History Series / ThePacific

* NoPlaceForAWarrior: When Eugene Sledge returns from the war, he has a lot of trouble readjusting to civilian life. Not only is he a ShellShockedVeteran just like his dad feared he would become before he signed up, he also finds normal living to be trivial. When an unemployment officer asks him what his marketable skills are, he can't think of anything other than "killing Japs".

** [['''spoiler:Burgin''']]:If our intel had actually been correct, we would've never hit that island.

* WhatTheHellHero: Invoked by a Marine to Sledge and Snafu as they're standing with drawn weapons over a crying baby [[spoiler: in a house they bombed, killing or mortally wounding its family]], Sledge to a seemingly NewMeat who kills a young, helpless Japanese soldier he'd just decided to spare seconds earlier:

* AdaptedOut: Sledge's 6 months of Occupation duty in UsefulNotes/{{China}} are left out.

*** Although some Australian, New Zealand, and British airmen flew from Henderson Field, and one Australian cruiser was lost in Ironbottom Sound, the majority of naval and air forces in the Guadalcanal campaign were American, and US Marines and Soldiers carried the entire ground effort. Much of Australia's relatively small (but highly professional) army was committed to a grueling campaign in New Guinea's Owen Stanley Mountains. Guadalcanal and the earlier Battle of the Coral Sea (fought entirely by the US Navy) were Japanese attempts to strategically outflank the Australians and cut off their supply lines.

-->'''Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge:''' ''The Marine Corps taught me how to kill japs. I was pretty good at it, too.''
* BookEnds: The relatively "peaceful" landing on Guadalcanal in Part One where everyone lands safely is contrasted sharply with the hellish landing in Part 5 where Marines are being shot and blown up left and right.
* BoringButPractical: Basilone doesn't enjoy his time promoting War Bonds, and would rather be back fighting alongside his comrades. It is pointed out to him that war is expensive, and that by helping to raise the money to pay for all of their equipment, he is directly helping the Marines.

* BreatherEpisode: The Marines rest in Australia in Part 3, but it's not restful for everyone

** In Sledge and Eugene's books, the man who shot the guy chasing Jay was a B.A.R. gunner who was trying to shoot the Jap in the right spot so that his bullets would literally cause him to be cut in half.

* ComfortTheDying: One of the more emotional moments towards the end of the series has Eugene Sledge stumble onto a dying Okinawan woman in a cabin. He can't do anything more than comfort her, and despite the LanguageBarrier he stays with her until she dies.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The longer the Marines serve on the frontlines knee-deep in mud and rotting bodies, the more exhausted and apathetic they are about the violence and death surrounding them.
* CurbstompBattle: Leckie's first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal; the Japanese troops try to rush their strongpoint in Alligator Creek and suffer over 700 dead, to only 44 Marine casualties. When the sun rises after the battle the beaches and sandbars are covered in corpses.
** The next major battle near Henderson Field is even worse, there are so many dead Japanese that Sgt. Basilone has to run out and push the pile down so his machine guns have a clear line of fire.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Many people have noted that ''The Pacific'' is much more brutal and less romantic than its predecessor ''Series/BandOfBrothers''. ''Band of Brothers'' wasn't a picnic but ''The Pacific'' went much more into the horrific conditions of the Pacific Theater and the mental and emotional scarring afterwards. Given that the Pacific Theater was more brutal overall, this is justified. Originally, one of the veterans interviewed for the series was to be Bill Guarnere from ''[=BoB=]'', though this was later cut. Guarnere has said in no uncertain terms that as bad as the War in Europe was, the Marines in the Pacific had it even ''worse''.
* DeadpanSnarker: Leckie is one of these, being a writer. Also, Lena Riggs ([[spoiler:later Basilone]]).

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The black servants that the elder Sledges have are definitely not politically correct in 2010... but it's also pretty much historical fact for the time period (not to mention straight-up historical fact for Sledge's family) so they were included for the sake of authenticity.

** [[spoiler:"Frenchie", a French-Canadian Marine in Cape Gloucester. Bonus horror for being stark naked when he shot himself in the head. At least he was clean when he died...]]

** Disturbed Marine Ronnie Gibson, who is brought off Pavuvu, wishes Leckie (who wants to return to his men) good luck as best he can:

* EverybodySmokes: Although Sledge only starts after he'd seen combat. Interestingly, he opts out of cigarettes to using an old-fashioned pipe by Part 9. Sledge's family was so impressed with Mazello's portrayal that they ''gave'' him the pipe Sledge carried during the war.
* ExactWords: When Snafu tells Kathy that the new rain ponchos are treated with all sorts of chemicals, his tone of voice suggests that the ponchos are dangerous (so that Kathy would trade the new poncho for Snafu's old and full of holes one). However, the new ponchos are indeed treated with all sorts of chemicals, in order to make them considerably more water resistant than the old ones.

** Captain Andrew "Ack-Ack" Haldane has proven to be this more than once. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he's killed off-screen by a Japanese sniper in Part 7. While they're lowering his body out on a stretcher, most of the men in his company can be seen crying and/or saluting. Even [[DissonantSerenity Merriell "Snafu" Shelton's]] seen holding back tears]].

* FlashbackNightmare: One of these happens ''during battle'', see ShootTheDog

** During the Peleliu Landing, the Marine manning the .50 Caliber gun on Leckie's landing craft has one of his hands shot off. Later in the episode, Leckie steps on a severed human hand.
* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler:Anyone who knows anything Basilone knows he dies on Iwo Jima. Doesn't make his death less tragic.]]
** A few others: Allies won without actually launching assault on the Japanese mainland; both Leckie and Sledge survived and wrote books about their experiences in the Pacific Theater; Chesty Puller also survived the war and stayed in Marine Corps (some other Marine officers resigned after the war because of disillusionment after one of the battles).

** Iwo Jima definitely qualifies, even though we only see a few minutes of it.

** The Marines' commander during their first battle on Guadalcanal.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Lt. Mac from Episode 9. In his introduction in Episode 7, he chides Sledge for his thousand-yard-stare, then when he gets to Okinawa, he stupidly chews out Sledge for "giving away their position". (Sledge had just shot down Japanese soldiers who were running directly at them with bayonets!) Other than that he's shown to be fairly reasonable. However, the Lt. Mac in this series is actually based on two historical marines. He is named after Lt. Robert "Mac" [=MacKenzie=], the new mortar section commander, but most of his characterization is taken from 1st Lt. George "Shadow" Loveday, the Company XO and later CO. Shadow was the one who chewed out Sledge, and had a notorious habit of temper tantrums when he became displeased with his Marines (in one incident in the book, he chewed out a Marine who showed bravery in an attempt to knock out a machine gun!). Mac had a reputation for being utterly juvenile, shooting the teeth of a dead animal (on patrol, no less!), shooting the penis off of a dead Japanese soldier, and pissing in another one's mouth. [[MilesGloriosus He also bragged about how brave he would act under fire]] (before actually coming under fire). A far cry from the "Mac" in Episode 9.

** Also "Kathy" Peck from Okinawa: [[spoiler: he is responsible for Hamm's death]]. The only similarity to the real-life Kathy, who was actually a machine gunner, is that he has both a wife and a mistress back home. The real Peck according to Sledge's memoirs is in fact much more competent than in the show, having helped gun down a banzai charge with his aforementioned machine gun.
** Sledge also is given one in Episode 9, where he seems to go off the deep end in Okinawa. While there can be no doubt Okinawa was a profoundly traumatic experience for Sledge (and the Marines and soldiers involved) there is no evidence he became a BloodKnight with a deep desire to kill all Japanese during the campaign.

** TruthInTelevision with the Japanese Military. Their no surrender and fight to the last man code of honor cost them a lot of men and supplies when simply falling back and regrouping and reinforcing would've been far more strategically sensible.
** They fortunately came to their senses after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Which is fortunate since the USA was going to need several more months to build another bomb.

** Basilone has the literal kind on his war bond tour, with Virginia Grey.

* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Incidentally, the same episode with DeathOfAChild has [[spoiler: Sledge and Snafu finding the baby in the hut they shelled earlier.]]

* InsultBackfire: In the second episode, the Marines manage to capture some propaganda papers from the Japanese. They portray the Marines as psychos recruited from prisons and asylums for their savagery and brutality, which causes them to break out in cheers.

** Completely averted with both Iwo Jima and Okinawa, with the former being a volcanic island with barely any vegetation in sight and the latter like Peleliu ends up being blasted so hard to the point that it resembles a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI battlefield, especially when the rain comes pouring in.
* ManipulativeBastard: Snafu tricks Peck into trading his new poncho for his old, holey one by claiming the new ones are "covered in chemicals". [[spoiler: This comes back to haunt them when Peck switches his busted-up poncho for the one covering the mortar rounds, getting them wet and then getting a guy killed when they get more ammo.]]

** Sledge, teetering on the edge of committing a war crime (again) after witnessing the Japanese soldiers using civilians as human shields and living bombs, opts not to mercy kill a dying Okinawan woman (who was wounded when he ordered a mortar round into her house) by shooting her in the head like she wants; instead, [[DiedInYourArmsTonight he cradles her until she dies]].

* MidSeasonUpgrade: By part 4, the Marines switch from their old WWI-era weapons such as the [=M1903=] Springfield and [=M1917=] Browning to newer ones such as the [=M1=] Carbine, [=M1=] Garand, and [=M1919=] Browning. In addition, they also get new uniforms with camouflage on them. [[ShownTheirWork Which actually happened, though some sharpshooters actually liked the old M1903s.]]

-->'''Snafu''': "Don't worry; we have a nickname for you, too, Bill Leyden: we call you "Ball-Peen Hammer". Like a little hammer... for a little man."
-->'''Leyden''': "Alright, Snafu..."Shit 'n Ass"..."Fuck Up"..."
-->'''Snafu''': "Little jokes from the little man."

** Though Hamm's very competent, after witnessing the horrors of what happened with the civilians he is emotionally distraught about it, yet capable to handle himself. In fact, Snafu tries to befriend him but [[spoiler: when draftee Peck cracks while Snafu and Sledge are arguing and starts firing at the Japanese, Hamm is killed after dragging Peck to safety. Snafu takes it really hard emotionally and Sledge tells the [=MPs=] to get the now broken Peck out of his sight in so many words.]]

* RecklessGunUsage: When "cease fire" is called on the pistol range at Pavuvu, a second lieutenant who's not paying attention flags the other Marines on the firing line with his .45. The Gunny immediately snarls "Stupid son of a bitch!" then throws a handful of loose rounds at him, takes the pistol away from the lieutenant, ''ejects a round from the chamber'', and berates him (including a very explicit AssShove threat) for not knowing basic gun safety. When said lieutenant looks at Ack-Ack, the Captain merely responds with "Gunny's right."

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. When one of the Marines arrives home in Mississippi at a train station, there are segregated signs visible due to the Jim Crow laws the state had in the 1940s.

* SemperFi: The series primarily focuses on the exploits of the 1st Marine division, as well as the 5th Marine division during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The fact that "Chesty" Puller gets focus in the first few episodes should cement this.
* SenselessSacrifice: The narrator and the RealLife Marines state after General [=MacArthur=] decided not to use Peleliu as a forward base to retake the Philippines, the Marines feel their fight, where they suffered from thirst and took horrendous casualties, was cruelly wasted.
** [[spoiler:Burgin]]:If our intel had actually been correct, we would've never hit that island.

* ShoutOut: During [[spoiler:John and Lena's wedding, Lena]] complains that she feels 'like a Paratrooper' in her long silk dress. Lt. Harry Welsh actually carried his white silk reserve parachute through Normandy for over a month and then sent home to his fiancée Kitty so she could use it to make a wedding dress, as mentioned in ''Series/BandOfBrothers''.

** The Marines use appropriate weapons for different times. The Springfield and M1917 on Guadalcanal are replaced by the M1 and M1919 in later episodes.

* SouthernFriedPrivate: Sledge and Sidney, both Mobile, Alabama natives.
* SouthernGentleman: Sledge reeks of this. Well-spoken, well-dressed, polite and even smokes the pipe. [[spoiler:Until Okinawa at least]]. Sid as well.

* StandYourGround: Most of the Guadalcanal campaign but particularly the night battle during which Basilone earns his Medal of Honor.

* TankGoodness: Since Japanese tanks are outdated in design, they are woefully outclassed against American armor, most prominently the Sherman tank. Iwo Jima's a different story, all together: AT guns set up on Mount Surabachi destroyed most of the tanks that hit the shore, much to Basilone's dismay.
* TanksButNoTanks: Averted, though in this case the reasonably accurate Japanese tanks had to be created as replicas from scratch due to no original examples in running condition.
* TanksForNothing. TruthInTelevision for both sides. The Japanese tanks were inferior in just about every way, but the Japanese AT defenses were so strong and fortified that Sherman's going up against them without infantry support is the Pacific equivalent of facing a Tiger Tank. They still do good for our protagonists though.
* TapOnTheHead: Averted. One Marine starts having a panic attack and screams so loud it could have revealed their position. He's hit on the head with a shovel, and dies, either then and there or shortly afterwards.

* TheUnfavorite: Leckie states outright in Part 3 that he's the least favorite child and his parents never really wanted him. Also, he had an older brother who died at a young age and ever since then, his parents had a hard time showing affection. When he leaves for the army, his father doesn't seem to know how to show emotion about it, and when he finally returns home, it's treated as an inconvenience by his parents, as they've been using his room for storage. Subverted in that Leckie isn't striving for his parent's approval.
* WarHero: John Basilone is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Battle of Guadalcanal. He becomes something of a PropagandaHero as well, given his importance in selling U.S. war bonds. Much of his subsequent character arc is him trying to deal with the perception that people have developed of him. [[spoiler: He ultimately returns to the front, and is killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima]].

* ZergRush: A common tactic used by Japanese infantry each time the Marines encounter them. On Guadalcanal, this results in them suffering horrendous casualties, thanks to assaulting heavily fortified positions and them lacking sufficient artillery support to cover themselves.

A spiritual successor of both this series and ''Band of Brothers'' titled ''Series/MastersOfTheAir'' premiered in January 2024.

This series tells the story of the men who fought as part of the 1st Marine Division of the US Marine Corps during the [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific Pacific Theater]] of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Most of the series follows the experiences of three particular Marines: Robert "Lucky" Leckie, Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge, and John "Manila John" Basilone. From Guadalcanal, to Peleliu, to Okinawa, they experienced a war vastly different from the war their fellow countrymen fought in Europe.

Has a [[Characters/ThePacific character page]].

Produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg and Creator/TomHanks as the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' and/or ''Film/TheThinRedLine''[[note]]as ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' is to ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan''[[/note]], ''The Pacific'' is a ten-part miniseries that premiered on {{Creator/HBO}} beginning on March 14, 2010. It tells the story of the 1st Marines in the Pacific Theater of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII through the eyes of three men: Robert "Lucky" Leckie, Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge, and John "Manila John" Basilone. From Guadalcanal, to Peleliu, to Okinawa, they experienced a war vastly different from the war their fellow countrymen fought in Europe.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Lt. Mac from Episode 9. In his introduction in Episode 7, he chides Sledge for his thousand-yard-stare, then when he gets to Okinawa, he stupidly chews out Sledge for "giving away their position". (Sledge had just shot down Japanese soldiers who were running directly at them with bayonets!) Other than that he's shown to be fairly reasonable. However, the Lt. Mac in this series is actually based on two historical characters. He is named after Lt. Robert "Mac" [=MacKenzie=], the new mortar section commander, but most of his characterization is taken from 1st Lt. George "Shadow" Loveday, the Company XO and later CO. Shadow was the one who chewed out Sledge, and had a notorious habit of temper tantrums when he became displeased with his Marines (in one incident in the book, he chewed out a Marine who showed bravery in an attempt to knock out a machine gun!). Mac had a reputation for being utterly juvenile, shooting the teeth of a dead animal (on patrol, no less!), shooting the penis off of a dead Japanese soldier, and pissing in another one's mouth. [[MilesGloriosus He also bragged about how brave he would act under fire]] (before actually coming under fire). A far cry from the "Mac" in Episode 9.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many people have noted that ''The Pacific'' is much more brutal and less romantic than its predecessor ''Series/BandOfBrothers''. ''Band of Brothers'' wasn't a picnic but ''The Pacific'' went much more into the horrific conditions of the Pacific Theater and the mental and emotional scarring afterwards. Given that the Pacific Theater was more brutal overall, this is justified. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally]], one of the veterans interviewed for the series was to be Bill Guarnere from ''[=BoB=]'', though this was later cut. Guarnere has said in no uncertain terms that as bad as the War in Europe was, the Marines in the Pacific had it even ''worse''.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Lt. Mac from Episode 9. In his introduction in Episode 7, he chides Sledge for his thousand-yard-stare, then when he gets to Okinawa, he stupidly chews out Sledge for "giving away their position". (Sledge had just shot down Japanese soldiers who were running directly at them with bayonets!) Other then that he's shown to be fairly reasonable. But:\\
\\
Mac is based on two officers who joined Company K for the Peleliu campaign, Lt. Robert "Mac" [=MacKenzie=], the new mortar section commander, and 1st Lt. George "Shadow" Loveday, the Company XO and later CO. Shadow was the one who chewed out Sledge, and had a notorious habit of temper tantrums when he became displeased with his Marines (in one incident in the book, he chewed out a Marine who showed bravery in an attempt to knock out a machine gun!). Mac had a reputation for being utterly juvenile, shooting the teeth of a dead animal (on patrol, no less!), shooting the penis off of a dead Japanese soldier, and pissing in another one's mouth. [[MilesGloriosus He also bragged about how brave he would act under fire]] (before actually coming under fire). A far cry from the "Mac" in Episode 9.

* DuringTheWar

%% HoYay is a YMMV trope

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Averted.

* MaleFrontalNudity

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%% OneSceneWonder is a YMMV trope and goes on the YMMV page. Do not add it here.
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* ShootTheDog:
** Not the actual dog on Peleliu, but [[spoiler:one shellshocked Marine has a nightmare/freakout that could've alerted the Japanese to their positions, and is accidentally killed by his comrades (they only wanted to knock him out). The rest of the platoon's mortified at their actions, but Sledge states it was "better him than all of us."]]
%%** Okinawa is ''made'' of this trope.

->"''History is full of war, fought for a hundred different reasons. But this war, ''our'' war, I want to believe... I ''have'' to believe... that every step across that airfield, every man that's wounded, every man that I lose... that it's all worthwhile because our cause is just.''"

** Leckie has a childish crush on his childhood neighbour Vera Keller, but they're barely friends, [[spoiler: though they do get together and get married after the war]]; he also gets along great with the Aussie Stella ''and'' her family, but [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies she dumps him because she's worried about what her parents would have to deal with if he died]].

* ColonelBadass: Lieutenant Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller. Yes, that guy actually existed. Chesty Puller is ''still'' considered a badass by today's Marines, and at Parris Island and MCRD San Diego they end their day by saying, "Good night Chesty Puller, wherever you are!" He's also the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. He had five Navy Crosses, more than anyone has received ever (something the Marines like to remind the Navy every now and then). The only medal for valor that he was not awareded is the Medal of Honor, and some speculate that's he didn't receive this award because he didn't kiss ass and refused to play political games. Though pretty much everything that came out of his mouth proved he was a badass, he famously said this about being surrounded during the Korean War:

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The longer the Marines serve on the frontlines knee deep in mud and rotting bodies, the more exhausted and apathetic they are about the violence and death surrounding them.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The black servants that the elder Sledges have are definitely not politically correct in 2010... but it's also pretty much historical fact for the time period (not to mention straight up historical fact for Sledge's family) so they were included for the sake of authenticity.

*** This was one of the many oft-criticized bits of ArtisticLicense, with Frenchy being a CompositeCharacter [[note]] The real life soldier Frenchie was based on actually survived Cape Gloucester and would later die in action in Peleliu[[/note]].

* EverybodySmokes: Although Sledge only starts after he'd seen combat. Interestingly, he opts out from cigarettes to using an old-fashioned pipe by Part 9. Sledge's family was so impressed with Mazello's portrayal that they ''gave'' him the pipe Sledge carried during the war.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Basilone using his 33-pound crew served machine gun as a melee weapon against a Japanese soldier he runs into unexpectedly in Part 2.

** Snafu does this when another Marine's trying to pry the teeth out of a still living Japanese soldier's mouth in Part 7. Although he claims it's not so much this trope as making things easier for the Marine because the teeth are easier to get out if they're dead.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: In the end, after suffering horrific casualties and losing [[spoiler:Captain Ack-Ack]], the Marines find out that taking Peleliu was completely pointless. General [=MacArthur=] invaded and reconqured the Phillipines ahead of schedule, negating the need for Peleliu as a forward operating base. The island was never used for a major operation during the entire war.

* WarIsHell: The entirety of ''The Pacific'' is basically this. Made brutally clear by Eugune Sledge's father, who tries one last attempt to persuade his son from enlisting:

* WarWasBeginning: Iinvoked in a "where were you when..." way.

-->--'''Captain Andrew "Ack-Ack" Haldane'''

!!Provides Examples Of:

** Crowning this moment is when Jay, with pathetic chagrin and shame, admits to everyone that [[BringMeMyBrownPants he just had an accident]]. The Marines not already laughing lose it (except Ack-Ack).