Though I have been an anti war believer since I was 11-12 years old, I have always made it a point to watch as many war documentaries (especially ones that include combat veterans) as I can. If you are going to be an objector to Wars of any kind you need to be knowledgeable of all its negativity.

It starts with, of what in war/peace timeI have always thought, the most cowardly, disgraceful mass murder of those caught in the bombings of/at Pearl Harbour in 1941; it was interesting (and pleasing) to find that one of the veteran Japanese soldiers more or less said the exact same thing. Considering that the Japanese Bushido Samurai culture has always made a huge thing of being highly honourable, there must have been many Japanese who were dishonoured by the cowardly and thoroughly, dishonourable attack on that infamous day. Not all Japanese agreed with the war; just as not all Germans were Nazi's and wanted war!

It then carries on to tell the heartbreak of the events that happened from island to island, and with graphic images of the dead of both sides. By the end of the program I was in tears (and I have watched quite a few war in the pacific documentaries to during my life that were less graphic). You will feel for both American and Japanese soldiers who had to go through that hell!

It may interest some of you to know of something that is never ever told, but, Japanese men never had a choice of not going to war. If they refused at that time of the 20th century they would have suffered death (and possibly their families too). The hierarchy of the Japanese Samurai way of thinking still existed in the minds of the old men of the ruling class; even though the era of the Samurai's had long ago ended in 1877 with the Satsuma Samurai rebellion.

The documentary ends with (what I also think was one of the most heinous acts of mass murder of innocents) with the dropping of 2 atomic bombs. The arrogant US Military top brass and the untrustworthy politicians deemed that it was a necessary act to save a possible 1,000,000 American lives. I personally have never ever believed that statement due to all the knowledge that I have acquired, over the years, on the atomic bomb development and the bullying by the top brass of those working on it and the corrupt politics of the time!.

I came away with very sad thoughts from this documentary.....

1). My disgust that the Captain of the Enola Gay (a man I have never liked) had no regrets of what he did, and was a complete war mongering heartless fool.

2). One of the American veterans still held bad feelings towards Japan/Japanese and his bitterness was plain to see in his interview (yet all the Japanese veterans were regretful, apologetic and truly sorry...there were tears from both US & Japan veterans).

3). Its extremely saddening to realize that all those brave men, on both sides, died for the greed of powerful ruling classes - America included - and, that the same type of men/women ruling in America today have completely forgotten/ignored what should have been the lessons of war. They have been the cause of over 60 intrusions into the politics of other countries, and because so many of them have cost the lives of too many American military members and those of allied countries whose leaders were too afraid not to or just stupid enough to fight with America and its scheming power mongers.

A documentary that should be part of all school history lessons!

I was gripped by this film throughout, although the first 10 minutes contained the standard overdone emphasis about internment camps and racism but after that it delivered a very thoughtful and heart wrenching history of the Pacific WWII campaign. This was a very down to earth and boots on the ground documentary from both sides of the war and done with a grace and quality to be appreciated. My thanks to the filmmakers for this effort. Highly recommended.

When Spielberg puts his name on something … it is going to be well done. That is the case here … this is a well-produced … well written documentary. Being nicely produced is essential when you consider the audience this doc is trying to reach (post baby boomers who would have trouble naming the principal combatants of WW2). My point is … for those who have a solid understanding of the events surrounding WW2 there is nothing new here … we have seen it all before.

The doc … albeit well done … is a 90 minute overview of WW2 … which ain't much when you consider that WW2 last close to a decade and cost up to 100 million lives and came within a few bucks of bankrupting our country. More so the doc focuses on the pacific theater and ignores the events in Europe and China (that is a serious failure if you are looking for a WW2 overview). Finally the doc makes a very strong effort to explore … from all perspectives … the use of the atomic bomb on Japan (something I do not disagree with).

For me the 90 minutes spent watching this was fruitless yet there are millions who would learn much by watching it. If I were a history teacher I would make sure my students saw it!