so what do you believe in?

natalie | 23 | she/her | hbo war sideblog edits | main: @normasshearer

[airborneinfantry]

History is full of wars fought for a hundred reasons. But this war, our war, I want to believe—I have to believe that every step across that airfield, every man that's wounded, every man I lose—that it's all worthwhile because our cause is just. Of course, if a just cause came with some hot food and cold water, that'd be okay too.

THE PACIFIC (2010) ↳ Part Six: Peleliu Airfield

[ww2yaoi]

we few we happy few we band of rpfers

[9hiraeth]

The poll has spoken and once again Band of Brothers wins, so take a propaganda poster as an offering.

I literally had to stop myself from adding the whole cast. So for now we have Winters, Nixon, Speirs, Lipton, Doc Roe, Liebgott and Webster (I may add more later).

[stevieroqers]

sidsledge x fallout

I know you're fine, but what do I do?

[stevieroqers]

The Pacific (2010) ↳ Part Three: Melbourne Down Under

can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? you better run, you better take cover

[stevieroqers]

eugene sledge x robert leckie // about you

(and while you're here...)

[stevieroqers]

sledgekie // i wanna know you

maybe someday down the road i'll sit back and say to myself, "yeah, i thought so"

[stevieroqers]

BILL LEYDEN

you won't see nobody dare to try to boss him or toss him around

[stevieroqers]

the pacific // born in the usa

end up like a dog that's been beat too much 'til you spend half your life just to cover it up, now

*this video contains some offensive language and graphic depictions of violence

[airborneinfantry]

i love harry and nix's nods to each other... i wonder who first came up with the idea of sending dick to paris behind his back.

[airborneinfantry]

this may be a shot in the dark but— does anyone have the bob series bible link/file that they can share? it seems the usahec is migrating all of their digitized documents to another system, and it looks like they haven't migrated winters' collection yet. i would like to use something from the series bible in a stupid gifset, and i would appreciate any help!

[luztoyed]

anticipatory grief

the pacific by hbo // emily wilson's introduction to the iliad // red river valley written by unknown // ophélie by constantin meunier // judas-redeemed // point defiance steps by cecilia blomberg // there's something inside the water by victor clemete

for the hbo wwii rewatch week ix: death

[airborneinfantry]

References to contemporary films & actors in MASTERS OF THE AIR (2024)

HISTORICAL CONTEXT/SOURCES ↓

Test Pilot is a 1938 drama film starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy. The film is about a daredevil test pilot, his wife, and his best friend (Wikipedia).

Rita Hayworth was an American actress and dancer. She is one of the most renowned actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was the second top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II, after Betty Grable (Wikipedia). These are the photos Brady has of Hayworth:

Bing Crosby was an American singer and actor. One of the first multimedia stars, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide (Wikipedia). During World War II, Crosby made live appearances before American troops who had been fighting in the European Theater. He learned how to pronounce German from written scripts and read propaganda broadcasts intended for German forces. The nickname "Der Bingle" was common among Crosby's German listeners and came to be used by his English-speaking fans. In a poll of U.S. troops at the close of World War II, Crosby topped the list as the person who had done the most for G.I. morale, ahead of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Dwight Eisenhower, and comedian Bob Hope (Wikipedia, USO).

Hit the Ice is a 1943 comedy film starring comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The film is about two cameramen chased by gangsters who get jobs as waiters in small-town Idaho (Wikipedia).

Lena Horne was an American singer, actress, dancer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television, and theater (Wikipedia). Horne became a fixture at the Tuskegee airbase in Alabama during World War II. There, she did everything from taking flying lessons to eating lunch with cadets to adhering to their early rising schedule. She returned to Tuskegee numerous times to boost morale, and in 1944, she served as a guest of honor at one of their graduation ceremonies (Ms. In the Biz). She also performed with the United Service Organization during the war, but eventually became disenchanted because the Army segregated her audiences and, in one instance, seated German POWs in front of Black soldiers. Horne left the USO in 1944 and financed tours of military bases herself for the remainder of the war (Wikipedia).

(You can watch a newsreel from the event pictured in the bottom left photo here [via Hearst Metrotone].)

The photo Macon has on his bunk wall of Lena Horne with a group of Tuskegee Airmen is one taken in 1945 during one of her many trips to the airbase.

The quote Crosby recites is a line spoken by Spencer Tracy in the film Test Pilot, which also starred Clark Gable.

Side note: Clark Gable enlisted in the US Army Air Forces and reportedly flew five combat missions, including one in Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses with the 351st Bomb Group between May and September of 1943, earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. After a mission in which his fort was heavily attacked, MGM studio executives urged the USAAF to reassign Gable to desk duty. Many of the men he served with said Gable actually unofficially joined other missions, and the aforementioned five were only a fraction of the total. He was discharged in 1947 as a major (Wikipedia, Defense Media Network).

[sidsledge]

the pacific characters in a noir film

NOTE: based on the genre/style's usual archetypes for its characters. most noirs don't have every single one of these tropes but just one or two

leckie: rugged very morally ambiguous detective, often the narrator

runner: detective's old friend helping him out

basilone: murdered husband

lena: the mysterious woman. not to be confused with

vera: femme fatale

sledge: the mistress

burgie: the shady bartender who never saw nothin'

snafu: sleazy politician

sid: clumsy sidekick OR: guilt-ridden criminal

chuckler: head of the operation

jay: key witness that's nowhere to be found (turns out he was involved in the crime)

ack ack: well-intentioned but clueless law figure

eddie: companion to well-intentioned law figure that's only ever there to write things down and pour whiskey while interrogating the suspects

leyden: reformed criminal

gunny haney: reformed criminal but this time he's old and 100% not reformed after all

[igotyoubabeheffron]

Capt. Richard Winters, 2nd Battalion’s new XO Band of Brothers | Episode 5: Crossroads

[airborneinfantry]

And if I could just get Ike on the phone— are you even listening to me? - Hanging on every word.

Dick Winters & Lewis Nixon in BAND OF BROTHERS (2001) ↳ Part Five: Crossroads

[airborneinfantry]

Looks like you guys are gonna be surrounded. - We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded.

BAND OF BROTHERS (2001) ↳ Part Five: Crossroads