NPR: At War in the Pacific

At War in the Pacific A one-hour NPR radio show, At War in the Pacific, is a companion radio program to the HBO television show. Historians Donald Miller and Richard Frankprovide background and analysis onwhat those battles meant—then and now. Filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks share the challenges of bringing new light and depth to a major historic event. David D’Arcy hosts the radio program which vividly portrays a war that stormed onto islands spread across 5,000 miles of ocean that would turn into a tropical hell.  He introduces four young and idealistic Marines—John Basilone, Robert Leckie, Sydney Phillips, and E.B. Sledge—as they come of age in months of searing combat. The program highlights how the Pacific conflict shaped the lives of these Marines, their friends and relatives who shouldered the burden state-side, and the course of our nation. The radio program was broadcast on NPR stations in February 2010.