1. Sorry, I just couldn’t wait until Monday morning to post my last comments on this board. (I did have to wait until I stopped crying though). I just want to say a heartfelt “thank you” to you Bruce, for working on this series, for working to get it right, for honoring these brave men, and for taking the time to come here every week and talk to us. The series really has affected me in so many ways that I didn’t expect and that are too numerous to mention here. May we never forget what these men accomplished and the sacrifices that they made. And may we never have to go through anything like this again. Thank you again, Bruce. I hope that whatever projects you may work on in the future, we may have an opportunity to talk again. You should be very proud and it has been an honor to talk to you each week. -JayLast, MakingOf Forums
Jay — Thanks and thanks for the questions. On to the next project!
2. What a moving episode, splendidly done! I’m going to post this both as a question and as feedback.Did your team produce a documentary along the lines of “We Stand Alone” as an endcap for this series? I hope you didn’t stop at the Character Profile vignettes and took it all the way home with a feature length documentary, because I want to see every frame of interview footage with the surviving vets and their families! It won’t be too long before these type of oral histories can no longer be made at all.At any rate, thanks again for this series, and I certainly hope your team doesn’t stop there. SO many more stories to be told!!! -matt314159, MakingOf Forums
Matt — I believe there will be more footage of actual vets and families on the DVD. I hope so. It would be great to see Corrigan talk about Leckie!
3.Either I missed it or it wasn’t there, did the end not show what happened with JP Morgan?
and ditto on Matt’s question.Besides that, I got nothing but the usual appreciation I’ve been mentioning in all my previous post, thanks for all the work on the series, Bruce.
-LTS, MakingOf Forums
LTS — I was as surprised as you were when Morgan didn’t show up! I thought he was going to be there. I thnk the reason is that there was some confusion about what actually happened to him. One of his buddies told us that he was killed in a motorcycle accident in 44 or 45, while driving to find his wife who had left him and stolen his poker winnings. But Hugh Ambrose found his service records and he died in the 80s. We couldn’t track him down well enough to put it on screen, I guess. I’m glad you enjoyed the Series and thanks for the questions.
4. I was expecting the ending like bob when the real people get interviewed but from this story they are mostly dead except tatum, sidney, burgie, and guys like clint waters and richard greer who werent major parts of the story. While alot of them have family members still alive it would have the same effect apprently bill leydon and hugh both died during filming because they were interviewed by you guys. I forgot about morgan. also, you cleverly avoided a mess with basilone family scene when you had lena claim he didnt sign the papers. it made both sides look like decent people. -mhenry, MakingOf Forums
Henry –
Thanks. A lot of the actors should get their proverbial “break” from the show, the way that boys in Band did. Malek, Badge, Mazello, Seda, Holmes, etc etc. They were all fantastic. The casting directors, particularly Meg Lieberman (who cast Band) were AWESOME.
5.Bruce, Amazing last episode.Can you talk about that scene on the train with Burgin, Snafu, and Sledgemhammer? How accurate was that (I assume you talked to Burgin about it)? Also, what prompted the decision to let Snafu walk out silently into the night? It was a fitting coda, given he lost touch with the other men, and one of the gut-wrenching scenes I have every watched. Here are two guys that served through 2 islands of hell together, and he chooses to walk away without so much as a goodbye. Thanks again for an amazing mini-series. I can’t wait for the DVDs to come out- I sure hope there is a documentary, like Matt requests! -PattonEngineer, MakingOf Forums
Patton — Great scene…and a contrivance in so far as they didn’t all take a train home together. Burgin, I believe, flew home. No one is sure how Snafu got home, and no one knows if he and Sledge went together, although it may have been likely if they were mustered out together. Snafu walking out silently was one of my favorite scenes to write and see on film. Unfortunately, the Brass above me cut a scene before that were Sledge looked at Snafu sleeping on his seat in the train…and Sledge writing in his Bible. It would have made Snafu’s silent exit, his dissolve into the masses of civilians much more powerful. But as it is…lots of vets have commented on it as really moving and accurate. They had a tremendous feeling of disorientation back home…and didn’t know how to deal with home or their comrades.
Enjoy the DVDs!
6. What a great series!! Congratulations on a wonderful production, Mr McKenna. What a tribute to these men and a real close look at the effects of war and combat. I really think that as the years go on and folks watch the series 5 and ten times over, this show will be just as endearing to most folks as BoB is. I am so bummed I just stumbled on to this BB as I am sure I would have used it much more during the first 9 episodes. I guess my question is a little different. To set it up, my grandfather fought and was wounded at Tarawa. I was very excited when I first heard that a project about the pacific was a go. I was mildly disappointed when I heard the series would focus on Marines of the 1st Division and therefore, Tarawa wasn’t going to be a part of the series (maybe someday?), but still looked forward to getting a glimpse of what my grandfather might have seen in his time in the pacific. So, now to my question: would I be correct in assuming that the Peleliu landing was at least similar to the Tarawa landing in that it was a difficult landing on a heavily defended beach? I know that Higgins boats were used in conjunction with the amtracks on Tarawa and that the coral reef played a big part in the carnage, but I guess I am wondering if that Peleliu landing sequence would be the closest thing currently on film, to the Tarawa landing (outside of the actual footage from “With the Marines at Tarawa”). I have done lots of research on my Grandfather’s service and have been after some hint of what he may have experienced on November 20th, 1943. Thanks for any insight and congrats, again, on a wonderful series. -Jason23, MakingOf Forums
Jason — Good question. I think “Worse” is such a relative term. Sledge’s landing at Orange Beach two was probably not as ferocious as the landing on Tarawa, which was smaller and more intense with more enemy fire focused on a smaller field of fire. But having said that I think our landing will be the closest anyone could come to depicting what certain aspects of Tarawa were like. We didn’t show the amtracs at Peleliu getting caught on the coral reef, which is similar to what happened at Tarawa, but at Tarawa they had to wade in from where a lot of craft ran aground, at least at first. But then again, there were sections of White Beach on Peleliu (where Leckie was) that were pretty gruesome. I think Tarawa would have been a great addition to the Series, but of course, we couldn’t do it. And in my opinion it was worse than Peleliu. Thanks for watching!
7. Hello Bruce Congratulations on such a wonderful series. My one complaint is that it is only 10 episodes long. While the battle scenes are some of the most gripping and brutal ever seen on film, it is the quieter episodes which affected me the most. I consider part 4 and part 10 each a masterpiece. Thank you 
-SimpleSimon, MakingOf Forums
Thanks SS I like both four and ten very much myself. I give thanks for the tremendous directors actors, editors, producers, crew, etc. etc., all of whom made this show as good as it is. Thanks for watching.
BCM
8.Rignt before episode 10 aired I watched several episodes that concentrated on Sledge’s group. Episodes 6 – 9 skipping episode 8 to keep it consistent. Watching it like that made me see how outstanding Joe Mazzello was in this. I read WTOB and he hit Seldge’s emotions dead on. Watching it like this got me more involved; especially with the progression of Sledge’s character. Then I watched episode 10. WOW. Was there any consideration to tell each of the main characters story in total and then switch to the next. -gotcha12, MakingOf Forums
Gotcha — No, we always knew that we would balance the characters by weaving them together. Sometimes the episodes were split between characters; other times an episode was solely about a character. (Like Four for Leckie and Nine for Sledge). I think if we had done it strictly character/chronological, the Series would have lost its power. Their respective journeys, after all, are highly complimentary in terms of dramatic tension, etc. Thanks for watching and enjoying!
9. Bruce, Thank you for creating such an incredible series! I was just wondering if you knew what happened to Elmo Haney after the war? I have done a little research online but all I can find is basically what Sledge wrote in his book. I was also wondering if you knew why Jay de l’Eau was left out of the end credits? It sounds like this was all done separately from your end of things but a lot of us over at the fan forum were wondering. Also thanks for answering all these questions. I know all of us who have been enjoying the series really appreciate this kind of interaction. -Silt, MakingOf Forums
Silt — We never could find out what happened to Haney. As for Jay…you are correct: I don’t know why he wasn’t included and I don’t agree with the decision. Sigh, Thanks for watching And for the questions.
10. Great episode! As others have said, I was wondering why Jay wasn’t shown in the end as well. Did you guys do any after the war information on any other of the marines, but somehow ended up being cut, or were the ones we saw all of it? Oh, and this isn’t about episode 10, but it was posted over at the fan forum, and none of us could recall seeing this scene(it’s from 0:42-0:45):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e99B80crU3E
Carne — We did have information on most everyone in the Series. I don’t know why Jay wasn’t included. I disagree with the decision. But sometimes superior officers do things that you don’t agree with — and you have to obey. The scene you see was cut from episode Seven. The men are staring at a mutilated marine (which I think we do see in the montage that opens 7). I don’t know why it was cut. Glad you liked the episode. Semper Fi!
11. Hello Bruce McKenna. Firstly, thank you for writing a terrific mini-series (I know you are getting sick of reading this over and over again but it’s necessary to say). Anyway, for you Mr McKenna, what was your favourite scene out of the entire mini-series? What is/was the most rewarding/fulfilling thing for you in writing and producing this mini-series? How did it feel when you finished watching it all? After seeing the entire mini-series now, what would you have changed in the mini-series if you could? Thank you and thank you for sacrificing your time to answer all of our questions for the last ten weeks. -DivineIntervention, MakingOf Forums
Divine –
No screenwriter ever gets sick of praise! Because, let me tell you, it’s rare. So I’ll take it!
My favorite scene? God, that’s tough. I’ll tell you what. I’ll go through each episode and tell you:
1. Leckie shooting the Japanese Soldier across the Tenaru
2. Hmmm….I think Morgan and Basilone on the beach at the end.
3. Stella breaking up with Leckie is heart breaking.
4. Gibson in the Brig with Leckie
5. When the bow of the LST opens and we see…Peleliu.
6. I love the scene with Haney and the war dogs. Because so much of it was ad libbed by the actors and you can tell their cameraderie.
7. There are many many scenes here: Sledge holding De L’eau in the foxhole and then the pants soiling scene after it. Snafu stopping sledge from pulling teeth.
8. Basilone and Lena in their early morning coffee meeting.
9. The entire episode!
10. Snafu’s silent goodbye.
I could go on. But those are some key moments for me.
After seeing it there is A LOT I would change. I would like to rewrite the first two episodes. I would have liked to have reshot some of it. And there were many scenes involving secondary characters that were cut that I wish were in the Series. But overall I’m very proud of it.
12. Hi Bruce, you did a heck of a job…This last part, in its structure and in its sequences (episodes, anecdotes, exempla, you name it), was a grand finale of operatic proportions. I guess I wasn’t so wrong in calling it an “opus” in my first post. In my opinion, you pulled every string that had to be pulled, and did so in such an unobtrusive manner, that we barely notice, but feel so strongly. My favorite scenes, apart from Snafu silent goodbye, were the one at the ball, in which you made both Sledge and Phillips state the simple truth at the bottom of every veteran ever returned back home; and the table scene at Leckie’s home, which served multiple purposes, but amongst all detached the figures of Leckie and Vera from a milieu that is not theirs. Another perfect example of what the condition of veteran can be (“you know what I fought for?”, that “I” is a masterpiece in itself!).I have read on some magazine about an interview you did, in which you were explaining some of the difficulties of your work as a screenwriter, even when the production had already begun: you said something like, “Someone called me and told me that a scene in Part Seven would not work as planned, so I rushed to the set, reviewed the scene (it didn’t work, in fact), rewrote a scene of Part Nine and now everything made sense”. Here I am. If I had a question, that would be it: how you balanced the structure of this “giant monster” throughout its entire lenght? I understand that this could be a question too hard to answer to, so I would be content of saying just a few words to you: thanks for everything. -Barley, MakingOf Forums
BArley –
Balancing the structure of the entire thing with each individual episode was, indeed, very difficult. I think we did a damn good job, but it took a lot of vigilance, blood sweat and tears. We weren’t perfect, but given the ambition of the piece, we came pretty close to achieving what we set out to do.
Thanks for watching! And thanks for all your questions.
13. Bruce, those were some great scenes indeed. But two stand out to me as being so gut wrenching true. Gibson aka The Kid telling Leckie he hopes he gets it quick and clean without any suffering. But the single best scene IMO is Sledge at the RedCross table. That scene spoke to every combat Marine or troop that ever spent their days…..weeks….months in the bush and then came back to face the dreaded REMF’s and life in the rear. A quick question though about sources. Did you ever consider Wm Manchesters classic “Good-by Darkness” when you were trying to define the scope of the series? S/F -ReconDoc, MakingOf Forums
Recon –Yeah, I love that scene, too. Joe M was great glowering at the perky nurse. Yes, I re-read Manchester’s book, but didn’t consider it, because he put himself, with literary license, in places he didn’t serve. We couldn’t have done that. Sledge, btw, hated Manchester’s book.
S/F!
14. Hi, again. I was just wondering; who’s decision is it to what gets put on the DVD/Bluray? Because I remember you saying earlier that we shouldn’t expect any deleted scenes. If so, how come? I’m sure 99% of the buyers would love to see this. Heck, maybe even an extended edition, even though that may be hoping for a tad too much, i’d sure love to see a good amount of deleted scenes! -Carne, MakingOf Forums
Carne — HBO and the higher muckie mucks make that decision. I don’t know what’s on the DVD yet. And am eager to find out, just as you are. But I seriously doubt there will be any deleted scenes on the DVD.
