re: Band of Brothers vs The Pacific

I don't think this is even a debate. The marines in the Pacific clearly had a more difficult job

Man frick that cold bullshite having your toes and nose freeze off. That being said of course i would chose Europe instead of a mostly uninhabited island.

The fighting in the Pacific series at least shows the Marines had it harder (whether that's true or not) the fighting in the Pacific series is more brutal and the show claims to have done tons of research.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in the Pacific; island hopping from Malaria to Malaria and an enemy you can't even see - burrowed into the Island like moles.

Plus when we jumped into the Pacific out of necessity, the Japanese Navy was far superior to ours.

The Zeros were far superior planes to what we were using. In fact when the US made raids on Japan's carriers they often had 90% casualty rate.

But then the bravery and heroism and miracle of Midway happened.

quote:

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The U.S. lost one carrier, 145 planes and 307 men. Japan lost four aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser, 291 planes and 4,800 men, according to the U.S. Navy and to an account by former Japanese naval officers in ``Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story.''

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Midway was the best thing and worst thing to happen to the US. In under just 1 year after Pearl Harbor the US had decimated the Japanese "greatest Navy in the World" but in doing so - made Japan fight a defensive dig-in battle for the rest of the war that made the US take the Empire piecemeal.

Seems like Europe and Africa were more tactics while Pacific was just a blood bath

Just a couple of points I want to make:

- There were a lot more Army than Marines in the Pacific, and they suffered mightily (2X as many KIA). I hope people don't forget that.

- That being said, I tend to think The Pacific is a better, more sophisticated, and more nuanced product than Band of Brothers. The Pacific captured the psychological and emotional aspects of combat far better than Band of Brothers did, and Band of Brothers in retrospect can come off a little campy and story-boarded.

Isn’t HBO making one about the 8th Air Force?

As a show BoB was better and overshadowed Pacific. However, the soldiers and marines in the Pacific had it way worse. My dad served in both theatres, and he said fighting in the Pacific was way worse. He did not elaborate, because he never gave specifics about his time in the service.

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My dad served in both theatres, and he said fighting in the Pacific was way worse. He did not elaborate, because he never gave specifics about his time in the service.

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My Dad was in the Pacific, and my Uncle was in Europe. My Dad ate coconuts and C-Rations and fought typhoons and the Japanese. My Uncle at least had French girls and wine from towns liberated from the Germans.

MacArthur is responsible for a lot of that misery. If he had allowed the Navy and Marines to island hop their way more. A lot more islands would have been bypassed and cut off. But he had to make up for his poor showing on the outset.

ETA:

The biggest stroke of luck was the Japanese refused to fight like Americans and Germans with subs.