Well (peleliu)?

[Crimguy]

All you perfectionists out there - how'd HBO do with the landing on Palau tonight? I was impressed. The 1st half of the show kinda sucked though.

[John Lansford]

Having read several books on Pelieliu, ISTM that they got it right.  The amtraks looked accurate, the confusion on the beach, the heat and caves and shelling looked right, as did the Japanese tanks.  I don't recall if a tank actually fired on Sledge's mortar unit or not; Durbin didn't mention it in his book, only that they fired on the tanks as they advanced over the airfield.  It certainly looked to me that the producers used a big chunk of their budget trying to get this particular battle right.

[JohnDillworth]

I don't recall any kind of building ever being described near the airfield

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I don't recall any kind of building ever being described near the airfield

Since it's only episode 5, and the series apparently doesn't go much into later battles in detail, I think we're gonna get a whole lot of Palau.

[AcePylut]

I watched it with 3 friends, they were not WW2 grogs.  They had never heard of Peleliu.
 
During the entire "ship to shore" scene... they were constantly saying things like "omfg I'd be so pooping my pants". That slow march into shore was brilliant.  I got a sense of dread in that like I hadn't since SPR.  It was not fun.  It's like "damn man, turn around and run away,wtf are you thinking!!!!!!!"
 
Which makes it, imho, very well done by the producers. 
 

[John Lansford]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I don't recall any kind of building ever being described near the airfield

Burgin described finding a blasted concrete building near the airfield in his book, but by the time they got there it had already been cleared and was being used by another unit as a HQ. I think it was on the other side too (after they ran across the runway).

I did like seeing the gunnery sergeant in the movie, though. That guy was crazy.

[jomni]

so amtracks don't have doors? didn't know that.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: jomni

so amtracks don't have doors? didn't know that.

The early ones didn't. Sledge mentioned that before Peleliu they practiced in ones that did have doors, then when D-Day came his unit got an older one without doors.

[usersatch]

Yeah, the doors thing threw me off, too. Get shot wading into shore or get shot going over the side. Makes sense.

I'm curious, it looks like they rushed the airfield during the day. Was there a reason not to wait until night?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: usersatch

Yeah, the doors thing threw me off, too. Get shot wading into shore or get shot going over the side. Makes sense.

I'm curious, it looks like they rushed the airfield during the day. Was there a reason not to wait until night?

IIRC, the airfield fell on the first day's fighting. Reasonable to push for the airfield when it was expected that the whole battle of the entire island would only last a couple of days. Clearing the coral bluffs above the airfield and in the middle of the island was the real butcher's bill.

[Misconduct]

You know what got me is the extra details they added to the episode talking about Elmo "gunny" Haney and how even the company commanders respected the fact he's an old school grunt. I wish there was more details on him other then he faught at Peleliu at 50 years old.

[moose1999]

Yeah, I've just read Sledge's book and am very curious about learning more about Haney, too.
Haven't found anything on the net.

[John Lansford]

Burgin's "Islands of the Damned" talks about Haney a little.  He was one of the old Asiatic Marines and more than a little nuts.  He'd do close order drill by himself (seen in the last episode), strip naked and wash himself during the downpours (a lot of guys did that though), would assign himself demerits if he decided he did something wrong, and then order himself to go jogging with a full pack.  Apparently he was supposed to be assigned to a particular company but due to a paperwork snafu it didn't get filled out, so he ended up being an extra NCO for the entire regiment.  I believe after Pelieliu he was sent back to the states due to his age.

[Deadmeat1471WITP]

Smart.

[anarchyintheuk]

Being bat**** crazy might have been an additional factor in his being sent back home after the battle. Overall, good episode. Still can't say that I like any of the characters that much tho.

[jb123]

I got HBO special for the Pacific and canceled it after two episodes. I know that doesn't answer the peleliu question, but, the show was a yawner.

[Cathartes]

Like some others I've been lukewarm to bored with this series with its one-dimensional writing/character development and poor casting.

However the loading and beach landing scene at Peleliu was riveting and was the best 20 minutes of the entire series by a longshot. The marine who went prospecting for gold with his knife in the mouth of a dead Japanese soldier was a jolt.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Cathartes

Like some others I've been lukewarm to bored with this series with its one-dimensional writing/character development and poor casting.

However the loading and beach landing scene at Peleliu was riveting and was the best 20 minutes of the entire series by a longshot. The marine who went prospecting for gold with his knife in the mouth of a dead Japanese soldier was a jolt.

We'll have to see if they show the hand that Sledge wrote about. That's all I'm gonna say.

[Arimus]

These are not "characters" to be developed.  Maybe the lives of the Marines in the pacific was "lukewarm to boring".
 
Personally I think it's great how some of the episodes are, as my son puts it "yawwwn", and filled with the mundane.
 
My grandfather said that Band of Brothers was the most accurate depiction of WWII that he has seen and that's what I want from Pacific.

[John Lansford]

You can't really compare BoB to The Pacific.  The whole point of the latter series is to show how different the Pacific Theater was during WWII.  There weren't any little towns with civilians in them, there weren't the familiar terrain we're used to seeing (really, how many WWII movies were ever made of ground fighting in the Pacific compared to Europe?), the soldiers fought the jungle and the weather almost as much as they did the Japanese, and the combat was close quarters and very personal.  When the Marines weren't fighting, they were bored and sitting in muddy, rainy, stinky camps (except for the Melbourne time that is).
 
So far, IMO, they've gotten it right.