PACIFIC, THE: GUADALCANAL/LECKIE {EPISODE 1} (TV)

Summary

The first 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. The program opens with a historical overview, narrated by Tom Hanks, describing the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the importance of protecting the tiny island of Guadalcanal, vital to the United States' access to Australia, from Japanese forces. Several veterans discuss their memories of shipping out into the unknown. In December 1941, writer Bob Leckie stops at a church and runs into his neighbor Vera Keller, telling her that he has enlisted in the Marines and offering to write to her. Elsewhere, veteran sergeant John Basilone listens to a speech from Lieutenant Colonel "Chesty" Puller describing their objectives in the Pacific and how Hitler is "not their job." He takes his friends and fellow Marines Manny Rodriguez and J.P. Morgan home to his large Italian family's home for Christmas, and his relatives toast to their good luck in the war. Leckie's father drops him at the train station and struggles to say goodbye, and in Alabama, Eugene Sledge is heartbroken to learn from his doctor father that he has a heart murmur which renders him ineligible to enlist. He meets up with his best friend Sidney Phillips, who is soon to ship out, and bids him farewell.

The new Marines head out on ships towards Guadalcanal, and the men defer to "Professor" Leckie to describe what awaits them. Their bravado turns to fear as they head towards the beach, though they are then taken aback to encounter only other bored Marines on the island. They snack on coconuts and then head into the jungle, searching for the enemy, and encounter several mutilated American corpses. A Marine is accidentally killed by friendly fire at night, and the men are aware that the Japanese are surely watching them. Leckie and Lew "Chuckler" Juergens gleefully watch the ships firing at one another from afar, though in the morning they are all shocked to find that their Navy has departed after a defeat, taking their supplies and food with them. They engage in a heavy nighttime firefight across the banks of a river, and by dawn discover that it was "a real turkey shoot" with hundreds of Japanese soldiers dead. One severely wounded enemy soldier kills two Marines with a grenade, and some of the others amuse themselves by shooting at a lone surviving enemy soldier for sport, but Leckie grimly ends the cruel game.

Chuckler is promoted to corporal, and Leckie looks through the Japanese soldiers' personal belongings, writing to Vera that he has encountered things "sobering to the soul" on the small island. Later, Chesty, Basilone and the others arrive as reinforcements, and though the Marines greet each other jokingly, the new men note that their fellows look as though they have "been through the ringer." Leckie and the others read letters from home aloud to one another, with Sledge writing to Phillips about how he is "lucky" to be serving his country and wishing him a happy eighteenth birthday.

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE: March 14, 2010 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:54:54
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 110580
• GENRE: Drama, historical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; World War II - Pacific campaign; Miniseries
• SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2010
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Gary Goetzman … Executive Producer
• Steven Spielberg … Executive Producer
• Tom Hanks … Executive Producer, Narrator
• Eugene Kelly … Co-Executive Producer
• Graham Yost … Co-Executive Producer
• Tony To … Co-Executive Producer
• Bruce C. McKenna … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• Tim Van Patten … Supervising Producer, Director
• Cherylanne Martin … Producer
• Todd London … Producer
• Steven Shareshian … Producer
• Robert Schenkkan … Co-Producer
• George Pelecanos … Co-Producer
• Miura Kite … Co-Producer
• Kirk Saduski … Co-Producer
• Jennifer Jackson … Associate Producer
• Jonathan Brytus … Associate Producer
• April Nocifora … Associate Producer
• Corinne Pooler … VFX Executive Producer
• David Taritero … Visual Effects Producer
• Ineke Majoor … Visual Effects Producer
• Mary Stuart … Visual Effects Producer
• Emily Wallin … Visual Effects Producer
• Tom Clary … Visual Effects Producer
• Christina Graff … Visual Effects Producer
• Terron Pratt … Digital Effects Producer
• Robert Leckie … Based on the book by
• Eugene B. Sledge … 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, Pvt. Eugene Sledge
• Jon Seda … Cast, Sgt. John Basilone
• Jon Bernthal … Cast, Sgt. Manuel Rodriguez
• Joshua Bitton … Cast, Sgt. J.P. Morgan
• Tom Budge … Cast, PFC Ronnie Gibson
• Linda Cropper … Cast, Mary Frank Sledge
• Caroline Dhavernas … Cast, Vera Keller
• Josh Helman … Cast, PFC Lew "Chuckler" Juergens
• Ashton Holmes … Cast, PFC Sidney Phillips
• Toby Leonard Moore … Cast, Sgt. Stone
• Henry Nixon … Cast, 2nd Lt. Hugh Corrigan
• Keith Nobbs … Cast, PFC Wilbur "Runner" Conley
• Conor O'Farrell … Cast, Dr. Sledge
• Jacob Pitts … Cast, PFC Bill "Hoosier" Smith
• William Sadler … Cast, Lt Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller
• Simon Bossell … Cast, Corpsman Stern
• Mark Casamento … Cast, George Basilone
• Lelia Goldoni … Cast, Dora Basilone
• Chris Haywood … Cast, John Leckie
• Brynn Loosemore … Cast, Corpsman Lewis
• Luigi Lucente … Cast, Carlo Basilone
• Louis Toshio Okada … Cast, Panicked Japanese Soldier
• Paul Pantano … Cast, Angelo Basilone
• Jonathan Seda … Cast, Basilone Nephew
• Joseph R. Sicari … Cast, Salvatore Basilone
• Sandy Winton … Cast, Capt. Jameson