Heavy Artillery

In this episode I was reminded of the one in Band of Brothers, where Webster rejoins the company. For Leckie I'm guessing it was not quite as long an absence. But it was one of those episodes showing the difference between someone new arriving versus someone old returning.

I was amused by Sledge's reunion with Sidney and how they were immediately come upon by an officer.

I was surprised to see Rami Malek, mostly because knowing this was made some time ago, I hadn't realized he'd been around that long.

I felt sorry for Sledge, to have his friend leave without even having said goodbye. But it looks like he'd have been a good person to pair with Leckie in terms of conversation and experience. Also convenient that the conversation was placed in contrast to what was going on in Band of Brothers at the time.

One thing I was thinking about when they departed from the ship in the floating tank, was how little discussion there is about the technology of the time. It's such a difference from World War I. It made me wonder exactly how much they get to train with. For example, did they ever get to train in riding in such a vehicle, or entering and exiting it?

And yet again, I keep wondering why those helmets are not strapped into place, given how Sledge's comes off while he's crawling up the beach, and Bill is later lying there without it as well.

Speaking of crawling up the beach, it amazes me that later groups of men were able to do so, given the number of bodies lying on it.

The assault on the Japanese tank was tense, and the rescue by the American tank unexpected and welcome. It seemed odd to have people eating and relaxing so soon after, but I guess you do it when you can.

The gold tooth scavenging seemed a bit much at the time but I imagine a lot more of it happened as the weeks went by. I'm sure that dismembered hand with a wedding ring wasn't the only one around.