Two of my uncles were in the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War 2. They would not talk about what happened. It was far too traumatic.

So happy to see you're watching my favorite war series and I'm here for the long haul. As a Marine, I see the Pacific as an ode to the Old Breed and an important set of knowledge for every American to see what these amazing men went through. Love your reactions, Aria.

Ohh, most 'reactors' miss The Pacific series, this is going to be good - thank you!

With each episode the story becomes darker and the fighting more savage and brutal, but it's worth the effort.

Glad to see you're reacting to this series Aria. An important point of attention, as any veteran watcher will tell you, please try to find a version of The Pacific where each episode has a short intro narrated by Tom Hanks, which outlines the current situation, with maps and crucial context. It enhances the experience a great deal. There are many versions out there where these intros are omitted, for some inexplicable reason.

Guadallcanal was just an enormous struggle to the death that took six months and was fought on the land, sea and air. It was one Hell of a campaign.

When they say 7th Marines, 5th Marines etc they mean 7th Regiment, 5th Regiment and so on. They're just units.

Fighting in the Pacific Theater was hell on earth compared to Europe. And Europe was bad enough

Your beautiful name seems to go along with your beautiful heart. You are one of the most thoughtful reactors out there and it is a pleasure to hear your well-reasoned ideas, your humility and your desire to be informed. It is so refreshing to see people of your age who are approaching these difficult subjects with such a willingness to learn and sympathize with others. God bless you, Aria!

Marine Corps fighting units are broken down into battalions, and, regiments. So, when you hear a Marine refer to, say, the "three-five", what they mean is, "3rd Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment". When they say, "the 7th", they mean the 7th Marine Regiment.

Japan went from a feudal society to a modern country in a very short time. There are basically two types of feudal societies - one is hierarchical, and other cooperative. Englian had a cooperative feudalism - mutual respect amongst the different parts - clergy, farmers, knights/warriors, merchants, nobility. Each sector had respective rights and responsibilities. In Japan's hierarchical feudal society, rank was everything. Samurai worked for the nobility, peasants and merchants were below Samuri ..If you were a farmer, and a Samurai walked past you and you didn't bow low enough, he could slice you in half, with no consequences. If a Samurai's Lord told a warrior to jump off a cliff to his death, or kill himself, he obeyed. When Japan conquered other countries, they regarded the conquered population as dishonored, and treated them with contempt. Japan invaded Korea and treated the nation a virtual slaves for 40 years. 6 million Indonesians died by overwork, malnutrition, starvation. 20 million Chinese died as the result of Japan's invation. For the Japanese, no quarter was given to opponents, and no quarter was asked of them. And young Americans fought this mentality for 4 years. The Japanese were brutal. American forces had no choice but to work to match the brutality. At great cost.

Pumped for this one, Aria. Anyway, yes, you're dead on with flanking. Just basically trying to overpower one side/flank of the enemy to gain an advantage. "If flanking doesn't work - flank some more!" Can't remember who said it, but it always pops in my mind. Also can't wait for another episode, especially if you manage to find the ones with the veterans talking and Tom Hanks narrating at the beginning.

There are intros like Band of brothers had, fr some reason they were removed this past summer they are in a composit video so you can still watch the intro prior ti each episode. It helps explain whats going on a little better.

I wept when I watched this movie because my friends father fought on Guadalcanal. He was a tough but fair man may GOD rest his soul.

Awesome reaction of my favorite episode of The Pacific!!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊

My dad was 17 when he found himself in a two man tent sleeping on the ground in a monsoon on Saipan.

Yay, I've been looking forward to seeing you watch this!❤

The beach landing scene does quote the opening minutes of Saving Private Ryan until they hit the beach and find it empty. When you're finished with this series, if you're interested in great films set in the Pacific Theater of WWII, check out The Bridge on the River Kwai, Sands of Iwo Jima, They Were Expendable, or the more recent Letters from Iwo Jima or The Thin Red Line -- Terrence Malick made a war film and set it in The Battle of Guadalcanal. The cast is full of famous cameos. Hacksaw Ridge is another popular film set in the Pacific Theater. It is set in The Battle of Okinawa. And if you want to go way old school, check out Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo from 1944 about the Doolittle Raid - "an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo"

Yeah, that's what "flanking" means. You got it right. The start of this battle August 1942 would be about 4 months before Easy company even starts training to be paratroopers. Kind of interesting to think where those guys were at this point in the war. The guy with the heart condition Eugene is played by the boy from the first Jurassic Park movie. Joseph Mazzello is the actor's name. The scene with the US navy ships exploding in the distance was "the Battle of Savo Island." There's some really well done youtube videos explaining it. If you just search that name of the battle on youtube the first 2-3 videos are really informative and interesting.

If you decide to read the source material after finishing the show, one of the main sources is a lot better than the other. Won't say which because their names could be a spoiler. But there's definite consensus about it.

Band of Brothers was very much about the brotherhood that develops between men at war. The Pacific focuses more on the dehumanization that war subjects people to, especially when you're fighting a brutal enemy like Imperial Japan. I don't condone the way the Marines were toying with that guy in the river, but don't cry too hard for him. A lot of the units that the Marines fought against were responsible for war crimes all over the Pacific and tens of millions died at their hands. The Imperial Japanese military wasn't like the Nazis, where you had specific units carrying out most of the war crimes. The Japanese military was cruel and barbaric from it's leadership all the way down to the lowliest private.

This is a dark series, quite different from Band of Brothers, but so important to watch and get some feel for what our men had to go through or us. We owe them biggly. BTW, flanking is getting by the end of the enemy's line to attack where they're weaker or from behind.

My Tio fought on Guam & Okinawa

My young Italian-American father-in-law was heading to the War Dept. Took 6 months to take this one island. The 1st Marines were there for the first 3 months. The Japanese Navy badly beat the American Navy in that first battle.

Wow, I was just re-watching your Christmas Story reaction when this came up in my feed. This is quite an intense series. It’s really good, but it’s harrowing. I actually prefer it to Band of Brothers, though I’d guess I’m in the minority there.

Some classical music can make your soul soar.

"1st Marines" refers to 1st Marine Division. This kind of term could be used for battalions or regiments as well.

Happy is the wrong word to use but I'll just say I'm intrigued to see your reaction and thoughts to this series and happy to see you start it. Buckle up, it's going to be a helluva ride. Band of Brothers was a kids show compared to The Pacific.

You were right to be nervous about beach landings in the pacific. Just wait, you will see them. I warned you that this will not be the same journey as Band of Brothers, but I commend you for taking this on.

It's not the images you can't get out of your head. It's the smell. Feted bodies, cordite, and diesel. In their case, they had rotting vegetation and salt air as well.

There are pictures of the aftermath of the Battle of the Tenryu. It is something you can Google. They didn't exaggerate the carnage.

I believe that the picture was of the soldier and his wife. The doll probably was their daughter"s.

My heart went out to you when you said you hoped this episode would not make you cry today becuase you didn't feel like crying 😢

So, the 5th & 7th numbers you were asking about are the division of the marines they are in (5th division, 7th division etc). It doesn’t have anything to do about which ones go first or anything (though in modern times, the US 1st Marine Division is usually the first US military to be sent anywhere, as marines are a rapid deployment force).

I was always interested in Guadalcanal since one of my uncle's fought there. He wasn't in the Marines though, instead in the army through the North Dakota National Guard. I never really knew my uncles since I am the youngest of seven and my dad was the youngest of eight. My uncle did end up with malaria and problems with night terrors. My dad told me that my uncle always had to sleep alone throughout his life because of this. I think he was able to adjust pretty well to life afterward though for the most part. The Operations Room channel has a good 21 minute video on the battle featured in this episode: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fs6GlKxkncrak6M.html The also have one on the naval engagement, The Battle of Savo Island, about 17 minutes: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fq2jpKmpu9SnaHk.html I guess one of the things that I didn't realize about the war in the Pacific growing up was the scale of the fighting in China. As horrible as the fighting was for the US and Australians on the islands in the Pacific, most of the killing and dying was going on in China, and for years before Pearl Harbor. Dan Carlin's podcast Supernova in the East is fantastic, though it is really long. Kind of an overview of the war and the Japanese mindset.

The Pacific is excellent ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Masters of the Air ... same war, very different experiences.

Highly suggest 1998-The Thin Red Line. Great film about the Pacific Guadalcanal battle.

My mother and grandmother were Rosies, making ammo for the war. My mother could never forgive Asians for this war or the next two wars.

If you think you're emotional for this one you haven't seen nothing yet.. episode 9 is going to be the worst one

As brutal as the war in the Pacific was for the US, more men died in Europe, fighting the Germans, than did in the Pacific. A lot more.

OH-Noes! DO NOT watch this one... 😞