‘The Pacific’ Recap: ‘Part Ten’

1/25/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Joseph Mazzello and Conor O’Farrell as Eugene Sledge and Dr. Sledge in ‘Part Ten’ of ‘The Pacific’. (Photo Courtesy of HBO.)

For the most part, the ending of a war story follows some fairly specific formulas. Wherein the finale features the end of the war, that all-important moment when the soldiers that have fought so hard for freedom, realize they’ve won, and they can go home. And if the story is fictional in nature, we simply fade to black, safe in the knowledge that a better tomorrow for them awaits, and if the story is instead about a real unit that took part in a real war, we learn about what happened to them briefly before the end credits roll and we wipe tears from our eyes from taking part in a story that was profound and powerful. In fact, these formulas as so commonplace, that even the best war stories out there follow it, since Band of Brothers subscribed to the latter.

But while that makes for a happy-ish ending of sorts, those endings can be problematic. Especially when grounded in truth. Because they quickly remove us from people that we care about, since we want to know more about their lives and their well-being, and what else they dealt with outside of a blurb or a voiceover. Not to mention, that’s just not how war ends. Because those men do go home and have to forget that they were killing machines for years on end. Which means they had to adjust to life once again and re-discover peace time in the process. But as mentioned a moment ago, not all war stories subscribe to this and even the folks who assembled Band of Brothers, realized they should showcase that in some fashion and did so… in the series finale of The Pacific.

For shortly after the Japanese surrender brought joy to Robert Leckie in the hospital he was healing in, and surprise to Eugene Sledge and his unit in ‘Part Ten’, did this journey explore what happens after the war ends and what soldiers have to deal with. Which sometimes involves… grieving. Since Lena Basilone needed closure following John’s death, and that prompted her to visit his hometown and meet her mother and father-in-law and the rest of John’s family and friends. To properly say goodbye to a man that meant so much to all of them, and to honor him by giving his father the Medal of Honor he wore proudly around the United States while drumming up war bonds. All of which informed us that not everyone gets to go home, and sometimes… there is only sorrow at the end of war for those left behind.

Soldiers Find Joy in Reunion in ‘Part Ten’ of ‘The Pacific’. (Photo Courtesy of HBO.)

As for others, well they put together the pieces and move forward. Which is what Robert Leckie did. For shortly after he was discharged from the corps, he went back to his hometown and picked up where he left off. By getting his old job at the local newspaper back and by starting to look ahead. For while it took him a little bit, he came to understand he survived a tough war, that not every soldier did, and that gave him a second chance at life. Where he could now live to the fullest and find wonder and that prompted him, to boldly ask Vera out on a date and find love and move forward at last. And it was fascinating to see Leckie, who struggled with his mental health at times, find wonder, find love, and go on to be the man he wanted to be. Which thankfully informed us that not every man becomes a casualty of war in the psychological sense.

But plenty do. As was the case with Eugene Sledge. For his return home, while joyous in many ways, since he was able to hold his father and mother and hear great news about his friends upon his settling in… the glow of that didn’t last. For soon the PTSD that was growing within him took hold, and the bad dreams took hold. As did the mood swings and the hopelessness. Because he didn’t have a good skill set for an everyday job, he was just a killing machine, and Eugene suffered from that revelation. For he felt worthless in that moment and was deeply broken, courtesy of every dark act he witnessed and took part in. Which was a far contrast from the gung-ho wannabe soldier we met in the early days of this series. But some men come back broken, and take years to piece themselves back together, if at all. But thankfully… Eugene did.

For he contributed to this series through his book, as did Bob Leckie through his own, and well… we cannot thank them enough for their service, or their words. For they helped to build one of the finest stories about war to ever grace the airwaves. Because this show, presented war in the raw, and its true horrors through and through, and its lasting impact upon the human psyche, and that… is what we need to learn. The human element of it, the collateral damage it creates and that will allow for this chapter to be dissected for decades on end by those who want to know the true impact of war, and while that makes this story less uplifting than its predecessor, it makes it just as important. For we should know every aspect of war, good or bad… so we can either figure out how better to fight it and save so many from the pain it creates or learn that war is true hell, and that we need to find a better way to resolve our problems than sending good men out to die and suffer and struggle.

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