The Pacific ep. 1: Leckie/Guadalcanal
Feb. 23rd, 2023 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerIt's been a few weeks since I started watching the miniseries The Pacific. I wrote one blog then got sidetracked with life. Fortunately I'm not far behind on blogging as I've only watched the first 2 episodes out of 10. This blog is about the remainder of episode 1, "Leckie/Guadalcanal".
After the character introductions I wrote about in my previous blog the episode shifts to marines being deployed to Guadalcanal in the Pacific in August 1942. A text overlay notes that this was the first time US forces in the Pacific went on the offensive. For months they'd been defending against Japanese attacks... and losing.
As the soldiers land on the island I noticed their gear, especially as compared to Band of Brothers. In particular Marines units have heavy automatic weapons. Browning .30 caliber machine guns are shown.
Marines travel light... though not quite as lightly as paratroopers in the other series. This Browning gun is heavy. It's got a large water-cooled steel jacket around the barrel. One soldier carries the gun itself; a second soldier carries the tripod it mounts on. I think a third soldier carries extra boxes of ammunition for it. The Army paratroopers didn't have heavy automatic weapons like that.
It turns out heavy weapons like the Browning .30 cal were critical to the Marines' success. The Marines 1st Division lands unchallenged. Japanese forces occupying the island have pulled back, planning an ambush later. The Marines set up positions at the mouth of Alligator Creek near Tenaru Beach.
That night the Japanese attack in force. Wave after wave of Japanese infantry tries crossing the creek. The marines with rifles and handguns can't shoot them fast enough. The Japanese are starting to encircle the Americans. But the teams with Browning .30 cal machine guns blaze away, mowing down entire lines of enemy soldiers.
In the morning the Americans, victorious, survey the battlefield.
There are dead Japanese soldiers, everywhere. The beach is strewn with dead bodies.
Historical records tell us that 793 Japanese soldiers were killed in the Battle of Tenaru. The Japanese Army units underestimated the American Marines. They were better defended, and had more powerful weapons, than the Japanese expected. The battle was brutal. Even finding themselves outgunned, the Japanese did not slow, retreat, or surrender. The Americans had to kill them to the last man.
After the character introductions I wrote about in my previous blog the episode shifts to marines being deployed to Guadalcanal in the Pacific in August 1942. A text overlay notes that this was the first time US forces in the Pacific went on the offensive. For months they'd been defending against Japanese attacks... and losing.
As the soldiers land on the island I noticed their gear, especially as compared to Band of Brothers. In particular Marines units have heavy automatic weapons. Browning .30 caliber machine guns are shown.
Marines travel light... though not quite as lightly as paratroopers in the other series. This Browning gun is heavy. It's got a large water-cooled steel jacket around the barrel. One soldier carries the gun itself; a second soldier carries the tripod it mounts on. I think a third soldier carries extra boxes of ammunition for it. The Army paratroopers didn't have heavy automatic weapons like that.
It turns out heavy weapons like the Browning .30 cal were critical to the Marines' success. The Marines 1st Division lands unchallenged. Japanese forces occupying the island have pulled back, planning an ambush later. The Marines set up positions at the mouth of Alligator Creek near Tenaru Beach.
That night the Japanese attack in force. Wave after wave of Japanese infantry tries crossing the creek. The marines with rifles and handguns can't shoot them fast enough. The Japanese are starting to encircle the Americans. But the teams with Browning .30 cal machine guns blaze away, mowing down entire lines of enemy soldiers.
In the morning the Americans, victorious, survey the battlefield.
There are dead Japanese soldiers, everywhere. The beach is strewn with dead bodies.
Historical records tell us that 793 Japanese soldiers were killed in the Battle of Tenaru. The Japanese Army units underestimated the American Marines. They were better defended, and had more powerful weapons, than the Japanese expected. The battle was brutal. Even finding themselves outgunned, the Japanese did not slow, retreat, or surrender. The Americans had to kill them to the last man.
