PACIFIC, THE: OKINAWA {EPISODE 9} (TV)
Summary
The ninth episode in this ten-part historical miniseries, a companion piece to 2001's "Band of Brothers," depicting the Pacific Theatre of World War II as described in the memoirs of several United States Marine Corps veterans. In May 1945, K Company struggles through the mud on Okinawa and encounters several Okinawan refugees, whom some Marines erroneously believe to be their enemies. Snafu swindles new private Peck out of his new poncho and gives him his old, damaged one, and Sledge nearly comes to blows with a defiant Japanese prisoner of the Army, though 2nd Lt. Mac intervenes. They soon come under fire and flee from a tank, and Sledge assists Peck and Private Hamm in using the mortar. At night, Peck shields himself from the heavy rain under a new poncho and uses Snafu's old one to cover the ammunition, and Sledge is disgusted to find a decomposing body buried in their trench. Their mortar misfires because it is wet, and Mac orders them to retrieve more ammo from a nearby squad. On their way back, several Okinawan children are caught in the crossfire and killed, as is one of their own number, and Snafu furiously blames Peck for the loss.
In the morning, Hamm frets about the civilians and their lack of safe passage, and though Leyden sympathizes with the difficulty of seeing one's first death, Snafu tells him that he must get "mean" if he is to survive. The others make fun of Peck upon discovering his lies about his pretty wife and about being drafted, and they suddenly move out upon hearing that the Japanese are retreating. Burgin summons Sledge, Snafu and a frightened Hamm up the hill, and they encounter more civilians fleeing the violence. A terrified Okinawan attempts to hand her baby to the flustered Marines, and they realize too late that she has been booby-trapped with an explosive. The situation worsens as they endure accidental shelling from their own side, with Sledge ranting that no one cares about their safety. The next day, the men read letters from home and Snafu shows his compassionate side when Sledge mentions that his dog died. Hamm learns of more kamikaze attacks and wonders why the enemy refuses to surrender, but Snafu cites their "duty to God." Peck and Leyden begin to fight, but Burgin breaks it up, and Leyden is injured moments later by a shell and Sledge has to be held back from running to his friend. During yet another rainy night, Hamm admits that he "thought it would be different," to which Sledge responds coldly.
The men begin to doubt that they will ever leave the hellish island, and Sledge is horrified when he slips and tumbles into a rotting corpse. Mac orders him to fire rounds at a nearby farmhouse, and when a number of Japanese soldiers run towards them, they fire on them with rifles, with Sledge continuing to shoot in defiance of Mac's orders, angrily declaring that killing enemy soldiers is all that matters. Sledge and Snafu argue bitterly at night when Snafu gripes about the grim conditions and their lack of men, and Hamm is killed when he tries to prevent a frenzied Peck from giving away their position. As they continue moving through the hills and killing enemy soldiers, Snafu and Sledge discover a living baby amongst the dead in a house possibly hit by one of their own mortars. Sledge then finds an old Okinawan woman dying slowly from her wounds, and though she wordlessly asks him to shoot her, he cannot bring himself to do so and instead comforts her as she dies. Minutes later, he is upset when a few other Marines callously gun down an Okinawan youth, assuming that he is a "Jap." Later, the men enjoy a rare calm moment by the beach, and Burgin notices that Sledge still has Gunny Haney's lighter and mentions that Leyden made it back home alive. As they move out, Mac tells them that the Americans used "some kind of new bomb" on another Japanese city with profound results.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: May 9, 2010 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:44
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 110566
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; World War II - Pacific campaign; Miniseries
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2010
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Tom Hanks … Executive Producer
- Steven Spielberg … Executive Producer
- Gary Goetzman … Executive Producer
- Eugene Kelly … Co-Executive Producer
- Tony To … Co-Executive Producer
- Graham Yost … Co-Executive Producer
- Bruce C. McKenna … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Tim Van Patten … Supervising Producer, Director
- Steven Shareshian … Producer
- Todd London … Producer
- Cherylanne Martin … Producer
- George Pelecanos … Co-Producer
- Kirk Saduski … Co-Producer
- Robert Schenkkan … Co-Producer
- Miura Kite … Co-Producer
- April Nocifora … Associate Producer
- Jonathan Brytus … Associate Producer
- Jennifer Jackson … Associate Producer
- David Taritero … Visual Effects Producer
- George Macri … Visual Effects Producer
- Dione Wood … Visual Effects Producer
- Ineke Majoor … Visual Effects Producer
- Eugene B. Sledge … Based on the book by
- Robert Leckie … Based on the book by
- Chuck Tatum … Based on the book by
- Hans Zimmer … Music by
- Blake Neely … Music by
- Geoff Zanelli … Music by
- James Badge Dale … Cast, PFC Robert Leckie
- Joe Mazzello … Cast, PFC Eugene Sledge
- Jon Seda … Cast, Sgt. John Basilone
- Noel Fisher … Cast, Pvt. Hamm
- Brendan Fletcher … Cast, PFC Bill Leyden
- Rami Malek … Cast, Cpl. Merriell "Snafu" Shelton
- Martin McCann … Cast, Sgt. R.V. Burgin
- Nicholas Cooper … Cast, Army Officer
- Freddie Joe Farnsworth … Cast, 1st. Lt. Thomas Stanley
- Christopher Foy … Cast, Pvt. "Kathy" Peck
- Sam North … Cast, Replacement Marine
- Tiger Saito … Cast, 6-Year-Old Okinawan Boy
- Kaoru Sato … Cast, Old Dying Woman
- Geordie Taylor … Cast, Army Lieutenant
- Shingo Usami … Cast, Defiant Japanese Prisoner
- Boni Yanagisawa … Cast, Okinawan Mother
- Ashley Zukerman … Cast, 2nd Lt. Mac