The Pacific, ep. 5-7: Battle of Peleliu
Mar. 10th, 2023 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThis week I've continued watching The Pacific, a 10 episode miniseries about WWII. In many ways it's a companion piece to Band of Brothers, the critically acclaimed miniseries about US Army paratroopers (the storied 101st. Airborne) fighting in Europe. Among the ways they're similar is that both have Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as executive producers. They're different, though, in that while Band of Brothers was critically acclaimed and I found it engrossing, The Pacific has routinely fallen flat, marred by frequent lack of a compelling storyline and/or sympathetic characters to follow. Why do I keep watching it, then? I guess I keep hoping it will get better. And in episodes 5, 6, and 7, it kind of does.
These three episodes, the broad middle of the series, tell the story of the Battle of Peleliu. If you paid attention during WWII history class and don't remember that name or location, that's one of the most important points about the Battle of Peleliu. But it's not one this series makes, except only in brief, passing reference later.
The military's plan is also that securing this island will take just a few days. Military intelligence is that there are only a few thousand Japanese soldiers defending the island, greatly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of US soldiers committed to the operation. On that mark the military intelligence was wrong, though "only" by 2-3x. There were 10,000 Japanese defenders.
The far bigger intelligence failure was in assessing how well prepared the Japanese defenders were. They had built heavy fortifications, including an extensive network of tunnels in natural caves in the coral ridge that overlooked the airfield. They were so well defended in these positions that it ultimately took more than 2 months to defeat them, and the US experienced brutal attacks and heavy casualties in doing so.
In defending previous island assaults, the Japanese would fight Americans on the beach, trying to repel the landing. Japanese generals saw that this was ineffective. Among other things, it left their soldiers exposed to powerful attacks by naval artillery and heavy machine guns. Japanese leaders also saw that the notorious "banzai assault" was too costly. While it had strong shock value at first, once Americans started anticipating it they were able to inflict heavy casualties against charging infantry with their rifles and machine guns.
At Peleliu the Japanese pulled all their defenses back. They hid in bunkers and fortified caves. They built these hideouts to resist common patterns of attacks by rifle fire, artillery, and grenades. The Japanese also practiced excellent fire discipline. They held their fire during artillery and bombing attacks, as rifle fire does pretty much nothing against air and naval assault except confirm the defenders' location. As a result the US Navy thought that after 3 days of bombardment before the amphibious assault they had largely destroyed the Japanese defenders... when in fact they had barely touched them.
Just capturing the airfield took 3 days of brutal fighting. The Japanese soldiers remained in their well fortified positions and held their fire (part of fire discipline, mentioned above) until the Americans were close enough for maximum damage.
While a lot of US Marines were able to land on the island they were not able to establish any kind of beachhead or organized position. That meant they couldn't get supplies in. The weather on Peleliu was brutally hot, with daytime temperatures surpassing 105° F (40° C). The Marines couldn't even get water. Overheating and dehydration contributed to the Marines suffering enormous losses.
Even once the airfield was captured it wasn't actually secured. There were still significant Japanese defenders in the hills overlooking the airfield. They'd fire on US soldiers from well fortified positions by day and stage spoiling raids by night. The US had to find each defensive area and basically pry them out. That took a long time— that's where the battle stretched from several days to 10 weeks— and came at enormous cost of casualties.
The US suffered 10,000 casualties in the Battle of Peleliu. That was just over 20% of the total forces committed. Among the Marines, though, the casualty rate was much higher. The 1st Marines suffered an astonishing 71% casualties. Those men were put through a meat grinder... and ultimately for nothing.
This is a reality of history that this TV miniseries makes only passing mention of. It's, like, one sentence of voiceover narration, and it's not even until the intro of the next episode.
What's good about these 3 episodes, then? They're engrossing for their frenetic action. It seems like there's never more than a few seconds of screentime between someone shooting or being shot at. The characters all become sympathetic because they're living through hell. When a soldier breaks here, you feel for them. And the men who've been assholes to each other for several episodes start looking after each other instead of looking for opportunities to pick on each other. ...Well, mostly. One guy gets ragged on by his whole squad for shitting himself in an ambush.
So, is it good TV? Ultimately no. And the reason isn't just the fundamentals of good plotting and characterization. That's part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the whitespace in these episodes, the things they don't address. Yes, Peleliu was brutal; we see that in High Definition. But it was also pointless. Some war leaders knew that. Some leaders knew that and they were overruled. The media was distracted by other things, so this story of wasted lives was barely reported. Could this have been avoided? Were any lessons learned? The show doesn't address that beyond a single sentence. A single sentence after 3 episodes. Almost everything I've written here, these 1,000+ words, is from research the episodes prompted me to go and do on my own. It's a sad statement that a TV show's most important contribution is that it prompted me to go somewhere else to understand what really happened.
These three episodes, the broad middle of the series, tell the story of the Battle of Peleliu. If you paid attention during WWII history class and don't remember that name or location, that's one of the most important points about the Battle of Peleliu. But it's not one this series makes, except only in brief, passing reference later.
Colossal Intelligence Failures
At Peleliu Island, the 1st, 5th, and 7th Marines are sent to capture a Japanese airstrip. The military's plan is that it's a critical toehold to support an invasion of the Philippines, which will then be the crucial launching point for an assault on Japan to win WWII.The military's plan is also that securing this island will take just a few days. Military intelligence is that there are only a few thousand Japanese soldiers defending the island, greatly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of US soldiers committed to the operation. On that mark the military intelligence was wrong, though "only" by 2-3x. There were 10,000 Japanese defenders.
The far bigger intelligence failure was in assessing how well prepared the Japanese defenders were. They had built heavy fortifications, including an extensive network of tunnels in natural caves in the coral ridge that overlooked the airfield. They were so well defended in these positions that it ultimately took more than 2 months to defeat them, and the US experienced brutal attacks and heavy casualties in doing so.
One Side Learned, One Side Didn't
Part of what happened here, though the series doesn't say it— I figured this out from reading up on the history myself— is that one side was learning, one side wasn't. The Japanese were the side that was learning.In defending previous island assaults, the Japanese would fight Americans on the beach, trying to repel the landing. Japanese generals saw that this was ineffective. Among other things, it left their soldiers exposed to powerful attacks by naval artillery and heavy machine guns. Japanese leaders also saw that the notorious "banzai assault" was too costly. While it had strong shock value at first, once Americans started anticipating it they were able to inflict heavy casualties against charging infantry with their rifles and machine guns.
At Peleliu the Japanese pulled all their defenses back. They hid in bunkers and fortified caves. They built these hideouts to resist common patterns of attacks by rifle fire, artillery, and grenades. The Japanese also practiced excellent fire discipline. They held their fire during artillery and bombing attacks, as rifle fire does pretty much nothing against air and naval assault except confirm the defenders' location. As a result the US Navy thought that after 3 days of bombardment before the amphibious assault they had largely destroyed the Japanese defenders... when in fact they had barely touched them.
Brutal, Brutal Fighting
Fighting in the Battle of Peleliu was brutal from start to finish. ...And again, that finish took more than 2 months. One respect in which the writing of these episodes was good is that it doesn't reveal up front how long the fighting would last. That immerses us viewers in the characters' developing sense of dread. "Alright, men, let's do this!" turns to "Shit, this is hard," to "OMG, is this ever going to be over?!" to "I hope when they kill me I get to die quickly."Just capturing the airfield took 3 days of brutal fighting. The Japanese soldiers remained in their well fortified positions and held their fire (part of fire discipline, mentioned above) until the Americans were close enough for maximum damage.
While a lot of US Marines were able to land on the island they were not able to establish any kind of beachhead or organized position. That meant they couldn't get supplies in. The weather on Peleliu was brutally hot, with daytime temperatures surpassing 105° F (40° C). The Marines couldn't even get water. Overheating and dehydration contributed to the Marines suffering enormous losses.
Even once the airfield was captured it wasn't actually secured. There were still significant Japanese defenders in the hills overlooking the airfield. They'd fire on US soldiers from well fortified positions by day and stage spoiling raids by night. The US had to find each defensive area and basically pry them out. That took a long time— that's where the battle stretched from several days to 10 weeks— and came at enormous cost of casualties.
Never Have So Many Paid So Much for So Little
I remarked near the start of this blog that it's unsurprising if you've never heard of the Battle of Peleliu even if you're familiar, by name if nothing else, with other major WWII Pacific battles such as Guadalcanal, Bataan, and Iwo Jima. That's because while Peleliu was a major battle, in terms of effort expended and lives lost, it was ultimately a pointless battle. The US military did not use Peleliu for staging and attack or defending the flank while invading the Philippines. In fact they never even used the airfield after securing it.The US suffered 10,000 casualties in the Battle of Peleliu. That was just over 20% of the total forces committed. Among the Marines, though, the casualty rate was much higher. The 1st Marines suffered an astonishing 71% casualties. Those men were put through a meat grinder... and ultimately for nothing.
This is a reality of history that this TV miniseries makes only passing mention of. It's, like, one sentence of voiceover narration, and it's not even until the intro of the next episode.
But Is It Good TV?
Ultimately while this trio of episodes are better than the few before them, they still fall well short of being great TV. Partly that's because the screenwriters and directors continue to struggle with the fundamentals of visual storytelling. The visuals themselves are beautiful, but the story is too hard to follow. There are too many characters, and frankly they all look the same in identical shirts and helmets with blood and sweat and grit smeared on their faces.What's good about these 3 episodes, then? They're engrossing for their frenetic action. It seems like there's never more than a few seconds of screentime between someone shooting or being shot at. The characters all become sympathetic because they're living through hell. When a soldier breaks here, you feel for them. And the men who've been assholes to each other for several episodes start looking after each other instead of looking for opportunities to pick on each other. ...Well, mostly. One guy gets ragged on by his whole squad for shitting himself in an ambush.
So, is it good TV? Ultimately no. And the reason isn't just the fundamentals of good plotting and characterization. That's part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the whitespace in these episodes, the things they don't address. Yes, Peleliu was brutal; we see that in High Definition. But it was also pointless. Some war leaders knew that. Some leaders knew that and they were overruled. The media was distracted by other things, so this story of wasted lives was barely reported. Could this have been avoided? Were any lessons learned? The show doesn't address that beyond a single sentence. A single sentence after 3 episodes. Almost everything I've written here, these 1,000+ words, is from research the episodes prompted me to go and do on my own. It's a sad statement that a TV show's most important contribution is that it prompted me to go somewhere else to understand what really happened.
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Date: 2023-03-12 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-12 09:36 pm (UTC)