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Netflix recommendations?

I'll say that I was a little disappointed in the latest episode of MotA, as I think it's getting a little spread thin with the different stories, despite some good moments. With only one episode remaining, I'm wondering how they're going to wrap all this up without it being a bit shallow.
 
Mos said:
I'll say that I was a little disappointed in the latest episode of MotA, as I think it's getting a little spread thin with the different stories, despite some good moments. With only one episode remaining, I'm wondering how they're going to wrap all this up without it being a bit shallow.
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Agreed. I get the sense that they originally planned for more episodes. Series started very strong but last few episodes haven't been terrific
 
It’s worth considering that BoB was atypical story that E/506th managed to be just about everywhere between D-Day and VE Day, and didn’t suffer a catastrophic level of casualties, so you could have a core cast of characters and stick with them through the entire story arc. I don't think they could have done the same with a 8th AF series without taking implausible liberties with the true story. I think I see now what they were trying to do in telling the story in three acts of three episodes apiece with different core characters and settings for each act, but with enough overlap to keep the overall narrative coherent.

I’m going to binge the whole thing through once it’s done. I’ve watched Brothers so many times by now, I figure it’s only fair.

I was listening to a podcast where one of the commentators was talking about the contrast of how the Air Force spent the war versus the Paratroopers or Marines, and observed that in some ways it might have been harder psychologically, whipsawing between several hours of sheer bloody terror with heavy casualties and then coming back to booze, big bands, and Donut Dollies.
 
I agree that Masters of the Air closed strong. I still think The Pacific had the best ending of them all, but they did a good job here as well. I remember that when The Pacific came out one of the young actors mentioned that he got to meet some of the Marines portrayed in the series. He was excited to meet them but noted how sad he was to see they were so “ordinary” because he passed so many older people like that on the street and now wondered if they too “took a bite out of history.”
 
Uncle Fester said:
I was listening to a podcast where one of the commentators was talking about the contrast of how the Air Force spent the war versus the Paratroopers or Marines, and observed that in some ways it might have been harder psychologically, whipsawing between several hours of sheer bloody terror with heavy casualties and then coming back to booze, big bands, and Donut Dollies.
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This is a great point. I was once on a history panel at West Point discussing WWII combat experiences and a question like this came our way. We all agreed the paratroopers had the least combat exposure while some agreed that the stress on the air forces was tough and others argued for the troops (Army and Marine) in the Pacific. I posited that submariners probably had the hardest lot of all.
 
Uncle Fester said:
I was listening to a podcast where one of the commentators was talking about the contrast of how the Air Force spent the war versus the Paratroopers or Marines, and observed that in some ways it might have been harder psychologically, whipsawing between several hours of sheer bloody terror with heavy casualties and then coming back to booze, big bands, and Donut Dollies.
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The casualties that the 8th Air Force and the RAF's Bomber Command suffered are still a bit staggering to me, with over 26,000 and 55,000 KIA respectively.
 
Flash said:
The casualties that the 8th Air Force and the RAF's Bomber Command suffered are still a bit staggering to me, with over 26,000 and 55,000 KIA respectively.
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I'd have to re-re-re-read the book, but I think the 8th Air Force lost thousands of crew in training in CONUS. The numbers are wild.
 
number9 said:
I'd have to re-re-re-read the book, but I think the 8th Air Force lost thousands of crew in training in CONUS. The numbers are wild.
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Yeah some of the stories about military flight training in general during WWII are hair-raising. Now-NOLF Barin, for instance, got to be known as "Bloody Barin" when it was a fully-active training field during the war. Among other things, the CO insisted on the students flying as scheduled, regardless of severe weather, low viz, etc.

By 1943, the Barin Field training center held the record for logging more flight hours than any other Navy training center. However, this record came at a cost. Between May and September of 1943, 19 men in VN-4D8, the Barin squadron charged with intermediate visual flight training, died in accidents. By the end of November 1944, the number had reached 40.
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Uncle Fester said:
Yeah some of the stories about military flight training in general during WWII are hair-raising. Now-NOLF Barin, for instance, got to be known as "Bloody Barin" when it was a fully-active training field during the war. Among other things, the CO insisted on the students flying as scheduled, regardless of severe weather, low viz, etc.
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Why did the CO insist on the students having to fly in such conditions?
 
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