A look at the life of WWII vet Robert Leckie featuring interviews with the high-profile team behind the HBO miniseries “The Pacific.” Highly recommended. Watch here.

What made Band of Brothers so effective in putting the viewer right into the heart of the story was the use of short interview segments with war veterans right before Band aired on TV. The Pacific will follow this same powerful intro sequence to each of the 10 episodes starting in March 14, 2010.  However, one of the main characters in the film, E.B. Sledge (whom penned his memoirs in his book With the Old Breed of which Pacific is partly based and played by actor Joseph Mazzello) passed away in March 2001, shortly before the airing of Band of Brothers–and way before Spielberg and HBO were able to get him on camera (Pacific was not even a script yet!). More »

Jon Seda, the actor playing Marine Sgt. John Basilone, attended the 28th annual John Basilone Memorial Parade on Sunday (Sept. 27) in Raritan Borough, New Jersey. Seda, a New Jersey native who spent a year filming his role as Basilone in “The Pacific,” said being in Sunday’s parade was like coming full circle in his recreation of the war hero’s life. Read the entire article here.

Jon Seda, the actor portraying John Basilone in the upcoming Pacific miniseries, will attend this year’s World War II festivities being held in Raritan Borough, New Jersey.  HBO is sponsoring a portion of the festival which will include World War II-era music and a military parade. A film crew will be there to document the event for airing on HBO’s “The Buzz,” a short news piece that runs between programs, a HBO spokeswoman said. More information here.

As we get ready for the launch of HBO’s upcoming ‘Pacific’ miniseries on March 2010, many of you have been asking for more information about the historical aspects of the show. I have a BOOKS page in the works, but in the meantime, I thought it would be a good idea to showcase some of the real photography taken during the Pacific War.

Did you know that more color footage was shot during the Pacific Theater of Operations than the European Theater? Below, you can view some photos taken during the War. More »

For the military vehicle history buffs out there, you can check out some restoration pictures of an LVT “Alligator” that is being restored for “The Pacific” HBO series by going to this link.

The Marion Military Institute, where Marine Eugene Sledge attended school, will be shown in the film. Some key areas of the Institute such as the chapel will be rebuilt in Australia (the real location is in Alabama) and used for some key scenes showing Sledge in his early years at the nation’s oldest military junior college. More about this story here.