Strength, struggle and sacrifice - Entertainment, TV, Television - Army Times

Strength, struggle and sacrifice

For armchair history buffs who enjoyed the Euro-centric “Band of Brothers” and “Saving Private Ryan” but wondered when the Pacific theater would get equal treatment, the wait is over.

“The Pacific,” a 10-part miniseries, tells what is, in effect, the story of the men who forged the modern Marine Corps, highlighted by their epic struggle during the island-hopping campaign of World War II.

Crafted by executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the series runs in the same gritty vein as “Band of Brothers” and “Saving Private Ryan,” delivering true-to-life, sometimes heart-wrenching accounts of grunts wrestling for control of tropical, disease-ridden islands occupied by Japanese forces hellbent on defending their turf, often to the last man.

“The veterans never really had a chance to tell what they were going through to their families, friends and loved ones — and we are able to be that voice,” said actor Jon Seda, who portrays Medal of Honor recipient Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone.

Based on memoirs by former Marines Eugene Sledge and Robert Leckie, the series is as much history lesson as entertainment. Told in three distinct storylines, it follows the personal journeys of Sledge, Leckie and Basilone as they grapple not just with the enemy, but also with themselves.

Themes include combat stress, alcoholism, suicide and loss of faith, as the main characters struggle to make sense of the horrific, if necessary, acts they perpetrate. It paints an inglorious yet awe-inspiring picture of the sacrifices made by men who march into battle.

“I hope this gives audiences, the world at large, an appreciation for what these guys went through,” said retired Marine Capt. Dale Dye, a Vietnam veteran, actor and owner of Warrior Inc., a firm that provided technical advice for the film.

Each of the main characters has issues to deal with:

• Leckie sees a fellow Marine commit suicide. He is seriously wounded several times, and although brave in battle, finally suffers a paralyzing psychological breakdown. After the war, he buries himself in work as a reporter at a paper near his hometown of Rutherford, N.J, but has trouble adjusting. Even routine social interactions such as dating become strained experiences.

• Sledge, an innocent, small-town boy from Mobile, Ala., is transformed into a coldhearted killer who regains his humanity only after traveling to the edge of darkness and back.

• Basilone makes the ultimate sacrifice. After receiving the Medal of Honor and being brought home for war bond drives, he pressures his superiors to send him back into action. They do, but not before his whirlwind romance with a female Marine at Camp Pendleton, Calif., leads to marriage. On the verge of starting a family, he is shipped to Iwo Jima and killed.

Doing their story justice was a difficult undertaking, but it was one Seda said he and his fellow actors took to heart.

“There were many days I would question myself,” Seda said of filling Basilone’s shoes. “The reality would set in that this isn’t something they are making up. To think that John Basilone received the Medal of Honor and didn’t have to go back, but went back to that hell ... would I have done the same?”

Part of doing the story justice was learning how to be a Marine during a 10-day boot camp led by Dye, who, like the series’ main characters, served with 1st Marine Division. He tested the actors’ mettle through physical, emotional and mental stress.

“It was a shock, absolutely. I got at them just like a DI,” Dye said. “There were tears. … They ate twice a day, dug holes, lived in holes, all in complete isolation.”

Ultimately, the series’ only weakness arises from its structure. Although parallel, the three distinct story threads make it less engaging than “Band of Brothers,” in which the characters stick together for the duration. The three separate stories do give viewers an overall picture of war in the Pacific, with each character’s unique struggles painting a vivid picture of what the typical Marine endured.

“Unlike the situation we had in ‘Band of Brothers,’ this is really a look at the entire spectrum of service in that war,” Dye said. “It makes me happy throughout my entire career of 35 films or so to get this piece of Marine Corps history down right. This one I really had my heart in.”

In the end, the series seems neither pro- nor anti-war, but unwaveringly sympathetic to the sacrifices made by Marines — and soldiers, sailors and airmen.

“Whether you agree with war or not, it is about honoring the fact that there are people out there willing to do what you might not be willing to do, all to protect you,” Seda said.

“I think Marines now can look at this and go back in time and see their fellow Marines — their brothers — as inspiration. It’s something I hope will give them the strength to continue what they are doing now.”

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The 10-part miniseries “The Pacific” premieres at 9 p.m. March 14 on HBO.