I'm Australian and it's ANZAC day today where the whole country honours all those who have served our country and others in all theatres of war. I judge The Pacific as a dramatic representation of the war in the Pacific, not a 100% historically accurate documentary.
I'm so glad The Pacific is on, because it highlights part of the war that was so vital to my country. I might not be Australian today if our allied forces hadn't won the battles. Maybe because I grew up with a significant focus on the impacts of the war with the Japanese, I get a lot from the show and when I watch it I feel how awful it was for the marines and all who were there, and how Australia was the closest safe haven for those men and women. Just seeing a brief mention of the starvation, tropical ulcers, how important it was to stop the Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal, the Japanese mentality, is enough for me to get a lot out of the show. I already know how long it went on for, and that the battles were many and varied.
Think the Burma railway, Changi, Kokoda, and I realise the enormity of what these people went through, they were skeletons in rags if they manged to survive and come out of there. The Japanese bombed Darwin, there were submarines in Sydney Harbour, and just last year, we finally discovered the wreck of a hospital ship that he Japanese torpedoed and sank, just off Brisbane. The college I attended was turned into a US army hospital base in WWII and has miles of underground tunnels. MacArthur's base in Brisbane is still named after him, it's now a shopping centre, MacArthur Central. The anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea a few years ago in Townsville was huge.
The Pacific is a great show for me. I like it, I appreciate what they're representing in the short time they have to do it in a TV show. Just a quick look at someone who says goodbye to family in a snowy climate and then lands on a tropical island speaks volumes about what they faced to me. If it brings even a small amount of appreciation to others who are not as familiar with this part of WWII, The Pacific has done a great job. I give it a thumbs up.
For another interesting story set around this time, check out the movie Paradise Road.
