The Pacific (miniseries)

[Jimmy2]

Just wanted to remind some of the members here their is a great mini series coming out about the Pacific war from the makers of Band of Brothers.

Me and my friends were talking about this mini series and the Pacific war in general as i have family and i am sure some of you have family that fought in the Pacific.

This is a War that affected America as much as Australia and Britain and many other countries God Bless all that gave their lives or fought to make a better place for all to live in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pacific_(miniseries)

Also me and our new member DogFishHead were talking about this series as his Father fought in the Pacific and i asked him does his father have Pic's as he fought on many of the Islands he is a True Hero if you ask me.From the stories DFH told me his pops has been to hell and back..

So i was wondering even as a kid i use to look at pictures (from the battle field) from the old timers that fought in the Pacific or Europe during WW2 do any members here have any pic's of family members during war time (WW2)?

If so would be cool if some of you could post some pic's i think others like me would find them very intresting .

[JMH]

Really looking forward to this series, Band of Brothers was great. I think I heard that it was mostly filmed in Australia.

I only know of a couple of photos of my maternal grandfather during the war. He was the radio operator on a Lancaster heavy bomber in No. 103 squadron if I remember correctly (I know the squadron emblem was a black swan). Both are photos of the crew in their flight suits standing in front of their plane. I'll have to go over to my grandma's house and have a look through her old photo albums to see if there are any other photos. I don't know whether there are any photos of my paternal grandfather. He was a navigator on a Wellington medium bomber based somewhere in North Africa.

[Jimmy2]

Great stuff i find this very intresting as it was important part of history my grandmother who is now passed on use to make radios for the bombers !!! Amazing your grandfather could have used one of the radios my grandmother helped built during the war!!

I love stories like this !!

[dicko]

My Grandfather on my Mum's side (never met him) served in WWII. He had wanted to join as soon as the war began but at the time he was a domestic bus driver in Perth and they were in such short demand he had to stay on in that job initially. He was able to join with the 2/16th Battalion who did some serious fighting across a few campaigns. Check out the link below...

Only photo I've seen (minus standard uniform poses) was of him and a small group of other blokes looking very weary in their battle gear having a rest (I believe from New Guinea). Pretty cool photo I think it's hidden away somewhere in the house.

Also looking forward to the show!

Cheers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2/16th_Battalion_(Australia)

[anacostiakat]

I had not heard of this. My father served as a chief in the navy on cruisers and destroyers in the pacific. Also the Chinese civil war. Very similar duty to the movie The Sand Pebbles. He was at Pearl also.

I have two albums full of pics that I need to pull out and see what condition they are in. I especially like the ones of Mable from Hong Kong, etc.

Thanks, Jimmy

[Habanos2000]

Jimmy,

Great thread. My Dad was a United States Marine that served in the Pacific during WWII. He was discharged with the rank of sergeant. I'd like to share a brief excerpt from a letter his mother received from the Marine Public Relations Section during the war...

"Marine corporal Charles K. Peak had charge of a detail of war dogs and handlers during the battle of Iwo Jima. The dogs were used for bivouac security at night and patrolling during the day in the rugged cliff and ravine section of northern Iwo. The detail, including Peak and his doberman pinscher Hans, numbered seven handlers and a like number of dogs. It accounted for 12 **** while watching over sleeping infantrymen at night. Peak and "Hans", who trained together at Camp Lejeune, NC and fought as a team on Guam as well as Iwo, participated in seven patrols on the latter island. The patrols did not flush any ****, but they burned out and sealed a number of caves and destroyed a large amount of enemy supplies and ammunition."

Unfortunately my dad passed away from cancer when I was only two years old and I don't have any memories, other than photos of him. I'm extremely proud of what he did to defend our country and grateful that all service members and their significant sacrifices are being remembered through The Pacific.

[Jimmy2]

Great stuff guys thanks!!

[bunburyist]

Dobermanns are fantastic dogs aren't they, am not surprised they're so popular with the USMC - they don't come much more loyal or protective. Much better without the ears docked though

Don't think any of my near family saw action in the Pacific theatre - some were posted or passed through, but fortunately for them nowhere near any Jap POW camps. I have distant Australian relatives who still won't let visitors park their Toyotas or Hondas on the drive, such was the fate of the boys who never came home.

My living grandfather fought in Europe as a tank commander in the Irish Guards, under General Horrocks in XXX Corps - Market Garden and all that jazz. Remember him telling me they used open fire with their Shermans on the German Tigers and watch the shells bounce off, then get the hell out before the Tigers returned fire. Hence the name Brits gave them 'Tommy Cookers'...

[Ken Gargett]

Dobermanns are fantastic dogs aren't they, am not surprised they're so popular with the USMC - they don't come much more loyal or protective. Much better without the ears docked though

Don't think any of my near family saw action in the Pacific theatre - some were posted or passed through, but fortunately for them nowhere near any Jap POW camps. I have distant Australian relatives who still won't let visitors park their Toyotas or Hondas on the drive, such was the fate of the boys who never came home.

My living grandfather fought in Europe as a tank commander in the Irish Guards, under General Horrocks in XXX Corps - Market Garden and all that jazz. Remember him telling me they used open fire with their Shermans on the German Tigers and watch the shells bounce off, then get the hell out before the Tigers returned fire. Hence the name Brits gave them 'Tommy Cookers'...

different world. i simply cannot imagine going to war - i know that some of our members have done just that. you deserve all the accolades imaginable.

i think i posted elsewhere that i was named after my dad's uncle who was killed on the kokoda trail in PNG (very much looking forward to this show and i hope that PNG etc is not neglected) in WWII. by chance, when i was in PNG many years ago with the law firm i was with at the time, i went out to the cemetry and found his grave. the family had never been told his body had been found. they thought he was lost in the jungle. when i returned with photos, it was incredibly emotional for them.

his brother was a rear gunner i believe, in a lancaster. he was shot down and killed over the bering straights, i believe.

dad's father was seconded to mcarthur's staff in brizzy. he was an architect so i assume he was involved in that capacity somehow. amazing how hard it was to get many of them to talk about the wars.

on mum's side, her father was in the trenches in france for three years in WWI. he won two DMC's or something (not VC's but just under i think) of that ilk - to my shame, i'm not sure (mum recently found his diary so i am looking forward to settling down with a cigar and reading it) - one for jumping in an enemy machine gun nest when they were under fire (perhaps i was adopted because i can't imagine ever doing that). he had a number of brothers and cousins (most of them lied about their age to get in, as i believe he did), some of whom landed at gallipolli on the first or second day. one of them who landed on day one, fought the entire war without a scratch. others not so lucky. must have been hell.

what an extraordinary sacrifice they and so many others made.

[puros71]

Semper FI

[micahzeff]

My grandfather, Albert "Babe" Zeff, was working as an accountant for a sugar company on the big island when the japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He joined the amphibious corps and saw action in Guadalcanal and Saipan. He was twice wounded, receiving a purple heart with an oak cluster. He carried shrapnel in his thigh for the rest of his life from a Japanese grenade and always said he would have been dead if it had been German steel. He was reticent to speak of the horrors he witnessed, his service was something he was proud of but not something he wished to discuss with others. We owe a tremendous debt to our fathers and grandfathers who fought against fascism and them returned home and worked towards our nations prosperity.

[puros71]

Whats you guys think about the Pacific last night? Amazing!

[thechenman]

Damn...I forgot that it was on last night. Arrrggh...Gotta check my Fios schedule to see when HBO will replay it.

[puros71]

Damn...I forgot that it was on last night. Arrrggh...Gotta check my Fios schedule to see when HBO will replay it.

They will probably repeat it this week just do a search on your dvr if you have one. Once you do that you can do an option to season pass it so you dont miss any of them.

[anacostiakat]

Whats you guys think about the Pacific last night? Amazing!

I just watched it on-demand. I thought it was a good start. Seemed like it went pretty quick though. Have to see how it plays out.

[chuck1rar]

Have not seen Pacific yet but just finished watching the series "Generation Kill" from HBO.

Well made and amazing not very Hollywoodish..

Well worth taking a look...

[dicko]

Have not seen Pacific yet but just finished watching the series "Generation Kill" from HBO.

Well made and amazing not very Hollywoodish..

Well worth taking a look...

I'll second that. same people that did "The Wire". Still need to watch all of it.

[SandmanTR]

Whats you guys think about the Pacific last night? Amazing!

It definitely takes a different approach to say Band of Brothers first episode. Threw you right in the "****", so to speak. The wife and I are huge fans of BOB and have high hopes for this new series.

There's just something magical about movies and mini series made surrounding the "Greatest Generation".

[Bartolomeo]

Love The Pacific series so far

My birthday is Dec 7th so I have heard all about Pearl Harbor ever since I can remember

My Grandfather was in the Army in Normandy and such

Bart

[anacostiakat]

I watched episode II last night ondemand.

Good episode and I am loving the action in HD. But the shows sure do seem to fly by.

I'll keep on watching this one.

[GoSteelers]

Ad the time of the intro and the closing credits and they are almost as long as the actual show!

Love it though been looking forward to this for two years almost since I heard they were making it.

Hope we get more talk from the actual Vets who are portrayed in this series, thats what mad BOB so real.

[SandmanTR]

Hope we get more talk from the actual Vets who are portrayed in this series, thats what mad BOB so real.

I think that's what appealed to us (the wife and I) the most in BoB . The great interviews prior to the launch of that weeks episode. The wife and I are both Veterans and love anything that has to do with WWII. What a truly fascinating generation.

Right after the BoB series, we stumbled upon Valor Studios. We were lucky enough to snag a first edition of "Silencing the Guns", which was signed by every surviving member of Easy Company, including **** Winters.

http://www.valorstudios.com/****-Winters-a...court-Manor.htm

[dicko]

starts in 5 minutes on free to air in oz!

[Warren]

I just watched the first two episodes here and was quite impressed. Some pretty gory stuff and at times a little confronting but that's what war is right.

[thechenman]

I've watched all 5 episodes so far On Demand, and I have to say that it is subpar when comapred to Band of Brothers. It isn't horrible, but it isn't great. Also the intro is just way too long. 7 minutes to get past previous highlights and opening credits is ridiculous.