quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

Somewhere, I have Eugene Sledge and Bob Leckie's books, Helmet for My Pillow and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Need to finish unpacking and read them again. Their plot arcs are, of course, taken from their accounts...

I've read both. I thought Leckie's book was good, but Sledge's "With the Old Breed" was outstanding. I read our library's copy twice. After the second reading, I bought a copy to have it handy for the next time I want to read it.

Finished BoB on Wednesday night. Started The Pacific last night.
1 episode in & it's already a grittier show than BoB.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Finished BoB on Wednesday night. Started The Pacific last night.
1 episode in & it's already a grittier show than BoB.

In case you're wondering, the grittiness goes all the way through.

My least favorite parts of the Pacific are towards the middle when they are covering the time in the States and some of the Australian time off.

The rest is pretty intense to say the least. From Peleliu onward is incredibly horrific conditions and fierce combat. The last episode, after the war ends, is great after you’ve gotten to know all the characters and see how they start their post war lives. Quite an adjustment to make for anyone.

They make it clear that the veterans have a special bond with their fellow soldiers that can’t be easily understood by others.

As horrific as the conditions shown in the TV series are, reading Sledge’s With The Old Breed is even harder to get through. The conditions on Iwo Jima in particular (I think I’m remembering this properly) I have never seen written about before, nor portrayed accurately on the screen.
It really made me wonder how one could get through that and stay sane.
I have enormous respect for all those who fought.

Each island seemed to have a different characteristic that made the experience so miserable and memorable.
This is one scene that I remember from both the book and the show, when you get so numb to horror that this is entertainment. Lunch break in Peleliu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-9kHTXOatQ

Finally finished it up. Very well done. I’ll have to wait a bit and watch it a second time.

I've got 2 or 3 left, been watching 1/night. Just finished the flamethrower bunker episode last night.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Finally finished it up. Very well done. I’ll have to wait a bit and watch it a second time.

If you didn't read Sledges book first, you'll find a lot there to fill in the details that aren't shown or presented as clearly in the film version. The next time you'll pick up on a lot more from the series.

"I've got 2 or 3 left, been watching 1/night. Just finished the flamethrower bunker episode last night."

I think there are one or two more covering the Peleliu campaign as they go up into the hills.
The bunker was actually on a small nearby island they went to, another part that is explained better in his book.
By the time they're leaving Peleliu it's hard to see how anybody could go on yet they still have Okinawa ahead.
The Iwo Jima episode is more about Basilone's return and events that happened there while Sledge and the others are at R&R before Okinawa.