greatest generation

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Iwo Jima flag raiser John Bradley with John Wayne during the filming of Wayne’s classic war film, The Sands of Iwo Jima. Bradley, along with Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon, played himself in the movie. His son would go on to write Flags of Our Fathers. Clint Eastwood directed the movie based on the book.

Bradley, a medic and civilian mortician, struggled with PTSD his entire adult life and rarely talked about the war after the film was released. This suffering veteran, directly linked to our country’s greatest war actors, symbolizes the void between Hollywood and the sad realities of war.

A different view of The Pacific & Eugene Sledge →

“He was a quiet guy, who served in the mortar platoon,” said Mace, noting that the mortar guys moved as far as 100 yards behind riflemen like him, who faced the brunt of action. “We used to kid them: ‘My mother wants to join the service, can she join the mortar men?’”

A veteran infantryman from Eugene Sledge’s K Company points out some problems with HBO’s The Pacific. His comments also underscore one of possible reasons Sledge survived to write his memoirs: Mortarmen were spared the constant frontline madness, greatly increasing their mortality rate.

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World War II was such a world-changing event that no miniseries — let alone two-hour movie — could ever capture its full import. But that doesn’t stop these two from trying. The Band of Brothers & The Pacific Set ($135) puts both award-winning, 10-part miniseries in the same box, letting you catch a glimpse of the conflict from both shores while garnering a new respect for the men and women who lived through it. Features include 13 total discs — including special features for both series — and crystal-clear hi-def picture and sound. (via Uncrate | The Buyer’s Guide For Men)

Two views of the Yorktown at Midway. 

Alaskan D-Day for Canadian and American forces

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August 24, 1942 - Japanese Attack on the USS Enterprise. 

This was the third Japanese bomb to hit on the flight deck of the Enterprise. The photographer lost his life while taking this picture.  

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African American Marines take a breather in the Pacific

Albert N. Brown, oldest survivor of Bataan Death March, dies at 105 - The Washington Post →

Albert N. Brown, 105, a retired Army major who lived to be the oldest survivor of the 1942 Bataan Death March in the Philippines and was believed to be among the oldest surviving Americans to have fought in World War II, died Aug. 14 at a nursing home in Nashville, Ill.