing someone's faith, especially when it's an key component of who they are, is despicable.
Removing gold from the enemies teeth was prevalent during the Vietnam war. I met a friend of my brother in-law many years ago who showed me his collection of gold from the enemy’s teeth. A sobering moment of the brutality on both sides.
I believe by this point of the war, the Japanese abandoned the banzai charges and giving up the beaches to lure the enemy in, as you’ve seen on the Guadalcanal campaign and Cape Gloucester and defended the islands the minute the Marines step foot on the sand.
There is not a single Hollywood "Horror Movie" that even comes close to comparing what the absolute terror that those Marines went through in REAL life.
During the Battle of Peleliu, marine mortar teams would have carried similar equipment to those on Guadalcanal, but with some potential variations. Here's an itemized list for each individual marine in the mortar team, including the weight of each item: M2 60mm Mortar: Approximately 45 pounds M1910 Canteen: Roughly 3 pounds when full M1941 Haversack (backpack): Around 6 pounds M1 Helmet: Approximately 3 pounds M1941 Field Jacket: About 3 pounds M1941 Field Trousers: Approximately 2 pounds M1941 Field Boots: Around 4 pounds M1928A1 Cartridge Belt: Approximately 3 pounds when fully loaded M1 Garand Rifle (with sling): Approximately 10 pounds (for self-defense) Personal gear (knife, entrenching tool, etc.): Approximately 5 pounds Total weight for each marine in the mortar team during the Battle of Peleliu: Approximately 84 pounds.
From 42 to 44 the Japanese mostly gave up on the Banzai charge and shifted to destroy the enemy on the beach. The Marines had moved up from Higgins boats to amphitracks. This was already after Normandy, there were never enough of these.
There is a great channel called world war two, it's a week by week unfolding of events for WWII starting with the Sept 1, '39 invasion of Poland and is currently up to the beginning for 1944 so this summer they reach Normandy. Very in depth and well done with major events like pearl harbor and midway, Kursk getting special attention. Worth looking at, not for reaction but just for you're own way of learning the history.
I agree. I stopped in the early North African Campaign and started watching Between Two Wars. I'm up to 1934. When done, I'll start over again with the invasion of Poland.
anna torv played virginia grey, the actress that basilone was with. anna’s super talented and was amazing in Fringe (which also featured joshua jackson and the sublime john noble). just found out she’s in the last of us which means I will def be watching just to see her 🤗
The price of gold being what it was at the time, just a handful of gold teeth from three or four dead Japanese soldiers could be sent back home, melted down, and sold for about as much as the Marines were being paid per month. Sledge's book details gold teeth being taken from Japanese soldiers who were still alive, as well.
If you ever get to read "With The Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge, it is practically the screenplay from the Peleliu and Okinawa episodes - even tiny details like the Japanese sign on the edge of the first hole that Sledge jumps into were included. If anything, the book is more horrifying...
Hey guys, I hope you got through the holidays well and also had a good start into the new year 👍✌️🤙 in any case, I wish you both all the best.🥂🍾 what can I say, I've waited a long time for this reaction and it paid off✌️😉 you're doing a very good job Greets and cheers MIK
Sledge’s book is titled “With the Old Breed.” We think of guys like Sledge , Leckie, and Basilone as the old breed. He was referring to people like “Gunney” Haney. You liked ‘We Stand Alone Together” after BOB. After this there is a documentary titled “He Has Seen War.” Well worth your time. Captain Haldane was a graduate from Bowdoin College. This is the college where Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain taught and served as president after the Civil War. You might remember Chamberlain from the movie Gettysburg. If you haven’t seen it you should. You can seen here how the Japanese are changing their tactics. From here on the battles become more brutal.
I always watch these movies with the old film of the Marines in the Pacific hoping maybe Catcha glimpse of my old man. He never said anything about the War. After he died I found his discharge papers and learned that he had been a Cannon Cocker in the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloster, New Britain and Peleliu. I never do but I have read an old newspaper clipping my grandmother had talking about his gun crew in action. Grandmother had three sons in WWII, a Marine my dad George, a Soldier uncle Paul and one in the Merchant Marine uncle Bill. Big was lost when the tanker he was on was sunk in the Caribbean Sea. Dad and uncle Paul survived the war .
[6:22] Nikki, you ask about what effect these stories had on the actors that played these real people in history - I strongly implore you to look up the cast of Band of Brothers. Prior to their passing, the actors who played the men were very close to them. The actors have a yearly get-together, and go to the annual memorials of the units. You need to understand that these actors lived and breathed being those men, and it completely changes you. The level of awe and respect for their feats, the impact those feats had on the history of the world.
You guys didn't recognize Toby Schmitz of "Black Sails" in this episode? He played a publicity officer for the Marines in the first scene with Basilone. I believe Long John Silver himself, Luke Arnold, was in Episode Four.
Hanks and Spielberg are currently in post production on a third WWII miniseries, Masters of the Air, that will premiere later this spring on AppleTV. Will you be reacting to that one as well? Looking forward to the reaction to the next episode.
Read " Strong men armed" "Helmet for my pillow " and " Okinawa " all by Bob Leckie...these books are all very well written by a man who experienced the war in the Pacific first hand .For a great historical insight in the war with the Japanese I highly recommend these books
We are gonna get another ww2 Tv- series from Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg called "Masters of the Air" and its coming sometime later this year, around Mid Spring. Only negative is that its airing on "Apple TV+"..
I just realized I have been watching you two react for over a month and I was not subscribed! I have just fixed that and the bell is ticked love u guys
I forgot where I read this: "Sailors think Marines are stupid because they charge at enemy machine guns for a living. Marines think sailors are pussies because they don't." Still, much love to my swabbie comrades! Sgt USMC '86 - 92'
tarawa island is the size if the pentagon and its parking lots, or a small 300 acre farm By the time the battle ended, less than 200 of the original 4,000-man Japanese garrison remained to surrender. They had inflicted a staggering 3,000 casualties on the Second Marine Division.
Hi 👋 from Newcastle England 🏴 love watching your vlogs got you on follow watched you a few times now in joying the pacific atm I’m ex British Army
I believe that the third series by Playtone is due Spring '23. Masters of the Air, about the 8th Army Air Force during the Air War over France and Germany.
And well as to part of what Eugene is thinking. The awesome old character of a guy, is a GySgt, Gunnery Sargent, they are the highest, most involved level of SNCO a small unit will see on a daily basis, hard corps, motivated, dedicated and responsible for training, etc. now, you will see higher ranked enlisted, on a daily to weekly basis, depending on your unit and tasks, stuff like that. But at least in the Corps, you’re always gonna see/deal with Gunny. And the Marine he was laying into. Was a brand new lieutenant, butter bar, cause the gold bar insignia, if on dress uniforms, most times all the jokes about butter bars. Are very roughly true, as they only been taught things, never really done things, fresh out of OCS, no life experience but college and OCS. More so these days than back then. Lots of times the platoon commanders are the same age or barely older than the junior enlisted they lead, the senior/especially experienced NCO’s and SNCO’s are far more experienced in their job, teaching, leading, training, and general life experience.
@@genghisgalahad8465 Ahaha, for the most part, in training, if its more respectful, as they are an officer, if he was dealing with junior enlisted, they'd be completely wrecked for the same mistake, another reason why good junior enlisted and junior NCO's, E4's for the USMC are so good, we are held, to higher/as high of standards, at least internally, if not officially.
Guys, I believe that the scene where Leckey expresses anget at God is possobly inacurate. At least thats what I heard. Not sure why the writers would slip that in but thats just what I heard
Every battle the Marines fought from Tarawa on was like another D-Day over and over. And the closer they got to Japan, the worse it got. Another thing, the Japanese weren't on the island. They were literally IN the islands.
Another great episode! So far as WW2 content is concerned, I think you would love the BBC's SAS Rogue Heroes, all about the origins of the SAS in the deserts of North Africa in WW2. Would also recommend the German film Downfall (Der Untergang) or the Captain, I don't think I've ever seen you react to anything foreign language but these two are by far two of the greatest modern WW2 films ever made.
I watched the series before reading With The Old Breed and I have to say they do it very well. They take many stories and make a few people do it for example but that's for viewers sake and it stays true to the source material. I loved the book and it makes me appreciate Sledge's episodes even more.
A local DJ here used to tell the story of his father who landed on the beach, pinned down by gun fire and a rat ran up his pant leg...he couldnt move without being shot so he had to literally crush the rat in his pants with his legs...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Marines around this time figured out that the Japanese type 95 light tanks had such thin armor that regular small arms fire could penetrate the thin armor around the engine block, and heavy machine guns could punch straight through even the thickest part of the plate.
good news yall..another HBO mini series well they move it to Apple+ now but itll be directed by tom hanks and stephen is called Masters in the sky its about the mighty eighth bomber squadron.. it just like band of brothers and the pacific but this time we are watching from Airforce perspective.. they said itll be release this year mid spring or mid 2023..
