Yeah, seems like the series had just found its pace, and then they changed gears again. Definitely felt rushed, and I was afraid we were gonna have to wait until next week to see the Iwo Jima landings. But that didn't make seeing [SPOILER] Basilone go down any less dramatic, and the landings were probably the most brutal scenes yet.

I think they tried to do cover two much for a 10 part series. This could easily have filled 30 parts.

Apparently, he was killed instantly by a mortar shell. He wasn't shot and had time to look around before dying like in the episode.

Thirty parts would have been prohibitively expensive for HBO, ofc, but I think they could have stretched it out to 15. I guess they wanted to keep it to 10 parts to be symmetrical with Band of Brothers.

I tuned in right when they were tearing clothes off:doh:. My first thought was:" So the most important part of the war was how the marines got laid when not fighting:shifty:. But then I saw the rerun, so I knew the story in context.:hmmm: Tragic story though.

Ha, you did the same thing I did. I looked all this up after I saw that episode. And I noticed that fact too. I wonder why they changed that point?

They changed a lot regarding basilone, unfortunately.

Most probably. I just think that Sledges book "With the Old Breed" would have justified a 10 part series on it's own. Yeah, it wouldn't have covered Guadalcanal but the series doesn't cover a lot of the USMCs Pacific battles.

As it so happens, I had to pick someone up from National Airport in D.C., today. I looked around Arlington National Cemetery, and found Basilone's grave:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6751/basilone.jpg

And not too far away, American sub ace Richard O'Kane's:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2282/kanej.jpg

Tilt your head to see them upright.

Oops. I guess it became obvious via context that I was waiting in the cemetery.