Apocalypse: The Second World War

[Los Broncos]

Anyone else watch this on the Smithsonian or History channel?

I've watched it 3 times already, great insight and very very touching, some parts I teared up a little.

Narrated by Martin Sheen, just a great documentary.

[no-pseudo-fan]

when is it on again?

[Los Broncos]

Originally Posted by no-pseudo-fan

when is it on again?

The site says it's not airing but here is the link to the page, you can check it from time to time.

Also you can watch some of it on the site.

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/si....do?series=694

[bowtown]

Originally Posted by Iron Clady

Anyone else watch this on the Smithsonian or History channel?

I've watched it 3 times already, great insight and very very touching, some parts I teared up a little.

Narrated by Martin Sheen, just a great documentary.

Wuss

[Los Broncos]

Originally Posted by bowtown

Wuss

Ha, just on one part of it really, a rocket propelled 1 ton warhead taking out an innocent family.

As because of one man's hate.

[BroncoLifer]

Originally Posted by Iron Clady

As because of one man's hate.

It took other people going along to enable that hate.

[BroncoBuff]

Gotta see that.

Our generation is such a bunch of pansies. We have no idea what that must've been like.

[Los Broncos]

Originally Posted by BroncoLifer

It took other people going along to enable that hate.

And I agree, it was just a sad thing really, all those innocent people dying.

It just makes me think about life you know.

[bpc]

Did they play up Tom Hangs wicked version of the story? Where American's are the bad guys and race haters? Because ya know, that's the en vogue stance to have for certain people in this country.

Evil shameful America, defending yourself after a sneak attack killing thousands of your people... pffff

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by bpc

Did they play up Tom Hangs wicked version of the story? Where American's are the bad guys and race haters? Because ya know, that's the en vogue stance to have for certain people in this country.

Evil shameful America, defending yourself after a sneak attack killing thousands of your people... pffff

For that reason alone I did not watch any of the Pacific on HBO, and what he said tainted Band of Brothers. Is that what he thinks American servicemen went to war for?

[watermock]

MSNBC for ME.

[BroncsRule]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

For that reason alone I did not watch any of the Pacific on HBO, and what he said tainted Band of Brothers. Is that what he thinks American servicemen went to war for?

Your loss. The Pacific was good. Not quite as good as BoB, but good. Even though Hanks aparently thinks what he thinks about America's "shameful" behavior on the world stage, that doesn't come through on to the screen at all. Like "Band" Pacific was a soldier's story, well told. (3 Marines' stories, actually)

[Los Broncos]

Originally Posted by bpc

Did they play up Tom Hangs wicked version of the story? Where American's are the bad guys and race haters? Because ya know, that's the en vogue stance to have for certain people in this country.

Evil shameful America, defending yourself after a sneak attack killing thousands of your people... pffff

Japanese commander: "We'll show those American devils what courage is"

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Originally Posted by bpc

Did they play up Tom Hangs wicked version of the story? Where American's are the bad guys and race haters? Because ya know, that's the en vogue stance to have for certain people in this country.

Evil shameful America, defending yourself after a sneak attack killing thousands of your people... pffff

You're a ****ing moron. No, no. Seriously. You are.

As soon as you have proof of an American posting something like that, go ahead and share it with all of us. Until you do, you're a simple minded douchebag who needs to create arguments in order to discuss an issue.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by ThatOneDenverMooseGuy

You're a ****ing moron. No, no. Seriously. You are.

As soon as you have proof of an American posting something like that, go ahead and share it with all of us. Until you do, you're a simple minded douchebag who needs to create arguments in order to discuss an issue.

^

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by ThatOneDenverMooseGuy

You're a ****ing moron. No, no. Seriously. You are.

As soon as you have proof of an American posting something like that, go ahead and share it with all of us. Until you do, you're a simple minded douchebag who needs to create arguments in order to discuss an issue.

Courtesy of Hotair.com

But the context for Hanks’ history lessons has changed. Band of Brothers, HBO’s best-selling DVD to date, began airing two days before 9/11; The Pacific, his new 10-hour epic about the Pacific theater in World War II, plays out against a very different backdrop, when the country is weary of war and American exceptionalism is a much tougher sell. World War II in the European theater was a case of massive armies arrayed against an unambiguous evil. The Pacific war was mainly fought by isolated groups of men and was overlaid by a sense that our foes were fundamentally different from us. In that sense, the war in the Pacific bears a closer relation to the complex war on terrorism the U.S. is waging now, making the new series a trickier prospect but one with potential for more depth and resonance. “Certainly, we wanted to honor U.S. bravery in The Pacific,” Hanks says. “But we also wanted to have people say, ‘We didn’t know our troops did that to Japanese people.’”…
And he is pleased that The Pacific has fulfilled an obligation to our World War II vets. He doesn’t see the series as simply eye-opening history. He hopes it offers Americans a chance to ponder the sacrifices of our current soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. “From the outset, we wanted to make people wonder how our troops can re-enter society in the first place,” Hanks says. “How could they just pick up their lives and get on with the rest of us? Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Courtesy of Hotair.com

But the context for Hanks’ history lessons has changed. Band of Brothers, HBO’s best-selling DVD to date, began airing two days before 9/11; The Pacific, his new 10-hour epic about the Pacific theater in World War II, plays out against a very different backdrop, when the country is weary of war and American exceptionalism is a much tougher sell. World War II in the European theater was a case of massive armies arrayed against an unambiguous evil. The Pacific war was mainly fought by isolated groups of men and was overlaid by a sense that our foes were fundamentally different from us. In that sense, the war in the Pacific bears a closer relation to the complex war on terrorism the U.S. is waging now, making the new series a trickier prospect but one with potential for more depth and resonance. “Certainly, we wanted to honor U.S. bravery in The Pacific,” Hanks says. “But we also wanted to have people say, ‘We didn’t know our troops did that to Japanese people.’”…
And he is pleased that The Pacific has fulfilled an obligation to our World War II vets. He doesn’t see the series as simply eye-opening history. He hopes it offers Americans a chance to ponder the sacrifices of our current soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. “From the outset, we wanted to make people wonder how our troops can re-enter society in the first place,” Hanks says. “How could they just pick up their lives and get on with the rest of us? Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

Okay, so can anyone verify that that's not the truth? I know (well, knew...) two WW2 vets, and several people living during that era. They can all corroborate that this is what the propaganda machine made people believe.

Hanks isn't saying we were wrong in going to war. He's saying that some of the things we did while at war were unacceptable. The ends don't always justify the means.

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Originally Posted by houghtam

Okay, so can anyone verify that that's not the truth? I know (well, knew...) two WW2 vets, and several people living during that era. They can all corroborate that this is what the propaganda machine made people believe.

Hanks isn't saying we were wrong in going to war. He's saying that some of the things we did while at war were unacceptable. The ends don't always justify the means.

This. Exactly.

But please, bpc, keep spinning that bull****. ****ing idiot.

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by houghtam

Okay, so can anyone verify that that's not the truth? I know (well, knew...) two WW2 vets, and several people living during that era. They can all corroborate that this is what the propaganda machine made people believe.

Hanks isn't saying we were wrong in going to war. He's saying that some of the things we did while at war were unacceptable. The ends don't always justify the means.

Do you think we would have gone to war with the Japanese for racial reasons? They attacked us first. Hanks' comment paints it that we were, and continue to be a xenophobic country (which is ridiculous...is there a nationality, religion or race on earth that does not have at least one American citizen?) who only pursues foreign policy with a racist paradigm.

We battled a Japanese empire bent on racial purity and an empire by the asians for the asians. Is this just incidental for Hanks? Or is America the only country to ever experience racism?

Little sick of every talking head on TV making it seem that the US is the problem all of the time. Even when history blatantly states otherwise.

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Do you think we would have gone to war with the Japanese for racial reasons? They attacked us first. Hanks' comment paints it that we were, and continue to be a xenophobic country (which is ridiculous...is there a nationality, religion or race on earth that does not have at least one American citizen?) who only pursues foreign policy with a racist paradigm.

We battled a Japanese empire bent on racial purity and an empire by the asians for the asians. Is this just incidental for Hanks? Or is America the only country to ever experience racism?

Little sick of every talking head on TV making it seem that the US is the problem all of the time. Even when history blatantly states otherwise.

Nowhere in Hanks' quote does he say we went to war for racial reasons. I don't think he believes that, and I certainly don't know anyone else who believes that.

We went to war with them because they attacked us. We waged war within our borders against them because they were different (as a side effect of them attacking us).

I think you're making a tremendous leap with your argument.