Tom Hanks, and 'Pacific' cast member reflect what they learned about WWII National WWII Museum gala

(27 Feb 2015) HANKS, 'PACIFIC' CAST REFLECT ON WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT WORLD WAR II
Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks was honored recently by New York's National WWII Museum.
Hanks was presented with the American Spirit Award for his work in educating millions of Americans about the World War II era on Tuesday 24 February.
As well as starring in the WWII drama, "Saving Private Ryan," the 58-year-old as executive produced WWII miniseries "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific."
Speaking before the presentation ceremony, Hanks and cast members from "The Pacific" reflected on what they learned about the conflict while filming the HBO miniseries.
Hanks recalled something that "Band of Brothers" author Stephen Ambrose told him while they were making the show.
"(He) said there were two great sayings of the time that you would hear over and over again. He was a kid at the time. You know, if you got to the gas station and the guy didn't come out to fill up your tank quick enough, the guy at the gas station would say, 'Hey, easy buddy, don't you know there's a war going on?' That was one catchphrase. The other one was that when anybody had some complaints about not being able to get enough butter or having to wait in line a little bit too much, the saying goes: 'Hey, we're all in this together."
Joseph Mazzello, who played PFC Eugene Sledge in "The Pacific," said working on the ten-part series gave him a new insight into the conflict.
"A ton. You know, I mean these islands are places that you've never even heard of. My grandfather, while he was still alive, would tell me stories, but they were always of the happier times, the easier things to tell. Doing 'The Pacific' you learned about the real experience, the things that he never wanted to talk about, things that none of them wanted to talk about. So you learned about islands like Peleliu (sic). You know these places where so many men died and it's totally forgotten because a lot of that island-hopping campaign was actually meaningless to the war. It's such a sad and tragic thing, but those lives still matter and we have to celebrate them and always cherish their sacrifice."
His co-star, Remi Malek - who played Snafu on the series - was amazed by just how much fighting took place in the Pacific Theater.
"Definitely how savage and brutal it was in the Pacific. I was really enlightened about that fact. Because, you know, growing up you hear so much about the Western Front and to really see what these men went through, the hell they went through, and just how dark it was. And the aftermath of it, I mean dealing with PTSD. Some of the first times in my research I began to understand what that was like or hear about it for the first time. So it was really eye-opening in the respect of what these young men went through and I hope that we were able to bring that to a broader audience, you know? Show people something that they really didn't know. The extent of how dirty it was over there."

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