The Pacific Episode 9 full-watch-a-long REACTION: bit.ly/3JHDxFj We are up to season 5 of The Last Kingdom on Patreon... watch the full watch-a-long REACTIONS here: bit.ly/3TE2bJ8 We have started Sons of Anarchy: watch the full watch-a-long REACTIONS here: bit.ly/3ZervbO 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 CZcams, give it a sub: czcams.com/users/nikkistevenlive
This episode takes you not quite to the end of the Pacific war. Hiroshima happened on August 6, 1945. Japan did not surrender. Nagasaki happened on August 9th. Final surrender officially came on the deck of the USS Missouri, September 2nd. Only with the possibility of a 3rd Bomb, one that would wipe out the Japanese royal family in Kyoto, did Hirohito order the surrender. Otherwise, he was prepared to take the Japanese people through 1,000 "Okinawas" across the entire Japanese island chain, for years if need be.
Steve, unfortunately, Soviet Propaganda, and American Soviet Union fans like the New York Times and America's so-called "intelligencia" in education love to propagate the Soviet myth that: "The Great Soviet Union Defeated NAZI Germany and the Japanese surrendered because on August 8th (2 days after Hiroshima) the feared Soviet Army "declared war on Japan."" Sorry, no. Here is why. For the first 1/3 of WWII in Europe the Soviet Union were allied with the NAZIS, carving up and colonizing the Eastern European territories that lie between them (e.g. Poland). The Soviets were our enemy for the first 1/3 of the war! Only after Hitler attacked the Soviet Union were the Soviets on "our side." They lost 11 million men killing 3 million Germans, 9/10 on their own turf, on 1 front, in 1 dimension: Land. The USA gave...now that's GAVE the Soviet Union: 400,000 jeeps & trucks, 14,000 airplanes, 8,000 tractors, 13,000 tanks, 1.5 million blankets, 15 million pairs of army boots, 107,000 tons of cotton, 2.7 million tons of petrol products, 4.5 million tons of food. All to keep the Germans occupied on the Eastern Front. Meanwhile, everywhere else in the world the USA and UK lost 400,000 men each (more British Commonwealth soldiers as well), fighting 3 enemies: Germany, Japan, Italy; on the sea, below the sea, in the air and on land; on dozens of fronts from the arctic to the equator to the South Pacific. And we killed 3 million Axis enemy. As for the Soviets and Japan: the Soviets were allied with Japan vis-a-vis a "non aggression pact" with Japan for the entire war! Yes, while Sledge, SNAFU and the others are dying on beaches to the south of Japan, the Soviets had Japan's back covered to the north and west. When an American air crew flying a B-25 emergency landed in the Soviet Union after bombing Japan the Soviets interned OUR AIRMEN for a year!!! To prove to the Empire of Japan that they had their back. The Soviets put American Airmen in prison!!! And so, the "Great Soviet Army" with no amphibious capability whatsoever, no navy to speak of, and coming in like a jackal to rip off some pieces of America's "kill" accomplished with the A-Bombs, the LIE goes that "the Japanese surrendered not because of the A-bombs, but because Hirohito feared the Great Soviet Army." Bull! The Americans and Brits did the heavy lifting, again, including commonwealth countries like Canada, India and others.
@@lawrenceallen8096 - Exactly... He had every last man, woman and child in Japan prepared to engage allied troops with human wave tactics using spears. It would have been the bloodiest massacre in history. The bombs were a horrific development... but they actually saved countless millions of lives.
I did love how this show went deeper into the battle fatigue experienced by the troops compared to Band of Brothers. Brothers I feel was more a celebration of that generation, while Pacific delves into what they sacrificed.
@Aniwayas Song the writing is what makes me dislike this series, especially after reading the memoirs of these guys. They changed a lot while BoB kept it pretty accurate. For instance in this episode the marines weren’t even antagonizing the jap prisoners when suddenly one stands in their way for no reason. Just one more way the directors tried to “even” the level of meanness by both sides in order to downplay the arrogance of the jap army… and don’t even get me started on the “Kathy” character 🤦♂️
And prolonging her suffering. Gut wounds are incredibly painful, shooting her in the head would've been an act of mercy. AFAIK and to the contrary of what the show depicted, the woman was shot.
@@lethalchocobo1886 yes in sledge's book he says he gave the woman to a group of soldiers intending for her to be helped but he later found out another soldier shot her after he gave her to the group.
Here is a light hearted note from Sledge's book, he said on okinawa when they were resting a mother was breast feeding her Child while another older boy was running just pulling his mom and being just a kid, he said there was a lot of tension between them until Finally having enough of the boys tugging she stopped feeding the kid pointed her breast at the boy and squeezed herself spraying milk in his face causing him to stop, Sledge said everyone started to die of laughter and it calmed the tension dramatically
I really wish they added the scene between him witnessing the boy getting shot and his return home. It would have shown the bit of healing the troops had in regards to the civilians. My favorite moment from his memoir was when he fell asleep on one of the stretchers under his poncho to hide from the rain, and the corpsmen started walking off with him, thinking he was a casualty. 😂
Weird fact, but I was that kid that appeared at 6:57! That intro sequence was filmed nearly 15 years ago in Victoria of Australia, at the time I had no idea the main cast had just walked past me! I still remember the filming crew continually hosing down the area after takes to keep it muddy. It was a surreal experience.
My Uncle fought in Okinawa. He lost hearing in one ear from a mortar shell. He earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his time fighting all over the Pacific.
Hundreds of thousands of Okinawans died, about one-third of their population. Even today, native Okinawans consider themselves a separate ethnicity from the Japanese because Japan forced their culture on them. The further away from the Japanese Emperor civilians are, the more inhumanely they were treated by Japan. They treated the Okinawans very poorly for many decades after the war, even as late as the 90's. They forced the Okinawans to fight for them, threatened them and their families, used them as human shields, told them American soldiers would cannibalize and assault them, etc. Episode 9 is the single hardest anything I have ever seen between this, Band of Brothers, anything. Band of Brothers Ep 9 was difficult because it showed concentration camps and death of civilians, but that was after the fact as it only displayed their corpses and starvation. This episode showed the deaths of civilians as it's happening, babies being blown up, kids being shot, etc. And the ending of this episode, the casual mention of a bomb that can vaporize an entire city as the marines show how little they care and how much they just want to go home, the somber music, the planes flying off in the distance to signify that the war is reaching its conclusion but isn't over (because Japan didn't officially surrender until September 2nd, WEEKS after Nagasaki), it was all so perfectly done in a way to make the audience feel so relieved yet so empty and sad. I normally don't cry while watching anything, but this episode had me very teary eyed when I watched it, especially when Eugene held that woman in his arms as she died. He nearly lost his sanity, but one good act brought him back to his senses. Although, that scene might be historically inaccurate because he writes in the book that he went and tried to get help for the woman from a medic only to return and find that one of his fellow marines killed her. The medic said she could've survived had that not happened. I personally feel that they could've covered the Battle of Okinawa in another two episodes to make it a three-parter since there's plenty they didn't cover in Sledge's book With The Old Breed; they could've titled them "Okinawa Landing", "Okinawa Shuri Shrine", and "Okinawa Hills" as the names of the locations Sledge fought in (someone correct me if I'm wrong). But I digress. The Pacific is a masterpiece for only being ten episodes long, despite the fact that it could've been longer. Once you're done with this series, I highly recommend watching two documentaries. One is called "Hell In The Pacific", a four episode long doc. The other is "He Has Seen War".
I may be over simplifying it but the Okinawans might view themselves in comparison to mainland china the way 19th century Irish, 17th century Scottish and 11th Century Welsh viewed the English
The Okinawans are the Ryukyuan People and with their own culture and language. What you stated about discrimination against them in the past is all true. The Japanese also discriminated against the Ainu. The traditional cast system also has Japanese discriminating against follow ethnic Japanese, the burakumin (these are people whose lineage goest back to what was considered unclean such as undertakers). These days, however, young Japanese people consider Okinawans as "cool." Also, there is public pressure to set things right. The discrimination by government against all these groups still continues. It is important though not to over simplify and to cast the Japanese as a people who are especially discriminatory. Not that you were doing this. These social dynamics exist everywhere although they manifest in different ways.
"the casual mention of a bomb that can vaporize an entire city as the marines show how little they care and how much they just want to go home" - BINGO! How brutalized must you have been to not give a crap about an ENTIRE CITY OF CIVILIANS BEING KILLED INSTANTLY! "Might even get a movie..." 😞
@@guhalakshmiratan5566 Exactly why it's important to learn history so it doesn't happen again. Soldiers are usually the most campassionate people, but if you expose someone to anger long enough, and they'll learn to hate. The European theater was less hateful than the Pacific because the Germans were usually honorable while the Japanese brought what the Americans did to them on themselves. Not a single Asian country today likes them, but their civilians didn't deserve to go through what they did, especially those that survived the bomb at first.
@@lelouchvibritannia4028 Japanese culture today is very prevalent in many of their formerly occupied nations. The average person in East Asia do not hate the Japanese. We enjoy their food, products and entertainment. It's their government that many people still hold a lingering resentment towards. Their government does not openly admit many of the wrongs done by their soldiers in the war and many war criminals are honored and worshipped as heroes in Yasukuni Shrine among many heroes of Japanese history. Many crimes were left unpunished unlike the Germans.
To be honest, I watch this channel for Nikki's emotional reactions. She's the most down to earth, sweetheart out of all the reactors on CZcams. She's all heart
One of the most grueling episodes of television ever, imo. Unimaginable horror, that battle. Feels like a miracle anyone who went through that could go on to live a normal life after.
A great friend of my families was a marine on Okinawa. He was one of only a few survivors of his entire company. He told his wife that he remembers going up a hill with his company and coming down alone. While I will never truly know what he went through, this show broke my heart knowing he was actually there.
Some people might have looked at Snafu taking advantage of Hamm with the poncho trick but consider this….. this whole time Snafu wore a holey poncho he was making sure that the rounds got the best most intact poncho available….
Can you imagine being in their position in real life, just to witness something soo inhuman, and then having to immediately rein in your horror and emotion to continue to function because you'll die if you don't. I am grateful this show put a microscope to the issue of battle fatigue suffered by the members of Greatest Generation. I read a book about the War which had a chapter on the serious battle fatigue faced by the Allies in the later stages of the conflict. In the months of the final year of WW2, thousands of experienced Allied soldiers were being pulled out of the lines because they psychologically couldn't handle the fighting anymore. Men who had become "battle-hardened", but eventually broken down by the terror and horrors of combat and needing to be invalided out of the front lines. For example, the ANZAC armies really stepped up to do their bit for the Allied cause; with their stalwart defence of Tobruk preventing Rommel from capturing the Suez Canal, their ultimately tragic involvement in the battle for Monte Cassino, and stopping the Japanese advance on the Kokoda Trail to name a few. While more informally led than most of the other "Western" armies, they proved to very tough men and fierce fighters. However as the last year of WW2 was grinding on, their relatively loose organisation and leadership at the "boots on the ground" level made it very difficult for high level commanders to commit them to combat. Orders could come down and whole squads of men who'd steadfastly endured soo much would collectively go "f**k that noise" and refuse.
It has been a year but if you remember Hacksaw Ridge the place where Desmond Doss rescued the wounded was very close to where Sledge and Snafu were on Okinawa. Hell in a very small place. You guys get it. Some people don’t. Sledge was very close to losing it. Seeing him come back from the brink is so important.
Did you guys catch that Eugene was the one that dropped the mortar round that killed that Okinawan family in the hut? It happened when he was pre-sighting that sector of the village for the mortar. He did it quickly and professionally without really thinking about it and designated it sector “Bravo” or “Charlie” or whatever it was. That’s why Snafu looked at him consolingly after they noticed the hole in the roof and said basically “well, there were lots of people firing mortars at the village”. In other words, “maybe you didn’t kill them.” Anyway, I think Eugene for sure understood what had happened, accidental as it almost certainly was, as did Snafu. I wonder if that realization and seeing what had happened helped lead to that moment where Sledge breaks down a bit and comforts the dying civilian woman. In any event, it’s an amazing and incredibly powerful scene, though I guess the show is full of them.
Welcome to the darkest reaches of the abyss, and it is called Okinawa. I personally met a Marine machine gunner who survived it and went on to become a local baptist pastor here in town. The story he told us at a Marine Corps Birthday Ball here recently gave me goosebumps. The kind of things men like him were exposed to haunted them the rest of their days. Puts it all in perspective when you put on that uniform and follow in their footsteps.
This was a hard episode to watch my mom is from Okinawa. And her family went through all of this and unfortunately we had 5 family members that were killed because of it. And who have guessed that years later my father would become a marine and got stationed there and met mom and they came back to the states together 😊.
That’s an incredible bit of family history. I can’t imagine how much your mother’s family endured. I always appreciate reading and hearing such stories. Thanks for sharing!
@@stevovimy sure, only I was an orthopedic surgeon (61M MOS) saving lives in a forward combat support hospital, the 69th CSH Ibn Sina, in the middle of the green zone of Baghdad, Iraq. Having said that, I couldn’t care less what the likes of you think. Sadly good people like me, and those depicted in that show, served so that people like you can have the right to spew their mouths with useless drivel like this. You won’t get it.
I knew a World War II vet who served at Okinawa, and he remembers hearing from other GI's that the Okinawan citizens would jump off the cliffs, thinking that the Americans were going to hurt them. They had been brainwashed by the Japanese into thinking that.
The story of John Basilone is all the more heartbreaking when you consider that after all his experience, being a battle-hardened veteran with numerous medals & commendations, going home, going back over, etc., he was still only TWENTY EIGHT when he was killed at Iwo Jima!! 💔
I watched this entire series when it first came out and never shed a tear despite how upsetting some scenes were. But seeing how broken Nikki got in various episodes, had brought me to tears. Her reactions couldn’t be more honest and befitting.
I think it shows just how brutal the pacific theatre was bc if they tried to follow a single company like they did with easy then there would be like one person being interviewed
The most brutal sectors of the overall world war were the Eastern front and the Pacific. If you think what the Marines faced on the islands was brutal, imagine the horrors on Mainland Asia, especially China where both sides fought each other with deep seated hatred and ferocity.
I've only watched The Pacific once, back when it first came out, but I've watched many people react to it. The scene in the hut always makes me cry. Every single time. When y'all started watching this series, this was one of the scenes I knew Nikki would have a hard time with (and the mother and baby with the bomb). Hugs!
Strangely at some point, I'd suggest having a look at Generation Kill, it is very different to both the Pacific & BOB, The war "scenes" are not quite the up close and personal but rather the bigger picture.
In Europe, the land is heavily populated, and as the troops made gains and liberated an area, they had tangible feedback, could see the appreciation of the people. The Pacific Ocean is vast, sprinkled with tiny dots of green hell with no people other than those the Marines must kill before being killed. Very different. This episode conveys very well that war brutalizes, and it cannot be avoided or rationalized.
Sledge became my favorite in this episode. Basilone is amazing, and Leckie has so much personality, but I can only hope to hold onto my humanity like Sledge. I forget if Mr. Miagi explained it in any of the Karate Kids, but from what I recall, the people of Okinawa were considered culturally/tribally different from Japanese people. The Japanese soldiers were fine with using them as shields or traps because they weren't considered Japanese.
The dropping of the atomic bombs marked the end of the war, but the fire bombing before that was even more catastrophic. 100,000 citizens were killed in a single day of bombing. Wood was the main resource used for buildings in Japan. As you can imagine, the damage was beyond significant. "The Fog of War" Documentary by Errol Morris is a great source of information if you ever want to learn more. It probably isn't something you would react to for the channel, but it's an incredible resource that not enough people know about.
To set the record straight the Japanese Prisoner actually stood up and blocked the path the marines were in a show of defiance. Thats what escalated the situation. HBo took a liberty with that scene. The truth is layed in Sledge's book With the Old Bread.
My grandfather and great uncle fought in the pacific. My great uncle survived the battle of Okinawa. My grandfather fought in the Philippines. He once said to me "If the devil exists I found him in the pacific." He just saw how violent man could be.
After watching this series I don’t doubt your grandfather’s words at all. The Pacific theatre was far more brutal compared to the European theatre, for the U.S. that is.
This is one of the things Eugene’s dad was concerned about. He said he didn’t want to see that looks in his eyes. But like so many men they felt it was their duty to go fight having no idea what they were really getting into.
I know when I got back from Iraq the 1st time my ex wife said I was a different person to the person who went , I did 2 tours I suffer with PTSD and night terrors my current 2nd wife tells me I’m still fighting in my sleep
I grew up in Okinawa and the history of the war there you can still feel it. So many sites where so many died. The older Okinawas still remember and some don’t want to have anything to do with Americans but can you blame them? My husband was a marine and my dad was Air Force. I am a Airforce brat. Graduated at Kadena Air Force Base at Kadena High. All I’ve known was the military which I am proud and so thankful for. My family has made many sacrifices but we understand that going in. This show grabs my heart in so many ways. The Few the Proud the Marines!! Semper Fi! Thank you to all the men and women of the Armed Forces Aim High.. Fly Fight Win!!❤🎉
u guys hit it exactly on the head in the intro. Band of brothers is more about showing the brotherhood and bond between soldiers in war, the pacific is about showing the brutality and horrors of war and the men who experience it.
I watched this series several years ago. I was worried how Nikki would respond to the civilian deaths in this episode. This is the worst of it. Brutal.
My grandpa lost both legs and eyesight in okinawa, a kamikazee hit his ship, he was a badass tho most didnt know he was blind he was good about hiding it unfortunatly didnt meet him he died in 1975 from cancer. Also you should watch in a reaction or your free time "the fallen of ww2" its a great vid on youtube.
I don't know if it has been commented on before but Eugene Sledge's book "With the Old Breed" is a fantastic book. It's his memoirs from Peleliu and Okinawa. Also, Robert Leckie's book "Helmet for My Pillow" is also a very good read.
When Eugene Sledge was holding the woman to comfort her... That was the hut that he called in artillery for. They showed the hole in the roof. Snafu tried to reassure him. Sledge just put it all together...
I lived on Okinawa for over 1-1/2 years in the late 1970s, when the Navy sent my father there. This movie wasn't kidding about the rain; it would come down so heavy that we would get *soaked* just walking from one building to another on the High School campus. (And that was *with* umbrellas!) It came down in *sheets* instead of raindrops. We were also continually warned to not go into any areas that were still wild (i.e. natural forest, or uncleared or uncultivated scrubland). Live ordnance could still be found every once in a while in those areas, usually partially buried; even in the cleared & built-up areas, one could still, very occasionally, run across some unexploded ordnance of some sort.
I'm still Amazed you and many others never seen this real footage of WWII or now about the History of WWII or other Wars ? With all the movies, TV shows (Hist/Disc/AHC), Dramas and "Books" for 70+ yrs !!! But my family and I all served since the 1800s and are always about the military plus I guess we just Live and believe in a different American of real views, laws and Freedoms !! Semper Fi
Battle of Okinawa to simply put it was like you were in an entirely different world; this show really did a fantastic job at capturing the horrors of it; and what the Japanese went through as well as the Americans.
Both Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge were driven beyond endurance for far longer than any human being should be. And yet both men maintained their humanity in the end. The Pacific Theater was a constant meat grinder that only got worse as victory drew nearer. There was no choice but to go forward and no respite from the deprivations imposed by environment and distance from civilization. No leave or liberty and no R&R. And what should also be noteworthy of these warriors is that they didn’t come home and spend the rest of their lives crying PTSD. They bore their burdens in silence and only told their stories when we practically dragged it out of them near the end of their lives in the name of history. They didn’t want to remember and were content to simply live in peace.
Both men were devout Christians, despite the false "loss of faith" theme they portrayed for Leckie. That generation (My father included) were more dependent on their faith in God and I believe that pulled most of them through the horrible times and PTSD.
@@catherinelw9365, I agree. It’s not that they didn’t suffer. They just didn’t complain about it. They were grateful to be able to spend the rest of their lives in peace.
My uncle spent 30 days on Okinawa as a 19-year old Marine...my father told me he endured some of these same horrors with regard to the Japanese use of civilians.
The scene with the baby cut me straight to the heart in a matter of seconds. For a moment I thought they were going to kill it, I'm truly relieved a soldier arrived and cared for it. The following scene where Eugene comforts the dying woman balances out things and offered a redeeming moment for him as a human.
The primary difference between Band of Brothers and The Pacific is the respective source material each series was based on. 'The Pacific' is based on the firsthand accounts of the Marines enduring it while they were still on-the-ground and able to document their experiences as they occurred. They were able to describe all the gory details to readers whereas Band of Brothers was written several decades later by a secondhand source; Peter Ambrose. There weren't a lot of survivors left for Ambrose to interview, and the accuracy of their memories was far from certain. Ambrose had to instead take a 30,000 ft overhead view using After Action Reports, US Army plans and documents, and even newspaper headlines to fill in the blanks. It wasn't that the European campaign couldn't be as equally grisly as the Pacific. It absolutely was. The Battle of the Bulge and campaign to advance through the Hurtgen Forest rivaled the Pacific in difficulty and barbarism. It was simply that the author of Band of Brothers wasn't there to give readers a firsthand account of the carnage the way Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge were as active participants of these battles.
When you're at war, you can't play into your rage - it'll force you to make mistakes. Equally, you can't rely on your empathy - it'd break your soul. You must act as a robot - devoid of all emotions. That's why it's called "War Machine".
My great grandpa Richard fought in Okinawa. I never knew much about him. I’m 18 and I only ever knew him when I was around 11 before he passed I wish I got to talk to him about the war. He had trouble hearing so I remember shouting in his ear because that was the only way he was able to hear us.
This is the only episode my grandfather watched with me, he would never talk about the war, his part, but I visited him a few years ago and he agreed to watch this episode, he was quiet the entire time, I would glance over and he showed no facial expression what so ever, at the end he stood up and the only thing he said was " well they almost got it right, it was 1,000 times worse though " ...I never asked him about the war again.
Most of the "Pacific" was taken by Eugene Sledge's book, "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa", Leckie and his book "Helmet For My Pillow, Basilone's story which EVERY Marine knows were incorporated together into the series. Which was easy to do as all of the events as a group as The Marines conducted their operations together, opposed to the European Theater where the was different fighting in different areas.
The woman trying to give baby away spoke both Japanese「O Ne Gai」 and uchinaa guchi「sabila」 (ryukyu language) My Okinawa grandparents are child survivors from the battle of Okinawa and are last in the family to be able to still speak the old language and in their 80s now. Grandma's family were hiding in a cave when one night her parents went out to look for something to eat only to never return.
My uncle was with the 84th infantry division ( Railsplitters ) He was 30 years old he went to Europe and fought in Holland and Germany then the bulge, He Lost his friend 2 days after fighting for gallishcurcing Germany I believe. Then through the bulge in every big battle then into Germany again. Fighting in mud and snow. Seen so much death and destruction.. he drank and smoked when he came home it was so sad.
you cannot name a generation more the embodiment of the phrase 'built different' then the generation of people that fought in both WWI and WWII. They were a whole different class of people that we've yet to see again
The Hiroshima bomb was first. But Japan still didn't surrender. The Nagasaki bomb was around 3 days later. After that, the Emperor ordered the military government to surrender. So at this point in the series, there's maybe a week left in the war. Good thing too. Based on the casualty numbers in Okinawa, they were expecting around a million American casualties in the invasion of mainland Japan and around 10x that many Japanese soldiers and civilians. In anticipation of this, they made a vast number of Purple Hearts. They're still using them today.
If I remember correctly from Sledge's book, "With the Old Breed," "Kathie" was a cool replacement; not how they depict him here. But Lt. Mac is crazy in real life. Burgie is still a cool and competent leader as always.
You heard during the Band of Brothers show one vet said “Me and that German could have been good friends.” In the Pacific, all you got was pure hatred.
This episode was a perfect example of The Duality of Man. Also the hatred that the Marines felt towards the Japanese was well deserved. Just the hell they went through because of Japanese will to die for their Emperor. I’d gladly have chosen to fight in Europe over the Pacific. That also being said the Japanese brainwashed a lot of the Okinawa population into thinking that the Marines were going to eat their babies alive. So much so that when the Marines landed civilians began to walk themselves off of high cliffs to kill themselves and their children. That was only a small example to the hell the Japanese put various conquered lands through. Their are tons of reports of atrocities committed by the Japanese during “The Raping of Nanking”, Koreans went through hell as did the population of the Philippines. Unfortunately, to this day the Japanese government has never formally apologized for their atrocities. And to some extent the older generation that was alive during and post world still held nationalistic views that they did nothing wrong. Pacific events were just so messed up in so many different ways.
My great uncle was in the Army fighting southward into the Shuri line. He died there. My father was a fighter pilot flying his Corsair off the Bunker Hill. Rather than the 500 dead mentioned in this episode, the 2 kamikaze actually caused the deaths of over 900. The Pacific was brutal partly because the Japanese were not signatory to the Hague Convention and the laws of war. Their brutality was why we became as brutal. Life magazine ran a picture of a Japanese soldier's skull that a soldier took, boiled clean and shipped home to his sister or girlfriend. I don't remember which anymore. That Life magazine ran that picture for the entire nation to see speaks to just how brutal in our thoughts we all became. We were preparing to invade Japan at this point and the initial estimates were between 500,000 to 5,000,000 dead Americans. They also estimated between 10 and 20 million dead Japanese. The war ended with 495,000 Purple Hearts in inventory just for the initial invasions of the Home Islands. We are still issuing that stockpile of awards to this day with all the wars we have been involved in since then. It was a different world.
Nikki you and me both. Definitely have every right to cry at that. The Japanese woman was screaming “please, please,” when she was trying to hand her child over. I know a little Japanese so I can hear when the soldiers say “just kill me” or “just die” or things like that. It breaks me apart, too.
I've been waiting for your reaction on this episode. It's so rough. The whole situation of Okinawa was horrible. The fighting and the civilian aspect was horrible here. There's a reason there was so much anti Japanese hate and this shows why. I'm glad our two nations are now close friends and can right wrongs like this together
It just never crossed my mind that they would even. They were wary and weary and the entering Marine snapped them out of it. Plus the cut toward the end of some of the Army or Marine personnel caring for the kids was important (plus the on the ground newness of the news that had never happened before that's almost incomprehensible). That there was a semblance of some sort of civil assistance work from the US military present on that island was an important brief note. It just never crossed my mind that they would commit a crime against humanity that's not even a blurred line of maybe/maybe not combatant. I think just from the previous scene as seen and portrayed that they might've just been waiting for a detonation of some sort like the human shield incident at the pass. It was also important that that moment at the end in the hut, as noted by a few previous reactions and now here too, brought Eugene back. The two, Hiroshima then few days later Nagasaki, the latter prompting official surrender. The series skillfully manages I think to highlight the brutality yet mercifully swiftly without torturing the viewer. Already harrowing in itself. So my respects to the makers of the series.
Just as a heads up; Hanks and Spielberg have a third series coming out this spring called "Masters of the Air". It's the story of the 8th Air Force during the strategic bombing campaign over Germany.
Yeah the battle of Okinawa was rough. Army, Marines as seen in this episode. The Navy dealt with kamikaze attacks almost daily. It’s easy to see how someone can lose their minds and their humanity. The nukes would end the war and save countless lives on both sides. Before the nukes, the invasion of Japan seemed inevitable and it looked bleak for US forces. The govt ordered so many Purple Hearts that the last ‘45 made Purple Heart was earned only a few years ago I think. Korea, Vietnam, 2 Iraq wars and Afghanistan casualties combined were the “estimated losses” for just the US. So many thought they’d never survive the beaches much less live to go home. Nikki & Steven thanks for hanging in there watching this series. The last episode won’t disappoint. To any veteran reading this who was been to hell and back, “thank you for your service” isn’t enough but it’s all I can offer.
A thing people miss, is that hut with the baby, Eugene was the one who sighted in the mortar strike that killed them all. He’s partly the reason why they’re dead. War is hell and pure tragedy.
The same crew, including Spielberg and Hanks, who did Band of Brothers and The Pacific, has a new show coming out this year on Apple TV. It is called Masters of the Air, also a 10 part mini-series, but about the air war over in Europe. Bombers, Fighters etc. No trailer has dropped yet, but some snippets have been shown on a 'Whats coming this year" trailer from Apple TV. Supposed to come out sometime late spring is the rumour. I hope you all consider reacting to that as well, to finish of the WW2 trilogy. Obviously we dont know how it will be in terms of brutality compared to this, or BoB, no doubt there will be some insane action, and fearful moments as those men go through what they did, but it will be such a different vibe I think. I used the term trilogy, but each is also so stand alone brilliant. Again, hope you consider reacting to it when it comes out. A new experience for all of us.
Trilogy? What about the Navy? If they've covered the Army (BoB) Marines (TP) and soon Army Air Force (MotS), would it not be suitable to end it all of with a 10 part series that covers the Navy? Then all four US military services of WW2 is represented. Anyway just thinking loud here 🤔
@@kimleechristensen2679 That would probably hinge on the success of the new show about the air war. Knowing today's society, it would probably be plagued with problems having to deal with "woke" troublemakers calling the shows racist and non diverse. Many of us want more historical movies and shows but know it will not happen unless they break history to fit a minority main character in the place of historical ethnicities. P.S. you can include minorities in any movie. Just don't race swap real historical figures. There are many events in history not centered on the larger events of the war that involve minorities. People need to understand that majority of fighting by the US military were carried out by Caucasians in the war due to existing racial discrimination and segregation.
@@kimleechristensen2679 I use the term trilogy because it is the third one. Should they make a fourth, I shall call it a quartet at that point. It has nothing to do with disrespect you are trying to imply.
A history catch-up. They dropped the first Bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August, and they then dropped a second on Nagasaki on 9th August. The Imperial Japanese government surrendered on 15th August, and the peace was formally signed on 2nd September 1945. The fighting on Okinawa was effectively over by the end of June 1945; however, there were still occasional pockets of resistance and the the island was not officially surrendered until 7th September.
"you'd better get MEAN too, boot" is probably my favorite Snafu line in yhe whole show. Such a good summary of his attitude at that point in the war. The last year in the Pacific was a shit fight, and the only way to survive was to get down in it and get dirty.
They couldn't keep your saturday. My grandfather was found on a raft with 7 other guys. Most of them dead Throughout the war, he received 3 pauper, hearts. A silver star and navy cross after the war. He didn't want them and left them in ohio and then went to a psych hospital In san diego.
I would say it's pretty dark, it's just very matter of fact about it. It doesn't dwell on the brutality, just like characters don't have a chance to dwell on it. I think the realist style can make it even more striking when you see some of the more fucked up scenes, but yeah it's also fucking hilarious too. Probably my favourite show ever.
This episode really beat me up. My grandfather was in the Navy off the Okinawa coast. I have really no idea what he saw, he never spoke of the war but my father said he still had nightmares 20 years later. It took him 40 years to let his hate of the Japanese go.
The other name all marines know is Chesty Puller. He was the most decorated Marine in American history. He was the officer that recommended Basilone for the Medal of Honor. You should read Chesty’s story.
This is by far the hardest episode to watch from a humanity standpoint. The next will be hard in its own way to see the next and lifelong struggle to find life again but there is also some hope, too. A masterpiece of a series. Life changing for a viewer. Can’t imagine for these men. Especially with little to no recognition of ptsd or support for it back home. Thank goodness Eugene’s father had some idea of what he was going through. Reading Sledge’s book and watching interviews of him later in life and his family brings a whole different perspective to that struggle and also to this. Thanks for keeping it alive.
Many Okinawans died at the hands of the Japanese, who used them as human shields or forced mass suicides. Masahide Ota, a former governor of Okinawa, said he uncovered World War II archives that Imperial Japan considered Okinawans not to be pure Japanese and therefore expendable.
Yeah, there's a reason that I've seen Band of Brothers at least 10 times and I've only ever watched this series ONCE. I'll probably do the same thing with The Last of Us.
My stepfather was a plankholder in the 6th Marine Tank Battalion. He was instrumental in the battle of Sugarloaf Hill on Okinawa. Papa Bill was my hero. The reason Gene Sledge is the center of the story is that he left the most detailed memoir of his experiences, "With the Old Guard."
None of the pre episodes are Eugene or Snafu. They both passed before this was made. Eugene's hometown friend from the earlier episodes was still alive when this show was made. There is a You Tube channel with many modern day interviews with him. Also Ken Burns did a documentary called "The War" which uses Eugene's war notes in a good portion of the documentary along with many interviews with Eugene's hometown friend and also the friends sister.
What I don’t think they mention during this series is that the Japanese government told their soldiers and civilians that if the Americans captured them, they’d be raped, tortured, enslaved and murdered. They basically instilled such a fear in them of Americans that they were willing to do the kamikaze plane crashes, bomb runs, booby traps, etc. and fight to the death, even charging with swords against machine guns. It contributed to the high amount of casualties on both sides.
You all are wonderful people and do excellent reactions. It is vital we learn from the horrors endured to try to make us better. Congrats to you both once again.
The Pacific Episode 9 full-watch-a-long REACTION: bit.ly/3JHDxFj
We are up to season 5 of The Last Kingdom on Patreon... watch the full watch-a-long REACTIONS here: bit.ly/3TE2bJ8
We have started Sons of Anarchy: watch the full watch-a-long REACTIONS here: bit.ly/3ZervbO
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 CZcams, give it a sub: czcams.com/users/nikkistevenlive
This episode takes you not quite to the end of the Pacific war. Hiroshima happened on August 6, 1945. Japan did not surrender. Nagasaki happened on August 9th. Final surrender officially came on the deck of the USS Missouri, September 2nd. Only with the possibility of a 3rd Bomb, one that would wipe out the Japanese royal family in Kyoto, did Hirohito order the surrender. Otherwise, he was prepared to take the Japanese people through 1,000 "Okinawas" across the entire Japanese island chain, for years if need be.
Steve, unfortunately, Soviet Propaganda, and American Soviet Union fans like the New York Times and America's so-called "intelligencia" in education love to propagate the Soviet myth that: "The Great Soviet Union Defeated NAZI Germany and the Japanese surrendered because on August 8th (2 days after Hiroshima) the feared Soviet Army "declared war on Japan."" Sorry, no. Here is why. For the first 1/3 of WWII in Europe the Soviet Union were allied with the NAZIS, carving up and colonizing the Eastern European territories that lie between them (e.g. Poland). The Soviets were our enemy for the first 1/3 of the war! Only after Hitler attacked the Soviet Union were the Soviets on "our side." They lost 11 million men killing 3 million Germans, 9/10 on their own turf, on 1 front, in 1 dimension: Land. The USA gave...now that's GAVE the Soviet Union: 400,000 jeeps & trucks, 14,000 airplanes, 8,000 tractors, 13,000 tanks, 1.5 million blankets, 15 million pairs of army boots, 107,000 tons of cotton, 2.7 million tons of petrol products, 4.5 million tons of food. All to keep the Germans occupied on the Eastern Front. Meanwhile, everywhere else in the world the USA and UK lost 400,000 men each (more British Commonwealth soldiers as well), fighting 3 enemies: Germany, Japan, Italy; on the sea, below the sea, in the air and on land; on dozens of fronts from the arctic to the equator to the South Pacific. And we killed 3 million Axis enemy. As for the Soviets and Japan: the Soviets were allied with Japan vis-a-vis a "non aggression pact" with Japan for the entire war! Yes, while Sledge, SNAFU and the others are dying on beaches to the south of Japan, the Soviets had Japan's back covered to the north and west. When an American air crew flying a B-25 emergency landed in the Soviet Union after bombing Japan the Soviets interned OUR AIRMEN for a year!!! To prove to the Empire of Japan that they had their back. The Soviets put American Airmen in prison!!! And so, the "Great Soviet Army" with no amphibious capability whatsoever, no navy to speak of, and coming in like a jackal to rip off some pieces of America's "kill" accomplished with the A-Bombs, the LIE goes that "the Japanese surrendered not because of the A-bombs, but because Hirohito feared the Great Soviet Army." Bull! The Americans and Brits did the heavy lifting, again, including commonwealth countries like Canada, India and others.
Stay with it Nikki, Episode 10 will warm your heart: They all come home!
P.S. the boy from Jurassic Park did a great job playing Egene Seldge, didn't he?
@@lawrenceallen8096 - Exactly... He had every last man, woman and child in Japan prepared to engage allied troops with human wave tactics using spears. It would have been the bloodiest massacre in history. The bombs were a horrific development... but they actually saved countless millions of lives.
I did love how this show went deeper into the battle fatigue experienced by the troops compared to Band of Brothers. Brothers I feel was more a celebration of that generation, while Pacific delves into what they sacrificed.
@Aniwayas Song the writing is what makes me dislike this series, especially after reading the memoirs of these guys. They changed a lot while BoB kept it pretty accurate. For instance in this episode the marines weren’t even antagonizing the jap prisoners when suddenly one stands in their way for no reason. Just one more way the directors tried to “even” the level of meanness by both sides in order to downplay the arrogance of the jap army… and don’t even get me started on the “Kathy” character 🤦♂️
That’s really well put.
thats probably the best way ive seen someone compare the two series
@@MollyTheLag I agree
Well the Pacific theater was three years and European Theater was less than a year.
I always thought that Eugene hugging that woman to comfort her in her last moments was him reclaiming his humanity.
And prolonging her suffering. Gut wounds are incredibly painful, shooting her in the head would've been an act of mercy. AFAIK and to the contrary of what the show depicted, the woman was shot.
@@lethalchocobo1886 yes in sledge's book he says he gave the woman to a group of soldiers intending for her to be helped but he later found out another soldier shot her after he gave her to the group.
Here is a light hearted note from Sledge's book, he said on okinawa when they were resting a mother was breast feeding her Child while another older boy was running just pulling his mom and being just a kid, he said there was a lot of tension between them until Finally having enough of the boys tugging she stopped feeding the kid pointed her breast at the boy and squeezed herself spraying milk in his face causing him to stop, Sledge said everyone started to die of laughter and it calmed the tension dramatically
I really wish they added the scene between him witnessing the boy getting shot and his return home. It would have shown the bit of healing the troops had in regards to the civilians.
My favorite moment from his memoir was when he fell asleep on one of the stretchers under his poncho to hide from the rain, and the corpsmen started walking off with him, thinking he was a casualty. 😂
Weird fact, but I was that kid that appeared at 6:57! That intro sequence was filmed nearly 15 years ago in Victoria of Australia, at the time I had no idea the main cast had just walked past me! I still remember the filming crew continually hosing down the area after takes to keep it muddy. It was a surreal experience.
really thats pretty sick
You were. I remember seeing your comments on another video of The Pacific couple of years ago as well.
My Uncle fought in Okinawa. He lost hearing in one ear from a mortar shell. He earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his time fighting all over the Pacific.
If your uncle is still alive.......tell him thank you for us.
Thank you, but unfortunately all of our many family WWII Heroes have left us. They truly were our greatest generation.
Cool story bro.
Hundreds of thousands of Okinawans died, about one-third of their population. Even today, native Okinawans consider themselves a separate ethnicity from the Japanese because Japan forced their culture on them. The further away from the Japanese Emperor civilians are, the more inhumanely they were treated by Japan. They treated the Okinawans very poorly for many decades after the war, even as late as the 90's. They forced the Okinawans to fight for them, threatened them and their families, used them as human shields, told them American soldiers would cannibalize and assault them, etc.
Episode 9 is the single hardest anything I have ever seen between this, Band of Brothers, anything. Band of Brothers Ep 9 was difficult because it showed concentration camps and death of civilians, but that was after the fact as it only displayed their corpses and starvation. This episode showed the deaths of civilians as it's happening, babies being blown up, kids being shot, etc.
And the ending of this episode, the casual mention of a bomb that can vaporize an entire city as the marines show how little they care and how much they just want to go home, the somber music, the planes flying off in the distance to signify that the war is reaching its conclusion but isn't over (because Japan didn't officially surrender until September 2nd, WEEKS after Nagasaki), it was all so perfectly done in a way to make the audience feel so relieved yet so empty and sad.
I normally don't cry while watching anything, but this episode had me very teary eyed when I watched it, especially when Eugene held that woman in his arms as she died. He nearly lost his sanity, but one good act brought him back to his senses. Although, that scene might be historically inaccurate because he writes in the book that he went and tried to get help for the woman from a medic only to return and find that one of his fellow marines killed her. The medic said she could've survived had that not happened.
I personally feel that they could've covered the Battle of Okinawa in another two episodes to make it a three-parter since there's plenty they didn't cover in Sledge's book With The Old Breed; they could've titled them "Okinawa Landing", "Okinawa Shuri Shrine", and "Okinawa Hills" as the names of the locations Sledge fought in (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
But I digress. The Pacific is a masterpiece for only being ten episodes long, despite the fact that it could've been longer.
Once you're done with this series, I highly recommend watching two documentaries. One is called "Hell In The Pacific", a four episode long doc. The other is "He Has Seen War".
I may be over simplifying it but the Okinawans might view themselves in comparison to mainland china the way 19th century Irish, 17th century Scottish and 11th Century Welsh viewed the English
The Okinawans are the Ryukyuan People and with their own culture and language. What you stated about discrimination against them in the past is all true. The Japanese also discriminated against the Ainu. The traditional cast system also has Japanese discriminating against follow ethnic Japanese, the burakumin (these are people whose lineage goest back to what was considered unclean such as undertakers). These days, however, young Japanese people consider Okinawans as "cool." Also, there is public pressure to set things right. The discrimination by government against all these groups still continues. It is important though not to over simplify and to cast the Japanese as a people who are especially discriminatory. Not that you were doing this. These social dynamics exist everywhere although they manifest in different ways.
"the casual mention of a bomb that can vaporize an entire city as the marines show how little they care and how much they just want to go home" - BINGO! How brutalized must you have been to not give a crap about an ENTIRE CITY OF CIVILIANS BEING KILLED INSTANTLY! "Might even get a movie..." 😞
@@guhalakshmiratan5566 Exactly why it's important to learn history so it doesn't happen again. Soldiers are usually the most campassionate people, but if you expose someone to anger long enough, and they'll learn to hate. The European theater was less hateful than the Pacific because the Germans were usually honorable while the Japanese brought what the Americans did to them on themselves. Not a single Asian country today likes them, but their civilians didn't deserve to go through what they did, especially those that survived the bomb at first.
@@lelouchvibritannia4028 Japanese culture today is very prevalent in many of their formerly occupied nations. The average person in East Asia do not hate the Japanese. We enjoy their food, products and entertainment. It's their government that many people still hold a lingering resentment towards. Their government does not openly admit many of the wrongs done by their soldiers in the war and many war criminals are honored and worshipped as heroes in Yasukuni Shrine among many heroes of Japanese history. Many crimes were left unpunished unlike the Germans.
To be honest, I watch this channel for Nikki's emotional reactions. She's the most down to earth, sweetheart out of all the reactors on CZcams. She's all heart
One of the most grueling episodes of television ever, imo. Unimaginable horror, that battle. Feels like a miracle anyone who went through that could go on to live a normal life after.
this episode is IMO the most brutal depiction of modern warfare ever filmed.
A great friend of my families was a marine on Okinawa. He was one of only a few survivors of his entire company. He told his wife that he remembers going up a hill with his company and coming down alone. While I will never truly know what he went through, this show broke my heart knowing he was actually there.
That shot of the poor kid shaking at 6:01 still haunts me, as it was real footage. I hope he lived a long happy life.
Yeah, that image is burned into my mind as well.
@@dritzzdarkwood4727 i once saw more footage of that kid, he made it to a staging area for civilians where he was taken care of
That's a girl.
Some people might have looked at Snafu taking advantage of Hamm with the poncho trick but consider this….. this whole time Snafu wore a holey poncho he was making sure that the rounds got the best most intact poncho available….
Sledges look on his face at 14:53 is so heartbreaking. Just a broken man
even snafu looks broken for the first time
Can you imagine being in their position in real life, just to witness something soo inhuman, and then having to immediately rein in your horror and emotion to continue to function because you'll die if you don't. I am grateful this show put a microscope to the issue of battle fatigue suffered by the members of Greatest Generation. I read a book about the War which had a chapter on the serious battle fatigue faced by the Allies in the later stages of the conflict. In the months of the final year of WW2, thousands of experienced Allied soldiers were being pulled out of the lines because they psychologically couldn't handle the fighting anymore. Men who had become "battle-hardened", but eventually broken down by the terror and horrors of combat and needing to be invalided out of the front lines.
For example, the ANZAC armies really stepped up to do their bit for the Allied cause; with their stalwart defence of Tobruk preventing Rommel from capturing the Suez Canal, their ultimately tragic involvement in the battle for Monte Cassino, and stopping the Japanese advance on the Kokoda Trail to name a few. While more informally led than most of the other "Western" armies, they proved to very tough men and fierce fighters. However as the last year of WW2 was grinding on, their relatively loose organisation and leadership at the "boots on the ground" level made it very difficult for high level commanders to commit them to combat. Orders could come down and whole squads of men who'd steadfastly endured soo much would collectively go "f**k that noise" and refuse.
It has been a year but if you remember Hacksaw Ridge the place where Desmond Doss rescued the wounded was very close to where Sledge and Snafu were on Okinawa. Hell in a very small place.
You guys get it. Some people don’t. Sledge was very close to losing it. Seeing him come back from the brink is so important.
Did you guys catch that Eugene was the one that dropped the mortar round that killed that Okinawan family in the hut? It happened when he was pre-sighting that sector of the village for the mortar. He did it quickly and professionally without really thinking about it and designated it sector “Bravo” or “Charlie” or whatever it was. That’s why Snafu looked at him consolingly after they noticed the hole in the roof and said basically “well, there were lots of people firing mortars at the village”. In other words, “maybe you didn’t kill them.”
Anyway, I think Eugene for sure understood what had happened, accidental as it almost certainly was, as did Snafu. I wonder if that realization and seeing what had happened helped lead to that moment where Sledge breaks down a bit and comforts the dying civilian woman.
In any event, it’s an amazing and incredibly powerful scene, though I guess the show is full of them.
Welcome to the darkest reaches of the abyss, and it is called Okinawa. I personally met a Marine machine gunner who survived it and went on to become a local baptist pastor here in town. The story he told us at a Marine Corps Birthday Ball here recently gave me goosebumps. The kind of things men like him were exposed to haunted them the rest of their days. Puts it all in perspective when you put on that uniform and follow in their footsteps.
This was a hard episode to watch my mom is from Okinawa. And her family went through all of this and unfortunately we had 5 family members that were killed because of it. And who have guessed that years later my father would become a marine and got stationed there and met mom and they came back to the states together 😊.
That’s an incredible bit of family history. I can’t imagine how much your mother’s family endured. I always appreciate reading and hearing such stories. Thanks for sharing!
My father fought in this battle. He had nightmares until the day he died.
I have no doubt of that , extremely brutal war
From one veteran to another- thank you for his service.
@@joeybossolo7 You could've been a chef or clerk that never left the fob or pb for all we know. Stop with this self serving virtue signalling m8.
@@stevovimy sure, only I was an orthopedic surgeon (61M MOS) saving lives in a forward combat support hospital, the 69th CSH Ibn Sina, in the middle of the green zone of Baghdad, Iraq. Having said that, I couldn’t care less what the likes of you think. Sadly good people like me, and those depicted in that show, served so that people like you can have the right to spew their mouths with useless drivel like this. You won’t get it.
I knew a World War II vet who served at Okinawa, and he remembers hearing from other GI's that the Okinawan citizens would jump off the cliffs, thinking that the Americans were going to hurt them. They had been brainwashed by the Japanese into thinking that.
They did that at Tarawa and Saipan too.
The story of John Basilone is all the more heartbreaking when you consider that after all his experience, being a battle-hardened veteran with numerous medals & commendations, going home, going back over, etc., he was still only TWENTY EIGHT when he was killed at Iwo Jima!! 💔
He died at Iwo Jima
@@Genkish9990 Iwo Jima, sorry. 👍
He died in Iwo Jima.
@@KianoUyMOOP No, he died at Iwo Jima.
@@Genkish9990 He said he died at Iwo.
I watched this entire series when it first came out and never shed a tear despite how upsetting some scenes were. But seeing how broken Nikki got in various episodes, had brought me to tears. Her reactions couldn’t be more honest and befitting.
I think it shows just how brutal the pacific theatre was bc if they tried to follow a single company like they did with easy then there would be like one person being interviewed
The most brutal sectors of the overall world war were the Eastern front and the Pacific. If you think what the Marines faced on the islands was brutal, imagine the horrors on Mainland Asia, especially China where both sides fought each other with deep seated hatred and ferocity.
I've only watched The Pacific once, back when it first came out, but I've watched many people react to it. The scene in the hut always makes me cry. Every single time. When y'all started watching this series, this was one of the scenes I knew Nikki would have a hard time with (and the mother and baby with the bomb). Hugs!
Strangely at some point, I'd suggest having a look at Generation Kill, it is very different to both the Pacific & BOB, The war "scenes" are not quite the up close and personal but rather the bigger picture.
In Europe, the land is heavily populated, and as the troops made gains and liberated an area, they had tangible feedback, could see the appreciation of the people. The Pacific Ocean is vast, sprinkled with tiny dots of green hell with no people other than those the Marines must kill before being killed. Very different. This episode conveys very well that war brutalizes, and it cannot be avoided or rationalized.
Sledge became my favorite in this episode. Basilone is amazing, and Leckie has so much personality, but I can only hope to hold onto my humanity like Sledge.
I forget if Mr. Miagi explained it in any of the Karate Kids, but from what I recall, the people of Okinawa were considered culturally/tribally different from Japanese people. The Japanese soldiers were fine with using them as shields or traps because they weren't considered Japanese.
The dropping of the atomic bombs marked the end of the war, but the fire bombing before that was even more catastrophic. 100,000 citizens were killed in a single day of bombing. Wood was the main resource used for buildings in Japan. As you can imagine, the damage was beyond significant. "The Fog of War" Documentary by Errol Morris is a great source of information if you ever want to learn more. It probably isn't something you would react to for the channel, but it's an incredible resource that not enough people know about.
That moment when Eugene comforts that dying woman, he blows a little liife into that dying ember of his soul.
To set the record straight the Japanese Prisoner actually stood up and blocked the path the marines were in a show of defiance. Thats what escalated the situation. HBo took a liberty with that scene. The truth is layed in Sledge's book With the Old Bread.
My grandfather and great uncle fought in the pacific. My great uncle survived the battle of Okinawa. My grandfather fought in the Philippines. He once said to me "If the devil exists I found him in the pacific." He just saw how violent man could be.
After watching this series I don’t doubt your grandfather’s words at all. The Pacific theatre was far more brutal compared to the European theatre, for the U.S. that is.
This is one of the things Eugene’s dad was concerned about. He said he didn’t want to see that looks in his eyes. But like so many men they felt it was their duty to go fight having no idea what they were really getting into.
I know when I got back from Iraq the 1st time my ex wife said I was a different person to the person who went , I did 2 tours I suffer with PTSD and night terrors my current 2nd wife tells me I’m still fighting in my sleep
I grew up in Okinawa and the history of the war there you can still feel it. So many sites where so many died. The older Okinawas still remember and some don’t want to have anything to do with Americans but can you blame them? My husband was a marine and my dad was Air Force. I am a Airforce brat. Graduated at Kadena Air Force Base at Kadena High. All I’ve known was the military which I am proud and so thankful for. My family has made many sacrifices but we understand that going in. This show grabs my heart in so many ways. The Few the Proud the Marines!! Semper Fi! Thank you to all the men and women of the Armed Forces Aim High.. Fly Fight Win!!❤🎉
u guys hit it exactly on the head in the intro. Band of brothers is more about showing the brotherhood and bond between soldiers in war, the pacific is about showing the brutality and horrors of war and the men who experience it.
I watched this series several years ago. I was worried how Nikki would respond to the civilian deaths in this episode. This is the worst of it. Brutal.
My grandpa lost both legs and eyesight in okinawa, a kamikazee hit his ship, he was a badass tho most didnt know he was blind he was good about hiding it unfortunatly didnt meet him he died in 1975 from cancer. Also you should watch in a reaction or your free time "the fallen of ww2" its a great vid on youtube.
I don't know if it has been commented on before but Eugene Sledge's book "With the Old Breed" is a fantastic book. It's his memoirs from Peleliu and Okinawa. Also, Robert Leckie's book "Helmet for My Pillow" is also a very good read.
When Eugene Sledge was holding the woman to comfort her... That was the hut that he called in artillery for. They showed the hole in the roof. Snafu tried to reassure him. Sledge just put it all together...
I lived on Okinawa for over 1-1/2 years in the late 1970s, when the Navy sent my father there. This movie wasn't kidding about the rain; it would come down so heavy that we would get *soaked* just walking from one building to another on the High School campus. (And that was *with* umbrellas!) It came down in *sheets* instead of raindrops.
We were also continually warned to not go into any areas that were still wild (i.e. natural forest, or uncleared or uncultivated scrubland). Live ordnance could still be found every once in a while in those areas, usually partially buried; even in the cleared & built-up areas, one could still, very occasionally, run across some unexploded ordnance of some sort.
I'm still Amazed you and many others never seen this real footage of WWII or now about the History of WWII or other Wars ? With all the movies, TV shows (Hist/Disc/AHC), Dramas and "Books" for 70+ yrs !!!
But my family and I all served since the 1800s and are always about the military plus I guess we just Live and believe in a different American of real views, laws and Freedoms !! Semper Fi
Battle of Okinawa to simply put it was like you were in an entirely different world; this show really did a fantastic job at capturing the horrors of it; and what the Japanese went through as well as the Americans.
Both Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge were driven beyond endurance for far longer than any human being should be. And yet both men maintained their humanity in the end. The Pacific Theater was a constant meat grinder that only got worse as victory drew nearer. There was no choice but to go forward and no respite from the deprivations imposed by environment and distance from civilization. No leave or liberty and no R&R. And what should also be noteworthy of these warriors is that they didn’t come home and spend the rest of their lives crying PTSD. They bore their burdens in silence and only told their stories when we practically dragged it out of them near the end of their lives in the name of history. They didn’t want to remember and were content to simply live in peace.
Both men were devout Christians, despite the false "loss of faith" theme they portrayed for Leckie. That generation (My father included) were more dependent on their faith in God and I believe that pulled most of them through the horrible times and PTSD.
@@catherinelw9365, I agree. It’s not that they didn’t suffer. They just didn’t complain about it. They were grateful to be able to spend the rest of their lives in peace.
Hacksaw Ridge also took place on Okinawa. The bloodiest battle of the Pacific Campaign of WWII.
My uncle spent 30 days on Okinawa as a 19-year old Marine...my father told me he endured some of these same horrors with regard to the Japanese use of civilians.
That scene with the baby.
'What the hells' the matter with you two?'.
Gets me every time to see how desensitised people can become.
The scene with the baby cut me straight to the heart in a matter of seconds. For a moment I thought they were going to kill it, I'm truly relieved a soldier arrived and cared for it. The following scene where Eugene comforts the dying woman balances out things and offered a redeeming moment for him as a human.
The primary difference between Band of Brothers and The Pacific is the respective source material each series was based on. 'The Pacific' is based on the firsthand accounts of the Marines enduring it while they were still on-the-ground and able to document their experiences as they occurred. They were able to describe all the gory details to readers whereas Band of Brothers was written several decades later by a secondhand source; Peter Ambrose. There weren't a lot of survivors left for Ambrose to interview, and the accuracy of their memories was far from certain. Ambrose had to instead take a 30,000 ft overhead view using After Action Reports, US Army plans and documents, and even newspaper headlines to fill in the blanks.
It wasn't that the European campaign couldn't be as equally grisly as the Pacific. It absolutely was. The Battle of the Bulge and campaign to advance through the Hurtgen Forest rivaled the Pacific in difficulty and barbarism. It was simply that the author of Band of Brothers wasn't there to give readers a firsthand account of the carnage the way Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge were as active participants of these battles.
I’m on oki right now, it’s an incredible place to be, beauty and tragic history
Read Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledges' book "With the old breed" .One of the best historical autobiographical accounts of the Second World War .
When you're at war, you can't play into your rage - it'll force you to make mistakes. Equally, you can't rely on your empathy - it'd break your soul. You must act as a robot - devoid of all emotions.
That's why it's called "War Machine".
My great grandpa Richard fought in Okinawa. I never knew much about him. I’m 18 and I only ever knew him when I was around 11 before he passed I wish I got to talk to him about the war. He had trouble hearing so I remember shouting in his ear because that was the only way he was able to hear us.
This is the only episode my grandfather watched with me, he would never talk about the war, his part, but I visited him a few years ago and he agreed to watch this episode, he was quiet the entire time, I would glance over and he showed no facial expression what so ever, at the end he stood up and the only thing he said was " well they almost got it right, it was 1,000 times worse though " ...I never asked him about the war again.
Most of the "Pacific" was taken by Eugene Sledge's book, "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa", Leckie and his book "Helmet For My Pillow, Basilone's story which EVERY Marine knows were incorporated together into the series. Which was easy to do as all of the events as a group as The Marines conducted their operations together, opposed to the European Theater where the was different fighting in different areas.
My Dad was in the Navy in WWII - stationed in the Pacific theater. He rarely talked about it
The woman trying to give baby away spoke both Japanese「O Ne Gai」 and uchinaa guchi「sabila」 (ryukyu language) My Okinawa grandparents are child survivors from the battle of Okinawa and are last in the family to be able to still speak the old language and in their 80s now. Grandma's family were hiding in a cave when one night her parents went out to look for something to eat only to never return.
My uncle was with the 84th infantry division ( Railsplitters ) He was 30 years old he went to Europe and fought in Holland and Germany then the bulge, He Lost his friend 2 days after fighting for gallishcurcing Germany I believe. Then through the bulge in every big battle then into Germany again. Fighting in mud and snow. Seen so much death and destruction.. he drank and smoked when he came home it was so sad.
you cannot name a generation more the embodiment of the phrase 'built different' then the generation of people that fought in both WWI and WWII. They were a whole different class of people that we've yet to see again
The Hiroshima bomb was first. But Japan still didn't surrender. The Nagasaki bomb was around 3 days later. After that, the Emperor ordered the military government to surrender. So at this point in the series, there's maybe a week left in the war. Good thing too. Based on the casualty numbers in Okinawa, they were expecting around a million American casualties in the invasion of mainland Japan and around 10x that many Japanese soldiers and civilians. In anticipation of this, they made a vast number of Purple Hearts. They're still using them today.
If I remember correctly from Sledge's book, "With the Old Breed," "Kathie" was a cool replacement; not how they depict him here. But Lt. Mac is crazy in real life. Burgie is still a cool and competent leader as always.
It's crazy to think that Okinawa was this bloody battlefield and I used to go bar hopping on the beaches of this island.
You heard during the Band of Brothers show one vet said “Me and that German could have been good friends.” In the Pacific, all you got was pure hatred.
This episode was a perfect example of The Duality of Man. Also the hatred that the Marines felt towards the Japanese was well deserved. Just the hell they went through because of Japanese will to die for their Emperor. I’d gladly have chosen to fight in Europe over the Pacific.
That also being said the Japanese brainwashed a lot of the Okinawa population into thinking that the Marines were going to eat their babies alive. So much so that when the Marines landed civilians began to walk themselves off of high cliffs to kill themselves and their children.
That was only a small example to the hell the Japanese put various conquered lands through. Their are tons of reports of atrocities committed by the Japanese during “The Raping of Nanking”, Koreans went through hell as did the population of the Philippines. Unfortunately, to this day the Japanese government has never formally apologized for their atrocities. And to some extent the older generation that was alive during and post world still held nationalistic views that they did nothing wrong.
Pacific events were just so messed up in so many different ways.
I didn't want to say anything. Chesty puller is most decorated Marine, and it's him we look up too, 7 time recipient of the navy cross.
Remember a few epsodes ago when they were all hungover in Australia? Geez. Feels like a completely different show.
My great uncle was in the Army fighting southward into the Shuri line. He died there. My father was a fighter pilot flying his Corsair off the Bunker Hill. Rather than the 500 dead mentioned in this episode, the 2 kamikaze actually caused the deaths of over 900. The Pacific was brutal partly because the Japanese were not signatory to the Hague Convention and the laws of war. Their brutality was why we became as brutal. Life magazine ran a picture of a Japanese soldier's skull that a soldier took, boiled clean and shipped home to his sister or girlfriend. I don't remember which anymore. That Life magazine ran that picture for the entire nation to see speaks to just how brutal in our thoughts we all became. We were preparing to invade Japan at this point and the initial estimates were between 500,000 to 5,000,000 dead Americans. They also estimated between 10 and 20 million dead Japanese. The war ended with 495,000 Purple Hearts in inventory just for the initial invasions of the Home Islands. We are still issuing that stockpile of awards to this day with all the wars we have been involved in since then. It was a different world.
There were thousands of non-combat related casualties, the psychological impact broke so many of them.
I understand why the GI’s would hate the Japanese, even after the war is over
Adds a dark context for why we chose nukes.
That's why we dropped the A Bombs. It would've been so many more casualties if we stormed the main land.
FINALLY! I thought you guys quit watching this show
Nikki you and me both. Definitely have every right to cry at that. The Japanese woman was screaming “please, please,” when she was trying to hand her child over. I know a little Japanese so I can hear when the soldiers say “just kill me” or “just die” or things like that. It breaks me apart, too.
I've been waiting for your reaction on this episode. It's so rough. The whole situation of Okinawa was horrible. The fighting and the civilian aspect was horrible here. There's a reason there was so much anti Japanese hate and this shows why. I'm glad our two nations are now close friends and can right wrongs like this together
It just never crossed my mind that they would even. They were wary and weary and the entering Marine snapped them out of it. Plus the cut toward the end of some of the Army or Marine personnel caring for the kids was important (plus the on the ground newness of the news that had never happened before that's almost incomprehensible). That there was a semblance of some sort of civil assistance work from the US military present on that island was an important brief note. It just never crossed my mind that they would commit a crime against humanity that's not even a blurred line of maybe/maybe not combatant. I think just from the previous scene as seen and portrayed that they might've just been waiting for a detonation of some sort like the human shield incident at the pass. It was also important that that moment at the end in the hut, as noted by a few previous reactions and now here too, brought Eugene back. The two, Hiroshima then few days later Nagasaki, the latter prompting official surrender. The series skillfully manages I think to highlight the brutality yet mercifully swiftly without torturing the viewer. Already harrowing in itself. So my respects to the makers of the series.
The battle of Okinawa was the reason why Truman resorted to atomic bombs
Just as a heads up; Hanks and Spielberg have a third series coming out this spring called "Masters of the Air". It's the story of the 8th Air Force during the strategic bombing campaign over Germany.
I had heard it was coming and so looking forward to watching it
Yeah the battle of Okinawa was rough. Army, Marines as seen in this episode. The Navy dealt with kamikaze attacks almost daily. It’s easy to see how someone can lose their minds and their humanity. The nukes would end the war and save countless lives on both sides. Before the nukes, the invasion of Japan seemed inevitable and it looked bleak for US forces. The govt ordered so many Purple Hearts that the last ‘45 made Purple Heart was earned only a few years ago I think. Korea, Vietnam, 2 Iraq wars and Afghanistan casualties combined were the “estimated losses” for just the US. So many thought they’d never survive the beaches much less live to go home.
Nikki & Steven thanks for hanging in there watching this series. The last episode won’t disappoint.
To any veteran reading this who was been to hell and back, “thank you for your service” isn’t enough but it’s all I can offer.
A thing people miss, is that hut with the baby, Eugene was the one who sighted in the mortar strike that killed them all. He’s partly the reason why they’re dead. War is hell and pure tragedy.
The same crew, including Spielberg and Hanks, who did Band of Brothers and The Pacific, has a new show coming out this year on Apple TV. It is called Masters of the Air, also a 10 part mini-series, but about the air war over in Europe. Bombers, Fighters etc.
No trailer has dropped yet, but some snippets have been shown on a 'Whats coming this year" trailer from Apple TV. Supposed to come out sometime late spring is the rumour.
I hope you all consider reacting to that as well, to finish of the WW2 trilogy. Obviously we dont know how it will be in terms of brutality compared to this, or BoB, no doubt there will be some insane action, and fearful moments as those men go through what they did, but it will be such a different vibe I think.
I used the term trilogy, but each is also so stand alone brilliant.
Again, hope you consider reacting to it when it comes out. A new experience for all of us.
Trilogy? What about the Navy?
If they've covered the Army (BoB) Marines (TP) and soon Army Air Force (MotS), would it not be suitable to end it all of with a 10 part series that covers the Navy?
Then all four US military services of WW2 is represented.
Anyway just thinking loud here 🤔
@@kimleechristensen2679 That would probably hinge on the success of the new show about the air war. Knowing today's society, it would probably be plagued with problems having to deal with "woke" troublemakers calling the shows racist and non diverse. Many of us want more historical movies and shows but know it will not happen unless they break history to fit a minority main character in the place of historical ethnicities.
P.S. you can include minorities in any movie. Just don't race swap real historical figures. There are many events in history not centered on the larger events of the war that involve minorities. People need to understand that majority of fighting by the US military were carried out by Caucasians in the war due to existing racial discrimination and segregation.
@@kimleechristensen2679 I use the term trilogy because it is the third one. Should they make a fourth, I shall call it a quartet at that point. It has nothing to do with disrespect you are trying to imply.
A history catch-up. They dropped the first Bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August, and they then dropped a second on Nagasaki on 9th August. The Imperial Japanese government surrendered on 15th August, and the peace was formally signed on 2nd September 1945. The fighting on Okinawa was effectively over by the end of June 1945; however, there were still occasional pockets of resistance and the the island was not officially surrendered until 7th September.
"you'd better get MEAN too, boot" is probably my favorite Snafu line in yhe whole show. Such a good summary of his attitude at that point in the war.
The last year in the Pacific was a shit fight, and the only way to survive was to get down in it and get dirty.
They couldn't keep your saturday. My grandfather was found on a raft with 7 other guys. Most of them dead Throughout the war, he received 3 pauper, hearts. A silver star and navy cross after the war. He didn't want them and left them in ohio and then went to a psych hospital In san diego.
desmand from hacksaw ridge was at okinawa
absolutely watch generation kill after the pacific, its the last hbo war mini series and its hilarious and not dark like the pacific at all
I would say it's pretty dark, it's just very matter of fact about it. It doesn't dwell on the brutality, just like characters don't have a chance to dwell on it. I think the realist style can make it even more striking when you see some of the more fucked up scenes, but yeah it's also fucking hilarious too. Probably my favourite show ever.
This episode really beat me up. My grandfather was in the Navy off the Okinawa coast. I have really no idea what he saw, he never spoke of the war but my father said he still had nightmares 20 years later. It took him 40 years to let his hate of the Japanese go.
14:39 I knew that scene would break Nikki. Dreaded it's coming.
The other name all marines know is Chesty Puller. He was the most decorated Marine in American history. He was the officer that recommended Basilone for the Medal of Honor. You should read Chesty’s story.
Seeing the reaction of the led young people explains the term “Greatest Generation”They endured things that we can scarcely contemplate
This is by far the hardest episode to watch from a humanity standpoint. The next will be hard in its own way to see the next and lifelong struggle to find life again but there is also some hope, too. A masterpiece of a series. Life changing for a viewer. Can’t imagine for these men. Especially with little to no recognition of ptsd or support for it back home. Thank goodness Eugene’s father had some idea of what he was going through. Reading Sledge’s book and watching interviews of him later in life and his family brings a whole different perspective to that struggle and also to this. Thanks for keeping it alive.
Many Okinawans died at the hands of the Japanese, who used them as human shields or forced mass suicides. Masahide Ota, a former governor of Okinawa, said he uncovered World War II archives that Imperial Japan considered Okinawans not to be pure Japanese and therefore expendable.
Yeah, there's a reason that I've seen Band of Brothers at least 10 times and I've only ever watched this series ONCE.
I'll probably do the same thing with The Last of Us.
My stepfather was a plankholder in the 6th Marine Tank Battalion. He was instrumental in the battle of Sugarloaf Hill on Okinawa. Papa Bill was my hero.
The reason Gene Sledge is the center of the story is that he left the most detailed memoir of his experiences, "With the Old Guard."
None of the pre episodes are Eugene or Snafu. They both passed before this was made. Eugene's hometown friend from the earlier episodes was still alive when this show was made. There is a You Tube channel with many modern day interviews with him. Also Ken Burns did a documentary called "The War" which uses Eugene's war notes in a good portion of the documentary along with many interviews with Eugene's hometown friend and also the friends sister.
FYI - For every tracer that you see there are about 3-5 other bullets that you don't see.
Believe me these men remember everything every dark night they laid awake
What I don’t think they mention during this series is that the Japanese government told their soldiers and civilians that if the Americans captured them, they’d be raped, tortured, enslaved and murdered. They basically instilled such a fear in them of Americans that they were willing to do the kamikaze plane crashes, bomb runs, booby traps, etc. and fight to the death, even charging with swords against machine guns. It contributed to the high amount of casualties on both sides.
When I first saw this show, I was like, "I will never bitch and moan about anything anymore."
You all are wonderful people and do excellent reactions. It is vital we learn from the horrors endured to try to make us better. Congrats to you both once again.
Watching from Newcastle England 🏴
Tremendous you guys are watching this! Thank you for sharing your reactions
That's why they called WW2 "the war of no mercy"