Given the current political realities, I worry some that the series will be co-opted by partisan politics on both sides of the current issues to "prove" something or other rather than to learn from the successes and the mistakes of the past.
I'm the daughter of a sailor who spent his 21st birthday delivering troops to Iwo Jima on an LST. Like you, I was raised with the understanding that men I loved and respected made sacrifices I might not comprehend fully, but I always honor. I think the series was profoundly important. I'm fairly knowledgeable about the era, but it gave me perspective that I lacked. An aspect I liked especially was the focus on 4 very different communities and the impact on those communities. Using a very fine brush, he painted the larger picture effectively.
I never equated my uncle's drinking with his service, but I wonder now if his use of alcohol was directly related to his being a cook for a unit that liberated a concentration camp. He said once, when someone made a comment that they were "starving" before a meal, that he hoped they never knew what that meant. As much as I knew about the camps, I didn't connect the dots until last night. When the veteran stood looking at the floor and said to anyone who didn't believe that the holocaust happened, "It happened. I saw it. It happened," I was struck by the memory of how my uncle looked so often.
The series had the voices of pain as well as the voices of pride, the voices of loss and the voices of survival.
While Guinness has a very valid point that our culture tends to blur the line between information and entertainment, I think this series did a better job than most.
I am glad it's out there. I hope the series is viewed critically, respectfully, and openly. It isn't all we need to know about World War II, but it is a place to start.
(Thank you for the question - and the second chance to answer it.)
Edit - Gene and Sarge - I've noticed that lack of connection to sacrifice in the current conflict, too. I wonder if the lack of sacrifice on the part of the majority of Americans is related to the loss of respect Sarge laments. It's easy to spout patriotism and wrap oneself in the flag, then go out and get in the SUV and drive down to get an iced latte, and switch the channel if the news comes on. In World War II ordinary people saw the cranes unloading the coffins coming back from the war. Now even seeing a photo of a coffin coming back is news-worthy. Isolation from the loss is not helping us as a county. (It's not art, Guinness. It's real life.)