Thoughts on The Pacific

As most of you likely know already, I'm a keen student of World War 2 (and even did a RPG on the topic, V for Victory). I think I've read more books about that conflict than any other topic. I'm sure it's no surprise then to learn that I was really looking forward to the new HBO mini-series, The Pacific. The idea was to do a show similar to Band of Brothers but set in the Pacific theater. The producers chose to focus on the classic island hopping match-up: US marines vs. the Japanese.

I've now watched six of the ten episodes and I'm finally fully bought in. I was worried for the first month because it did not suck me right in (unlike Treme, the other new HBO show, which had me in the first 10 minutes). I've been pondering why that is and I think I've figured it out.

Band of Brothers benefited from focusing on one small unit, Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. A challenge of any war movie is that most of the protagonists will be dressed in the same uniform. The film makers thus have to work a little harder to differentiate the characters, since visual cues are often minimal. Basically, one guy in fatigues wearing a helmet looks much like another, at least at first. Band of Brothers was better able to bring out its characters in part because the show was about only one company and there was a core of reoccurring characters.

The Pacific tells the story of the war through three men: Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge, and John Basilone. They were all in the 1st Marine Division but they weren't in the same company or even in the same battles necessarily. Basilone was on Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, Leckie on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu, and Sledge on Peleliu and Okinawa. This means that each of them has a separate cast of supporting characters and that's been problematic. It's often difficult to keep the various background characters straight, especially when you might only hear their names once. I've ended up watching each episode twice. The first time I take in the overall story. The second time I watch for little details and try to make connections I may have missed.

Of the three main characters, two of them wrote books after the war. Robert Leckie wrote "Helmet for My Pillow" and Eugene Sledge penned "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa." Last week I was the bookstore and I decided to pick up Sledge's book, since the show was shifting its focus onto him. I finished it before the latest episode aired last night and I'm really glad I read it. It was much easier for me pick out the support characters. Ah, there's the captain they called "Ack Ack," there's the crazy gunnery sergeant who scrubbed his scrotum with a steel-bristled brush, etc.

By the fifth episode I had already felt like it was cohering better, and that was cemented last night. It seems there will be a third episode on Peleliu and that will help as well. The early episodes did skip around a bit and the pacing was sometimes odd. With only four episodes left, I guess that means one more for Peleliu, one for Basilone on Iwo Jima, and then two for Sledge on Okinawa. I will be interested to see how the whole thing hangs together once I've seen it all and to see if it passes my "random flip" test. Basically, I know I really like something if I'll stop and watch it whenever I'm flipping TV channels and come across it. Band of Brothers passes that test, which is somewhat ridiculous since I own the series and can watch it anytime. We'll see if The Pacific measures up.

A Story for Veterans Day

My middle name is William, which is my father's name. He was named after his uncle, a Greek immigrant who fought in the American army in World War 1. When I was home a couple of years ago, my dad showed me a folder of paperwork regarding my great uncle. There was very little family lore about him because he died young on the Western Front. My father said he always wanted to know more, particularly how he died. In the folder I found his unit information and his date of death. I said I'd take to the internet and see what I could find out. My dad scoffed (to say he's not Mr. Computer is an understatement). "What are you going to find there?" he asked.

My great uncle William had been a private first class in the 3rd Infantry Division. He died on July 15, 1918. Finding out what happened to him was not too difficult as it turned out. July 15 was the first day the Second Battle of the Marne, which was Germany's last major offensive of the war. The 3rd Division, including William's 38th Regiment, was posted on the Marne River and here the Germans tried to break through to finally capture Paris. The units on either side of the 3rd Division fell back under the assault of German stormtroopers. The 3rd's commander, Major General Joseph Dickman, said to his French allies, "Nous resterons la." "We shall remain here." The 3rd held the line and earned a name they still bear to this day: the Rock of the Marne Division.

That was the action and the day my great uncle was killed. I also discovered where he's buried: the Oise-Marne American Cemetery, Plot B, Row 25, Grave 33. No one from my family has ever visited his grave. Included in that folder were letters from the government offering his mother a free trip to France to do so. Apparently in the 1920s this offer was made to the mothers of soldiers who died in the war. She was too grief stricken to take the trip and the letters went unanswered.

So I printed out what I had found online and brought it down to show my dad. He was impressed with what I had been able to dig up in just an hour. "See," I said, "the internet is good for something." I was glad my dad could finally find something out about his uncle and how he died. He had been wondering his whole life, but the family didn't like to talk about PFC Pramas. Too much pain I guess and I can understand that. I've since tracked down a history of the 3rd Division in WW1, published by the unit in Germany in 1919. I'm trying to learn more about where William's company was on that fateful day. Some day I'd also like to visit his grave. I feel that someone from my family should, since over 90 years have passed since his death.

I think of my great uncle when I see the anti-immigration bigots wrapping themselves in the American flag. William was a recent immigrant to the United States. He likely spoke little English and army life couldn't have been easy for him. But he joined up and he gave his life, as did many immigrants before him and as have many since. His willingness to do so did not diminish America, it enhanced it because we are fundamentally a nation of immigrants. Lets remember that this Veterans Day.

The True Story of the Man Who Would Be King

For years I have joked that it was old British movies that made me love imperialism. When I watched films like the Four Feathers and Gunga Din on our black and white TV, I knew there was a historical background but I was in it for the action and adventure. Two of my favorite films growing up were Zulu and The Man Who Would Be King, both starring Michael Caine. My brother and I would "play Zulu" with our neighbors on a regular basis. Two of us would play the British, crouching at the bottom of a small hill with wooden rifles. The other two would play the Zulus, hurling a stream of sticks at the (very) thin red line. To represent their enormous army and British firepower, the Zulus would get gunned down over and over again until was time for hand to hand combat. Then we'd switch sides and do it all over again. Considering the number of sticks we threw at each other, I'm surprised none of us lost an eye.

It is thus no surprise that when I was in NYC a couple of months back and browsing the temple of knowledge that is The Strand, I was drawn to a book called Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man Who Would Be King. A quick skim convinced me to pick it up and I'm glad I did. Ben Macintyre has written a cracking good biography of a little known American named Josiah Harlan, who was likely the inspiration for Kipling's tale. Harlan was a Pennsylvania Quaker who swore he would never return to America when his lover jilted him. He traveled to India in 1820 and on the strength of having read his brother's textbooks got a job as a surgeon in the army of the British East India Company.

This proved just the start of an amazing series of adventures inspired by his idol, Alexander the Great. He met the ousted ruler of Afghanistan and offered to put the man back on the throne in exchange the viziership. He then recruited a small mercenary army under American colors and marched into Afghanistan. Harlan should have died 20 times over but somehow he did not. He ended up working for Dost Mohammed Khan, the very man he had sought to depose. He became a governor for many years and eventually led the Khan's army. He led an expedition into the Hindu Kush, and while there won a princedom of his own. He never had a chance to rule, however, as the British were marching on Kabul by the time he returned. He was forced to leave Afghanistan and eventually returned to America. He attempted several schemes to get himself back to Central Asia, including one to import camels for use by the US army, but never returned to claim his princedom. Still, this unlikely character managed to raise an American flag in the Hindu Kush in 1839 and become Prince of Ghor, even if briefly.

Ben Macintyre has done some excellent historical detective work and manages to skillfully evoke both the period and Harlan's eccentric personality. If you like true tales of adventure, I heartily recommend Josiah the Great.

A Taste of History

Last night I took Nicole to local foodie favorite the Herbfarm for a birthday dinner. The meal was tremendous (bleu cheese ice cream...so good), but I'll let Nik blog about that. What captured my imagination is a unique item only the Herbfarm offers. They call it "The Oldest Wine You'll Ever Drink." The Herbfarm has a very small amount of Madeira that was bottled in 1795 and forgotten in a Scottish castle for over a century. No other wine would be potable after 200+ years but because of the unique nature of Madeira it has continued to improve. When this wine was bottled, George Washington was still president of the United States. Napoleon dispersed Royalists with "a whiff of grapeshot" during the French Revolution, thus beginning his rise to power. George Peabody, the man my home town in MA was named after, was born. That Madeira is a taste of history I would like to have.

The problem, of course, is that it doesn't come cheap. The 1795 Madeira is $365 per ounce. Yes, that's per ounce. The taste of 1795 will have to remain in my imagination for the foreseeable future.

A New Lost Cause?

The polls are not looking good for John McCain. It seems Obama may be able to win states like Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia and North Carolina, all of which voted Republican four years ago. To try to offset some of these losses, McCain has adopted a quixotic seeming strategy by doubling down on Pennsylvania. If he could turn the state from blue to red, it would gain him 21 electoral votes. However, polling has him losing by double digits and there are now over a million more registered Democrats in Pennsylvania than Republicans. Nonetheless, McCain is pumping money into the state and spending a lot of time campaigning there.

It reminds me of the last time that the hope of the south rested on an invasion of Pennsylvania. It was 1863 and General Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia* on its second invasion of the North. Lee did not want a battle until he had concentrated all his forces but was drawn into one when his troops bumped into a Union cavalry division while reportedly in search of shoes. This began a three day slugging match on terrain that was not of Lee's choosing and before he was ready to attack. Even so, on the first day and the second day he might have pulled it out if things had gone just a little differently. On the third day the smart play was to disengage and try to maneuver the Union army out of its strong defensive positions. Confounding the expectations of enemy generals and fighting a war of movement had been keys to Lee's success to date. That day though, his blood was up. Against the advice of General Longstreet, Lee did exactly what Union General Meade expected: launch a frontal assault up the middle. It has gone down in history as Pickett's Charge**. 12,500 Confederates attacked the entrenched Union troops. It was a valiant but doomed charge and men in the thousands were cut down by brutal cannister shot from Union artillery and withering musket fire. The units that made the charge suffered over 50% casualties. After the attack Lee is said to have ordered Pickett to prepare his division for defense. Pickett is reputed to have replied, "General Lee, I have no division." Pickett's Charge is often referred to as the high water mark of the Confederacy. Lee retreated back to the South and continued to fight, but after Gettysburg there was little chance of a Confederate victory.

Lee, of course, was in a much better position in 1863 than John McCain is today. Lee spent several years running circles around his opponents and honing the Army of Nothern Virginia into a potent fighting force. He had the initiative, he had a strong right hand in the form of General Longstreet, and he had the ability to inspire his troops. McCain's move in Pennsylvania is but the latest in a string of desperate ploys. He has only been able to react to Obama's more agile campaign, he is being dragged down by his manifestly incompetent running mate Sarah Palin, and his poor leadership and erratic behavior have caused many former comrades in arms to abandon him.

Next week we'll see who is victorious on the battlefields of Pennsylvania and the nation at large. There is one thing John McCain ought to keep in mind as the days tick down to November 4 though. Robert E. Lee lost the war but won a reputation for honor and decency that has only grown since his death. John McCain may somehow pull out a victory, but he's already squandered his honor in the war of politics. When the history books are written, John McCain's story will not be that of the honorable man who tried put his country first, but the politician who was willing to stoop to any low to win.

* Amusingly enough, according to Republicans like McCain advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer, Northern Virginia is no longer considered part of "real Virginia."

** Though it's more accurate to call it the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Assault (Pickett being but one of three division commanders in the attack).

Feeling Political

Remember a couple of years back when the firings of US attorneys was a big news story? This was part of the politicization of the Justice Department that put Alberto Gonzales in the spotlight. While much was made of the attorney general, considerably less ink was spilled discussing the root cause of the firings. What started it all was a favorite Republican issue: voter fraud. These attorneys were instructed to prosecute cases of voter fraud the Republican leadership was sure had occurred in 2004. The trouble was that the investigations went nowhere. The attorneys found little evidence of real voter fraud and what they could find was not worth prosecuting. Most of these attorneys were Republican appointees described as "loyal Bushies." That did not stop 9 of them from being fired because they failed to provide the outcome the Republican leadership desired.

Now McCain is behind in the polls and again the spectre of voter fraud appears. This time an organization called ACORN, which tries to get low-income Americans to vote, is being vilified by the right. If the howlings of maddened Drudge-readers were to be believed, vicious gangs of ACORN thugs are roaming the ghettos forcing people to register to vote over and over again. And it's all part of a huge conspiracy to defraud (great white hope) John McCain and install (black Muslim terrorist) Barack Obama as president.

As usual this is not the real story. What the Republicans are on about is voter registration fraud and it does indeed happen sometimes. However, it has little to no effect on the actual elections; bogus registrations mean nothing if no one shows up to cast the fraudulent votes. The real story is voter suppression, which is an organized attempt to prevent people from voting. This kind of chicanery has been going on for a long time and historically speaking both parties have practiced it. For the last couple of decades though it has been the shadow component of the Republican voter fraud strategy. They shout accusations of voter fraud at the Democrats while working to suppress the vote in areas likely to vote for their opponents. Urban areas full of minorities, for example.

There's a good article on Slate on the topic here.

And there's a good post on ACORN here.

I Guess the Artist Didn't Get the Memo

I was reading Warren Ellis' Crecy, which tells the story of the famed triumph of the English longbow over the chivalry of France in 1346. Early in the comic, Ellis tells us via his narrator, "We shoot or loose an arrow. We do not fire it. Firing is for cannon. Not cannons. Cannon is the plural of cannon."

Later on there is a map of the battlefield that shows how the troops were deployed. The artillery is shown in two spots with the following label: cannons. Whoops. The map of Great Britain is pretty funny though. To the north there is "Fucking Scotland," while to the west Wales is labeled simply "Sheep Shaggers." Did I mention this comic is very English?

Deadwood Had It Right

I remember when Deadwood debuted, I found the profanity really over the top. It did lead to the absolute genius of the Mr. Wu/Al Swearengen conversion that consisted almost entirely of cocksucker (surely one of the greatest moments of TV ever) but I wondered about the historical accuracy of the swearing. Well, check this link out:

http://s210975194.onlinehome.us/blog/?p=41

This is a document warning baseball players in 1898 to watch the salty talk. The amazing part of it is that it lists examples of the sort of talk that will not be tolerated. These include such gems as, "A dog must have fucked your mother when she made you!" And to David Milch's delight, "You cock-sucker!" Thanks, history.

Civil Wars

Yesterday afternoon I was watching this documentary series on the History Channel about the American Revolution (if you missed it, I'm sure they'll show it again next July 4th). One episode was about Britain's southern strategy and how it all went wrong. The British, you see, had stepped into a hornet's nest in the Carolinas. Loyalist and Patriot militias were terrorizing the countryside. The British made matters worse by issuing an "if you aren't with us, you're against us" decree. They looked at the situation as putting down a revolt. What was really going on, however, was what could be considered the first American civil war.

On paper it seemed simple enough. The British had the support of the Loyalist militias, while the small Continental army had the support of the Patriot militias. The war, however, was much more complicated on the ground. The various militias used the war as an excuse to settle old scores, seize disputed land, and persecute vendettas. Attacks led to retribution, which led to counter-attacks and so on. In hundreds of small battles American fought American with nary a redcoat a sight. It was a vicious circle of sectarian violence and the British army walked into the middle of it. They didn't know the lay of the land or the local politics. Their only real chance was to corner and destroy the Continental army and hope the countryside would fall in line. When this failed, their southern strategy was in shambles.

I'm sure the astute among you can see the parallels with the quagmire in Iraq. The biggest difference is that the British at least had a rebel army it could attack in open battle. The American army in Iraq doesn't even have that as a target. Nor does it really have the support of a group like the Loyalists. The army is simply stuck in the midst of a civil war, with no clear goals and no realistic strategy. Such are the perils of imperialist ambitions.