Barry Simmons

I get it. It’s a chick flick. I understand why most women probably prefer a depiction of war or wartime they can personally relate to. But as a retired military officer with a retired military Dad & Pop-in-law, & 3 sons who are vets (& 2 more who most likely will be), I’ve never enjoyed fictionalizations of wartime. But I can watch documentaries with actual wartime footage (during battle or not) for hours on end w/o a break. I’m often just as interested in documentaries on the various weapons of both sides as I am battle footage. But no matter whether it’s narration of a documentary or a fictionalized movie or series like this, I judge the seriousness of the producers by the obvious errors, & I didn’t see any in the 3 episodes I watched. But as retired AF, I’m far better at spotting Army & Army Air Corps/Force errors. USN & MC errors circa WWII are tougher. The only possible issue I could find here was with the Lt Col who informed Basilone he was going home to help sell war bonds. The 1st insignia I saw was on his cap, & the way the sun reflected off it I thought he was a BG. Then when I saw his burnished shoulder insignia it was obvious he was a Lt Col. Getting closer to the TV & hitting pause I saw the cap insignia matched. But the cap insignia wasn’t burnished; it had a mirror-like shine, which we (AF) would wear only if our collar & shoulder insignia matched (shiny vs burnished) The difference between the 2 can sometimes be as obvious as between “subdued” insignia & that which is not subdued on uniforms of today. The difference look is even more pronounced when there’s a bright light source, esp the sun. The way a bright light source reflects from the “shiny” O-5 rank insignia you may only see those oak leaf points shine like mirrors that are at the correct angle to the sun, thus making it almost indistinguishable from the star worn by flag officers. But burnished insignia never reflects light, making the difference obvious. A very nit-picking issue that only someone with too much spare time on their hands (i.e., retired) would notice!