The War

[Analogman]

I usually turn on the TV at 8 pm and watch it, or certain shows anyhow, about every night.

[Mrs. Peel]

I guess the deal is each one represents a section of the country - but I am sure people feel left out.

 

Probably, but who would watch a 3275 part series that included every American town and city?

[gogo]

I felt that way about his Jazz series, that some stuff I wanted to know more about was given short shrift, and then he seemed to dwell forever on other topics. I guess that's his perogative as a documentarian, he gets to make those decisions, and he's never going to make everyone happy.

 

Here's my family's WWII/TV documentary story: my grandmother's only brother (there were 6 girls and just the one boy in the family) was killed in Holland in 1944, and my grandmother always said that she didn't really know the circumstances of his death. A few years ago, I guess it was for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, one of the local stations did interviews with veterans. My grandmother was watching, and she saw a man talking about being shot during a battle in Holland near the end of the war. He said that his best friend in the army, a kid from San Francisco named Red Lacey, was standing next to him and was killed by the same hail of bullets that injured him. Grandma's only surviving sister had also been watching, and they agreed that Red Lacey had to be their brother Jack. So they tracked down this man, who it turned out lived just down the street from my great-aunt, and met him and learned all about their brother's last days. He also gave them some pictures that they had never seen before.

 

Here's Jack ("Red"):

 

 

and Jack (second from right) and some of his buddies:

 

[nettles]

That's a sad but great story there go-go, and Red Lacey is pretty cool name as well. Recently my uncle unearthed a letter my grandfather wrote to my Dad, whom he had never met because was born after my grandfather was deployed to the South Pacific. My Grandfather survived the war, but you get the sense by reading the letter that he wasn't so confident that he would, also it give some insight into the thinking of the time, the call to duty and the greater good.

[IATTBYB]

That is an amazing story gogo.

 

I was really into the first episode and all of the time devoted to Guadalcanal. My mom's uncle was killed in the summer of '43 on Guadalcanal, shortly after she was born. Just a few months ago, her last uncle passed away. Earlier this year when it looked as if her last uncle only had a few months left, he gave my mom a bunch of letters that his brother had sent from the Pacific theatre. Each letter that he sent ended with a request that someone give my mom, who was still just a baby at that time, a hug and a kiss. Needless to say, those letters are going to be kept forever.

[tugmoose]

So, what's the verdict?

 

Also: just wondering, how many of you guys' parents were in WWII? My dad was, technically. He turned 17 and joined the Navy just after the fighting ended but before the treaties were ratified, making him a WWII vet.

[bjorn_skurj]

I missed the last two episodes. We won, right?

[aricandover]

I missed the last two episodes. We won, right?

[bjorn_skurj]

Woo-hoo! Good thing Philip K. Dick wasn't the script consultant.