Guadalcanal/Leckie
- Episode aired Mar 14, 2010
- TV-MA
- 52m
Veteran Sergeant John Basilone ships out soon after Pearl Harbor for Guadalcanal while other young enlistees are sent to boot camp.Veteran Sergeant John Basilone ships out soon after Pearl Harbor for Guadalcanal while other young enlistees are sent to boot camp.Veteran Sergeant John Basilone ships out soon after Pearl Harbor for Guadalcanal while other young enlistees are sent to boot camp.
- Eugene Sledge
- (as Joe Mazzello)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe night action by the Japanese against the Marines' positions on the sandbar at the mouth of Alligator Creek is known as the Battle of the Tenaru. The Japanese had badly underestimated the scale of the US forces on the island. This led to overconfidence on their part, and so in the early hours of 21 August 1942, 917 Japanese attacked entrenched and well-defended Marine positions on the Tenaru sandbar. They lost over 780 dead in that single battle.
- GoofsThe map of the world showing the Axis powers' extent shows Iceland as Nazi occupied - although a plan to invade Iceland was drawn up during WWII, the island was never invaded or occupied by Germany. The British occupied the officially neutral Iceland in May 1940, replaced by the USA in July 1941. So at the time of Episode 1, December 1941, Iceland was occupied by the USA, not the Nazis.
- Quotes
PFC Robert Leckie: [reading a letter from home] "P.S., your mother would like to know if you want us to send you your dress blue uniform."
[they all laugh]
PFC Robert Leckie: Must think we get a lot of fancy dress balls around here.
PFC Wilbur 'Runner' Conley: Hey, if we have one, can I be your date?
PFC Robert Leckie: *You* are ugly. I want Hoosier.
PFC Bill 'Hoosier' Smith: [casually] Take a number.
- ConnectionsVersion of Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
- SoundtracksHonor - Main Title Theme From The Pacific
(uncredited)
Composed by Blake Neely, Geoff Zanelli, Hans Zimmer
An excellent start to the series. While we would expect the first episode to largely be an introduction to the main characters, it's far more than that: we also see the effects of Pearl Harbour on them and the general US population, see their paths to being in the Marines and get our first battles of the series.
We also get to see how previously peaceful men become hardened killers and the impact this has on them. There's also a degree of empathy for the enemy soldiers and the realisation that they're just men too, fighting for the other side.
So quite a lot crammed into the intro episode.
- grantss
- May 7, 2024
Details
- Runtime52 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1