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The Pacific Part 1 - Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2021-05-03 15:31:12
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Hey everyone! I started The Pacific, here is episode 1. I was nervous I was going to compare it to B of B too much and it wouldn't have the same feeling, but I really enjoyed the first episode and I think it's going to be amazing! Here's to a new week!

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*I'm streaming this series from HBO Max. 

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Comments

Clay F

Robert Leckie: "Maybe I'll write to you." Vera Keller: "Alright." "The jungle holds both beauty and terror in its depths, most terrible of which is man. "

Josh Phillips

Love this show! Thanks for watching it! Guadalcanal is where the Marines would first learn about the brutality of the Japanese and their willingness to die. The scene where the Japanese soldier pulls a grenade on the Marines who were trying to help him was a real thing. So after Guadalcanal it was extremely rare for Marines to take prisoners.

Catherine LW

Great reaction, Cassie! I’ve the link to a cheat sheet of characters from Pinterest: https://pin.it/23QqUBV Bob Leckie, who was the first Marine we saw, was a reporter for the Bergen County Record, in New Jersey. He lived in Rutherford. I spent my childhood in East Rutherford, and that was the paper my parents read. He was a very fine writer, and studied a lot of history, which is why they sometimes called him “professor”. He was the youngest of 8 kids, and his father had mental health issues after losing his oldest son. John Basilone, the one with the big Italian family, was in the Army, stationed in the Philippines. He did not see combat until he joined the Marines. Guadalcanal was the first land battle the US fought against Japan that wasn’t defensive. We had naval battles, but we had to take Guadalcanal because the Japanese built an airfield there to block contact with Australia and attack US forces. They had already bombed Darwin, Australia, and mounted subsequent air raids against Australia, most of whose men were fighting Germany in Africa with the British. You saw a glimpse of the torture, mutilation and killing of that Marine patrol they found in the jungle. You did not want to get captured by the Japanese as they were brutal and cruel to POWs. They also used suicide attacks against Marine “corpsmen” (Navy/Marine term for medic). All this started the hatred felt by the Marines towards the Japanese, which escalated in this series. That naval battle, called Battle of Savo Island, was the worst defeat in US Naval history. We lost many destroyers, and they retreated to open sea to salvage what ships that remained, effectively marooning the Marines on Guadalcanal with hardly any food, ammunition and medical supplies. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be stranded there, and then thousands of Japanese troops arrive later. Alligator Creek is a misnomer. There were crocodiles, not alligators there. After that battle, Leckie saw a dead Japanese with binoculars across the creek. He swam across to take the binoculars. Later, he saw a V-shape in the water, then heard crunching sounds. The crocodiles were eating the dead Japanese, which sickened him by the noise. That sore on his leg was called “jungle rot”, and they all suffered from it. It’s an ulcer with a bacterial infection. Awful conditions there, with the heat and humidity - bodies would start rotting within hours - the stench was horrible. Men stuck cigarettes up their noses to block the smell. Some Marines said that they hated the smell of coconuts for the rest of their lives because it reminded them of the smell of death.

Catherine LW

I forgot to mention, Winston Groom, the author of Forrest Gump, wrote a very good history book called “1942”, a very bad year for the Allies. Defeat after defeat plagued the US, Britain and its Commonwealth forces, as well as the Dutch in the Pacific and in Africa. It was incredible, how the Japanese took Asia by storm, a literal naval blitzkrieg, that took everyone by surprise. Anyway, 1942 is an easy, fast read, if you’re interested.

Popcorn In Bed
>>59059277

Yes, I saw that a little in Hacksaw Ridge too, the guy said "It's like they want to die" That is so sad how they used surrender as a trick.

Popcorn In Bed
>>59059297

Wow Catherine this is so helpful thank you so much! I love learning from you. I am so excited about this Series, but wow the Japanese seem like a brutal enemy in this war. That is horrible the way they treated POW's. I guess thats why, like in Hacksaw Ridge they would rather kill themselves than be captured or surrender. Thanks for clearing so much up, that will be great going forward to know. Also Jungle Rot? my goodness those poor men, one thing after the next there it seems.

applefresh

Great Reaction! Oh, and Flanking is when the enemy is trying to hit ya from another side while you're distracted.

Tobias Eiken
>>59059297

The japanese also had this old warrior code of Bushido from the samurai times, which meant that surrendering was the ultimate dishonor. So they would rather kill themselves, like that wounded man with the grenade, than being taken prisoner. That was also why that unarmed japanese soldier was so frustrated, he didn't want to be captured and couldn't fight on. This was also why the japanese were so cruel to prisoners. They didn't respect soldiers who surrendered and wouldn't fight untill death.

Eddie Collison

Don't know if anyone else noticed but Cassie your blurred reaction is six or seven seconds ahead of where you are in the episode. I could tell when the first night attack commenced. After I held back 7 seconds all your reactions perfectly synched to what is going on on my TV. Just FYI.

Catherine LW
>>59059297

@Eddie: No kidding! Small world! When my Dad was discharged from the Army while stationed in San Antonio, we first moved to North Bergen, where he got a job working for one of his army buddies who opened a pizzeria! It was just something to hold him over till he got a job managing an office, so we moved to East Rutherford a year later. Went to St. Joseph’s Catholic school there - everyone was practically Irish or Italian where we lived!

Catherine LW
>>59082738

Eddie, we’re you syncing with a DVD or streaming it? I had no problem syncing at all and I streamed it from HBO.

Fireteam Joker

Everyone has done a great job with the comments. Filled in almost everything. The only thing I would add is that Marines are a separate branch of the Armed Forces. You going them just like any other. It looks like most of these guys enlisted before they got drafted. Everyone was excited to do their part. They really thought it would be over in less than a year. I say this with no boasting. It's the hardest branch to serve in. Boot camp is the toughest in the world. The training is fierce. It has to be. We are often stuck in impossible positions with no support. The first to fight. I was just 24 when I was leading Marines fighting house to house in Fallujah in 04. War is indeed hell.

Jimmie V
>>59082738

I noticed this too, but then I realized the timecode was still accurate and I just paid attention to that (I used HBOmax). So if this happens again, just make sure your clocks match, ignore her blurry screen and it should sync correctly... at least it did on my end.

john caudell

I'm the dumdest guy I know. Why does everyone else get away with the audio/video box in the corner, but you're being punished?

Eric

Cassie, I always like so very much how you are empathetic to the characters in any given movie or episode. I also appreciate your sense of humor in the lighter moments. The realism The Pacific is off the charts. It was truly hard to watch some of this. I look forward to future reactions from you.

Eddie Collison
>>59082738

I synched with a DVD. I'll use the timecode next time, I usually just visually match it up.

Eddie Collison
>>59059297

@Catherine, crazy! I had my communion at St Joe's back in the day. (mid '70s) Nice meeting a fellow 'Bergen-ite'. I always dig your comments, It's obvious you are a serious student of military history.. Ok sorry to hijack the post, I tried to see if I could message you directly . What was the name of the pizzeria? Jersey pizza is the best!

Brandon Dague

Hey Cassie, You’re going to love this series as much as BoB. That being said, I’ll give you some information to help you track along next episode. There are 3 main characters this series in different companies. This episode focused mainly on Bob Lecky who was a newspaper writer before the war and went on to write a book about his experiences called “A Helmet for my Pillow”. The second main character is Eugene Sledge. He too went on to write a book called “With the Old Breed”. Eugene’s best friend growing up is Sydney Phillips (the guy they sang happy birthday to). The third main character is John Basilone. You will find out why he is famous over the next few episodes. That being said the U.S. Military in 1941/1942 only had 3 branches of the military: The Army (which is what the paratroopers are apart of. For example the guys in BoB were in the Army), the Navy, and the Marine Corps. The Marines at this particular time were an Amphibious assault force that traveled with the Navy (technically even to this day the Marines are a apart of the Department of the Navy). The U.S. strategy in the pacific at the time was an island hopping campaign which would require a bunch of assaults on small islands to gain territory and a foothold in the Pacific Ocean to fight the Japanese from. Much different than Europe where we already had allies to stage men and equipment to fight from. The best force for an assault across many Islands is the Marines because at this time this was their literal reason for existing. The Marines also being a fraction of the size of the Army were unable to spare men to fight in Europe. Which is why their mission was the Pacific only. Now the reason the Marines were sent to fight at Guadalcanal was to help take back the Solomon Islands and help reestablish a connection with our ally Australia. Other things you will want to take note of during this series is the brutal fighting conditions the Marines fought in. The Japanese were also a fierce fighting force that would send thousands of their men straight into the enemy to try and overwhelm them. Also the Japanese would rarely surrender. They would prefer death by suicide than surrender. For example in this episode the Japanese soldier blew himself up with a grenade instead of being captured. One notable Marine in this episode is Chesty Puller who is arguably the most notorious Marine in history and one of the most decorated Marines in the history of the Corps. As far as terminology that I noticed you may have had questions about or will have questions about: Skipper refers to the Captain of a company. It’s a unofficial reference or slang title of the commander. Gunny is shortened version of the rank Gunnery Sergeant. Gunnery Sergeant is a Senior NCO rank in the Marine Corps. It is one of the most respected ranks in the Corps. Technically the rank is lower than a Lieutenant but the “Gunny” has higher respect and usually a lot more experience than a Lieutenant. This info isn’t relevant now but will come in handy as the series goes on as you will start to hear them a lot. As I watch more of your reactions to this series, I will add more information I can answer questions about. As always keep up the great work. Thank you, -Brandon

Catherine LW
>>59059297

Eddie, I don’t remember the name of the pizzeria as I was only 4 years old! Unfortunately my Dad is gone so I can’t ask him. That’s incredible that you also went to St. Joe’s! Did you know Fr. Michael Judge? He was our pastor there at the time. Everyone loved him! He was killed on 9/11, giving last rites to a dying fireman when struck by falling debris. There’s a famous photo of his body being carried by firefighters. I cried my eyes out when I recognized him. Yes, NJ pizza is the best! So are the Italian subs! Miss those the most.

Brennan Shippert

A couple questions you had: The Marines are technically a part of the Navy. These Marines you see had already passed basic training - this differs from BoB in that BoB starts during airborne school which comes after basic training. The scene where the Japanese drove a tank/armored vehicle down the road at night and you were asking why weren't the Americans shooting - the Japanese were probing American forces. That means trying to find where they are, and what their strength is. Since it was night time, had the Americans started shooting, it would have been easy to determine where the Americans were. That is why they held their fire - that was a wise decision as the Americans were not in a great defensible position and they didn't know the size and capabilities of the Japanese forces. When the Japanese were moving around the side to attack the Americans - that's "flanking". A very common infantry tactic is to have your "middle" units shoot at the enemy while one "side" unit (or both) move around the side and attack the enemy from that angle. The ultimate goal of this tactic is to surround the enemy. It can be also called the "hammer and anvil" tactic. "Skipper" is Navy-talk for "Captain". That was the guy who freaked out and was paralyzed with fear in his foxhole. This position is similar to Captain Winters in BoB during D-Day.

john caudell
>>59124702

Hey Brandon, have you seen "Naval Heritage, Jonathan Parshall: the Untold Story of Midway"? Well worth your time.

Adam Stanley

Can some one explain to me why is her screen blurry

Armchair Wizard
>>59397338

Do you mean the little screen where the film footage is? Thats because going forward she is doing the smart thing, which most other patreon reactors do, and requiring that you watch along with your own copy of the movie, instead of her just showing the whole movie in the small screen. This protects her channel from Copyright infringement, and getting shut down. Which not only would be bad for her, but for everyone who enjoys her channel. So this is the smart thing to do.