{"id":1473,"date":"2023-09-21T07:39:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T07:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2023-09-21T07:39:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T07:39:35","slug":"battle-of-peleliu-revisiting-a-meat-grinder-of-the-pacific-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1473","title":{"rendered":"Battle of Peleliu \u2014 Revisiting a Meat-Grinder of the Pacific War"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret)<\/a><\/p>\n

September 15 marked the anniversary of the start to the Battle of Peleliu. Spearheaded by the 1st Marine Division, Operation Stalemate II was to take less than a week. Instead, entrenched Japanese defenders utilized the island\u2019s rugged terrain and an intricate system of caves and bunkers to inflict severe casualties on the Americans.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/picture>
A jeep tows an anti-tank gun carried ashore in a Coast Guard-manned landing barge. On the beach, tanks move forward in pursuit of the Japanese who have fallen back inland. Image:\u00a0U.S. Coast Guard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The days stretched into weeks, with U.S. troops suffering from a lack of water while fighting in debilitating heat.\u00a0<\/em>U.S. forces suffered more than 10,000 casualties as the amphibious invasion stretched on for more than two months.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Armory Life contributor and retired Marine Captain Dale A. Dye tells the tale of the battle for Peleliu in a way only he can.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"landing\n<\/picture>
A line of landing craft filled with U.S. Marines spearheaded the attack on Peleliu Island. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

L<\/span>ike most newly minted Marines, I was forced by boot camp curriculum to become an amateur historian. It was part of the drill. You learned about the founding of the Corps and early recruiting efforts at Philadelphia\u2019s Tun Tavern \u2014 born in a bar; how cool is that? \u2014 and then went on to memorize dates and places significant to the Marine ethos right up to our own time wearing the eagle, globe and anchor. Most of my fellow boots promptly forgot the gritty details when we they left Parris Island or San Diego. Not me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"marines\n<\/picture>
On September 15, 1944, the initial waves of men from the 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu Island. The view hinted at the hell that awaited them. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hooked on the colorful stories of past glories, I kept digging into Marine Corps history like a prospector mining for gold, searching for nuggets that revealed more than dates and generalities. What I thirsted for were insights, first-person accounts from PFCs in the rear ranks. Since there were no living veterans of operations against the Barbary Pirates or the Boxer Rebellion around to interview, my focus fell on infamous battles of World War II in the Pacific. There was still a significant number of old codgers around who had heard the owl and seen the elephant at places like Guadalcanal, Saipan, Okinawa and Iwo Jima.<\/p>\n

\"1st\n<\/picture>
First Division Marines head for the beach, passing the offshore line of gunboats. The nearest LCIG is USS\u00a0LCIG-452<\/em>. The battleship USS\u00a0Idaho<\/em>\u00a0is in the left, far distance. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I hit a vein of pure historical gold one night in a musty, off-base bar when I struck up a conversation with a retired Master Gunnery Sergeant with service as a PFC rifleman with the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Division in the Pacific. He served in the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines under the legendary Col. L.B. \u201cChesty\u201d Puller, which gave him a certain panache as he revealed some eye-opening details about the deprivations of Guadalcanal in the Solomons and the follow-on fight at Cape Gloucester.<\/p>\n

\"us\n<\/picture>
After the beachhead had been established on Peleliu, Marine infantrymen inch ahead on their bellies to support their tanks attacking Japanese strong points. Image:\u00a0U.S.M.C.\/CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was salty and sagacious with a sharp memory for detail. Most importantly, he was willing to answer my probing questions from the perspective of a man who had observed those fights mostly through the peep sight of an M1 rifle. We met several times when I could get away from regular duties at Camp Pendleton, and I got a feel for what it must have been like for an 18-year-old from a farming community in Kansas to steam around the Pacific aboard aging, vulnerable amphibs, island-hopping over coral-ringed beaches and crawling through the jungles facing fanatical Japanese defenders.<\/p>\n

\"admiral\n<\/picture>
A flag officer and his staff talk to shirtless Col. Lewis B. \u201cChesty\u201d Puller during the Battle of Peleliu. Puller, a Marine, believed in leading by example and endured the same hardships as his men. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was like listening to your grandad or a favorite uncle reminiscing around a campfire, dropping fascinating family gems. Until I mentioned Peleliu. The Master Gunny just shook his head. It took at least three more beers to find out he\u2019d fought with King Company, 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0Battalion, 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines on Peleliu and wound up barely surviving hotspots like The Point on White Beach 1, the Horseshoe, the Five Sisters and the Umurbrogol massif.<\/p>\n

\"white\n<\/picture>
A modern view down the length of White Beach 1 on Peleliu. In September 1944, the beaches were deeper and most of the vegetation had been blown away by pre-assault naval gunfire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He could only go so far in his descriptions of action on Peleliu and then he just developed a thousand-yard stare across a 20-foot barroom. \u201cAin\u2019t no way to describe it,\u201d the Master Gunny whispered. \u201cIf you wasn\u2019t there on Peleliu, ain\u2019t no way you could understand that rat-bastard of a fight. By D plus four I wasn\u2019t no human being no more. No buddies left. I fired at anything that moved in front of me. I just wanted to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"marines\n<\/picture>
Marines engage Japanese defenders in intense fighting around the primary airfield on Peleliu Island. Image:\u00a0U.S.M.C.\/CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At that point, I vowed \u2014 somehow, someday \u2014 I\u2019d find a way to stand on that infamous island and explore Peleliu.<\/p>\n

My Peleliu Pilgrimage\u00a0<\/h2>\n

It was 50 years later, long after the old Master Gunny had made his last muster when I got my chance. As Military Advisor for the HBO feature \u201cThe Pacific,\u201d I was given the welcome assignment to recon some of the island battles we would depict in the TV mini-series to be shot on various Australian locations.<\/p>\n

\"view\n<\/picture>
The defenders\u2019 view of Orange Beach 3 on Peleliu Island. Col. Herman Hanneken\u2019s 7th Marines came ashore here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a long, complicated flight from LA through Guam in the Marianas to Koror in the Palau Islands. It\u2019s no stretch to say the Palau Islands \u2014 particularly Peleliu, where I was headed \u2014 is a bit off the standard tourist map. The Palau group is in the Micronesia area of the Western Pacific. It\u2019s an archipelago of some 500 large and small islands. For reference, Guam is 730 miles to the northeast, and the Philippines are 600 miles to the west.<\/p>\n

\"baldy\n<\/picture>
Baldy Ridge was a fortified position at the mouth of the Umurbrogol Pocket. This position had to be reduced before the full press on Japanese forces could begin in earnest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We flew from Guam to the capitol on Koror and got overnight accommodation on the largest island of Babelthuap (Bobble-top) while negotiating for a boat to take us 25 miles southwest to Peleliu where I would spend a week exploring battle sites.<\/p>\n

\"destroyed\n<\/picture>
The remains of a Sherman tank used in the assault on positions in Death Valley, a Japanese strongpoint in the Umurbrogol Pocket on Peleliu. Damage indicates the vehicle was destroyed by an anti-tank mine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The internet wasn\u2019t as much of a thing in 2010 and even less of a thing on Babelthuap where trans-oceanic phone lines were rare and restricted. I broke out the reference library \u2014 mostly Marine Corps historical monographs \u2014 that I carried with me and went to work studying the broad brushstrokes of the Palau campaign.<\/p>\n

Plans for the Battle for Peleliu<\/h2>\n

The assault on Peleliu was designed to protect the right flank of MacArthur\u2019s scheduled return to the enemy-occupied Philippines by seizing deep-water ports and airfields that the Japanese might use to disrupt that drive. Palaus had both in abundance, and the Allies were particularly worried about a pair of airfields on Peleliu and Ngesebus (\u201cN\u2019yesbus\u201d in blended Polynesian and Melanesian), a smaller island located just a few hundred meters north.<\/p>\n

\"peleliu\n<\/picture>
First prize at Peleliu Island was this heavily fortified airfield. Marines captured it during the second day\u2019s fighting. This annotated photo shows important defensive positions. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Admiral Chester Nimitz, with his Navy and Marine staff, cobbled together Operation Stalemate, which would send elements of Marine General Roy Geiger\u2019s III Amphibious Corps to seize major targets in the Palaus with emphasis on Peleliu and Angaur, located seven miles southwest of Peleliu. D-Day on Peleliu was set for 8 September 1944, but flash reports from Admiral Bull Halsey nearly canceled the whole show.<\/p>\n

\"landing\n<\/picture>
A line of landing craft spearheaded the 1st Marine Division\u2019s assault of Peleliu Island. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Halsey had been sailing his 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0Fleet throughout the southern Philippines area, launching repeated air strikes from his carriers. He became convinced that the PI was not as heavily defended as planners anticipated. He recommended that the forces slated for Operation Stalemate would be better employed in the Philippine operations and urged that Stalemate be scrubbed, thus safely isolating the 14,000 Japanese occupying the Palaus on Babelthuap, Koror, Angaur and Peleliu with the majority of Japanese General Murai Kenjiro\u2019s forces dug in heavily on the latter.<\/p>\n

\"us\n<\/picture>
The naval bombardment of Peleliu included rocket attacks against the beaches by the landing craft prior to the 1st Marine Division\u2019s assault. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nimitz and staffers dithered, but it was really too late to cancel such a major operation with forces including the Pacific War veteran 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Division (Peleliu\/Ngesebus) and the Army\u2019s untested 81st<\/sup>\u00a0Infantry Division Wildcats (Angaur\/Corps reserve for Peleliu) already afloat in the area. Nimitz decided to proceed with Stalemate II, moving D-Day eight days later than originally planned to 15 September.<\/p>\n

Finding Footing<\/h2>\n

From the air, Peleliu most resembles a big lobster claw with pincers pointed northeast. From a boat cruising just beyond the island\u2019s fringe reef, I got a landing force perspective of the actual beaches on the southwest end of Peleliu. Those beaches were designated in 1944 as White 1 and 2 on the left or northern end and Orange 1, 2 and 3 to the right or south. Windswept rows of tall coconut palms crowded the sandy stretch of just over 2,000 meters, where the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0MarDiv came ashore with three regimental combat teams in line abreast.<\/p>\n

\"marines\n<\/picture>
Marines move up the beach on D-Day. The Battle of Peleliu was one of the toughest of the Pacific War. Image:\u00a0U.S.M.C.\/CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines (Puller) would land on the left flank over White Beaches 1 and 2. The 5th<\/sup>\u00a0Marines (Col. Bucky Harris) would land in the center sector over Orange Beaches 1 and 2. The 7th<\/sup>\u00a0Marines (Col. Herman Hanneken) were on the right flank landing over Orange Beach 3. The basic scheme of maneuver was simple and fairly straightforward. Come ashore, establish a beachhead, advance to take the airfields a short distance inland, then wheel left or north, driving Japanese forces from all positions along the way. As usual, the Marines would find it much simpler said than done.<\/p>\n

\"marines\n<\/picture>
Several Marines take cover from the withering Japanese fire under a DUKW. An amphibious tractor burns on the beach in the background. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The landing on Peleliu plan and basic scheme of maneuver were approved by 1st<\/sup>\u00a0MarDiv CG Major General William Rupertus, who believed the Peleliu operation would be a relative cakewalk lasting no more than a few days or a week at most. Glassing Peleliu to the north of the landing beaches, I found it hard to believe any commander would have made that kind of prediction. Looming over the island like the spiky spine of some mythical dragon was the Umurbrogol Mountain range, a coral and limestone massif where Japanese defenders had created hardpoint defenses like termites infesting a rotted tree stump.<\/p>\n

\"amphibious\n<\/picture>
Two amphibious tanks race toward the shore during the beach assault. Image:\u00a0U.S. Coast Guard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The native skipper nosed our boat ashore on White Beach 1 where I wanted to get a close look at the murderous coral formation Puller\u2019s 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines called The Point. That little promontory overlooking the otherwise ruler-straight landing area had allowed Japanese gunners to pour enfilading fire up and down the landing beaches. It was a memory that brought shudders to my friend the Master Gunny when he talked about it. I wanted to stand on that ground where K\/3\/1 had nearly been wiped out on D-Day in September 1944.<\/p>\n

\"us\n<\/picture>
The U.S. Navy Seabees (Construction Batallion) worked as stretcher bearers for the 7th Marines during combat on Peleliu. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stepping ashore on pristine white sand, which reflected tropical sunlight in stifling waves of damp heat, it was quickly obvious why water would have been such a precious commodity on Peleliu. Several reports indicated that what water came ashore to refill Marine canteens arrived in cans and barrels previously used to carry aviation fuel. It was tainted, nearly unpotable, and that added to the misery of the men slugging it out on the island.<\/p>\n

\"marine\n<\/picture>
This Marine LVT-4 was abandoned on Ngesebus nearly intact with two M-1919 .30 caliber machine guns mounted on the hull. Attached to Peleliu by a causeway, Ngesebus held a secondary airfield and artillery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Peleliu, to a post-war visitor, presented a sleepy, peaceful scene unlike what the landing forces would have encountered when fringing palms were shattered by fire from battleships and cruisers offshore. The crystal-clear air here was then full of choking, blinding smoke and flame as Marines came ashore from LVTs, blindly advancing under fire.<\/p>\n

\"marine\n<\/picture>
During the fight for Peleliu, Marines would get their amphibious tractors into action against hardened positions whenever possible. This one assaults a Japanese pillbox with a flamethrower. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On this day 50 years later, we could see for what looked like miles up and down the western coastal road, through the palms to the ruins of the Japanese airfield, intersected by a spikey finger of the Umurbrogol pointing at high ground to the right and bloody sites like the China Wall, the Five Brothers and Five Sisters and Death Valley. Those were places I wanted to observe closely, trying to put myself in the mindset of the men who had to assault and reduce them.<\/p>\n

\"column\n<\/picture>
Picking their way through the rocky terrain on Peleliu, a column of Marines moves up to the front lines. This terrain was typical for the Leathernecks battling the Japanese forces. Image:\u00a0U.S.M.C.\/CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But first, as an homage to my old friend the Master Gunny, I explored The Point on the far north end of the landing beaches. With his buddies from King Company 3\/1, he\u2019d held out here against savage Japanese attack and counterattack for 30 long, bloody hours after H-hour on Operation Stalemate. The point today is simply a rugged coral ridge rising some 30 feet above the level of the adjacent landing beaches. In 1944, it was honeycombed with Japanese caves, firing points, defensive blockhouses and pillboxes.<\/p>\n

\"concrete\n<\/picture>
This is the original building that housed the Japanese command staff on Peleliu before the officers were forced to relocate to a cave complex.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Standing atop the ridge in the ruins and concrete rubble of a casement that once housed a 25mm automatic cannon, I could see why The Point had to be taken and held. Firing from here, Japanese defenders could sweep everything close offshore and all across the landing beaches with deadly fire. Looking at The Point from a slightly higher perspective, the way counterattacking Japanese would have seen the besieged strongpoint, it was easy to understand why only 18 men from the King Company element defending the point were still standing when they were finally relieved.<\/p>\n

\"marine\n<\/picture>
Marines supported by tanks assault Japanese positions on Peleliu in October 1944. Image:\u00a0U.S. Marine Corps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first week of fighting on Peleliu was tough on attackers and defenders alike, but Puller\u2019s 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines were particularly hard hit. Caught in a meat-grinder as they struggled for a toehold to begin clearing the Umurbrogol, and under constant pressure from the Division CG to \u201ccontinue the momentum,\u201d by D+6 the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines were a sagging skeleton, a regiment in name only, having suffered nearly 1,800 casualties, or 70 percent of their strength either KIA or WIA.<\/p>\n

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When III AC Commander Major General Roy Geiger visited the struggling 1st<\/sup>\u00a0MarDiv, he was more than a little upset and demanded that what was left of Puller\u2019s regiment be relieved and evacuated to a rest camp on Pavuvu in the Solomons. Much to General Rupertus\u2019 displeasure, the Army\u2019s 321st<\/sup>\u00a0Regimental Combat Team of the 81st<\/sup>\u00a0Infantry Division was brought to Peleliu from Angaur to replace the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marines as the Allies struggled up into the Umurbrogol mountains, steadily pushing north against stubborn Japanese defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Surveying the Field<\/h2>\n

While the scars of war on Peleliu are overgrown by a dense carpet of tropical vegetation, there are still plenty of relics lying around untouched by natives who earn a few dollars from vets, history buffs or SCUBA divers who infrequently visit the island.<\/p>\n

\"us\n<\/picture>
A relatively intact LVT-2 from the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion that was either crippled or abandoned on the perimeter of the Japanese airfield on Peleliu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Late in our stay, I was exploring Ngesebus just north of Peleliu and the site of a secondary Japanese airfield when I literally bumped into a complete LVT, rusting where it was disabled or abandoned but still mounting a pair of M1919 .30 caliber machine guns<\/a> in pintle mounts.<\/p>\n

\"us\n<\/picture>
One of the main objectives in the Battle of Peleliu was the seizure of airfields for F4U fighters and other U.S. aircraft. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By D+14 Marine aircraft, primarily F-4U Corsairs, were operating from Peleliu\u2019s captured airfield. When 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0Battalion, 5th<\/sup>\u00a0Marines staged a textbook amphibious assault led by tanks and LVTs from Peleliu across about 350 meters of water to reach Ngesebus, they were covered by aircraft from Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF)-114, marking the first time in the war that a U.S. Marine amphibious landing was supported entirely by Marine aviation. The flight time from Peleliu to Ngesebus was so short that the pilots didn\u2019t even bother to raise their landing gear before rolling in on targets.<\/p>\n

\"wing\n<\/picture>
The author located this wing section that is possibly from a U.S. Gruman F4F Wildcat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back on Peleliu, it was low tide when we ducked into a large cave in the Umurbrogol foothills. Rocks surrounding the entrance still bore scorch marks from a backpack flamethrower or perhaps one mounted in a tank or LVT.<\/p>\n

\"cave\n<\/picture>
The interior of the Japanese command cave complex remains largely intact. It is now home to hundreds of fruit bats.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marine demolition squads were in heavy demand on Peleliu armed with satchel charges and backed by flamethrowers. They operated by a simple if dangerous creed: Blast \u2018em, burn \u2018em and then blast \u2018em again to seal the deal with rockslides.<\/p>\n

\"t-20\n<\/picture>
A U.S. Marine trains with a T-20 shoulder mortar. Roughly 100 of these weapons were issued to Marine units for the Peleliu invasion. Image:\u00a0U.S. Bureau of Ordnance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other than flame weapons and high explosive charges, the preferred method of reducing the rabbit warren of enemy bunkers and fortifications on Peleliu was with direct fire, flat-trajectory weapons such as the 2.36\u201d bazooka, rifle grenades or the ill-conceived T-20 60mm mortar projector,\u00a0which stood some chance of putting a round through a firing slit or embrasure. High-angle fire from standard mortars or howitzers was less effective against coral and concrete reinforced positions. And there were hundreds of those on Peleliu.<\/p>\n

\"t-20
The T-20 Garret was a 60mm, shoulder-fired mortar. Spring-powered, the weapon is said to have broken Marine collarbones during normal use. Image:\u00a0U.S. Bureau of Ordnance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another cave complex near the Five Sisters area of the Umurbrogol was long, cramped and circuitous with a low overhead composed mostly of squirming bats that hung from the limestone. The damp coral floor was littered with cartridge cases, rotting Japanese equipment and other detritus, including a case of grenades and a knee-mortar that looked as if would still fire if someone was interested in chipping away the rust.<\/p>\n

\"japanese\n<\/picture>
Japanese mortar round found by the author in one of Peleliu\u2019s cave complexes. Nearby was a case of fuses. Each fuse ignited when it was tossed against a rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the caves we explored were similar. In just a few hours, I picked up a fairly intact Japanese gas mask in its issue bag, several canteens and a couple of Nambu machinegun magazines. How such relics resist the elements on Peleliu I\u2019ll never know, but they do if you\u2019re willing to explore in depth.<\/p>\n

Native Palauans don\u2019t mess with this stuff for the most part. Still, there is a mildewed, one-room museum fronted by the remnants of a Type 95 Ha-Go light tank towed to the site from where it was destroyed during a Japanese tank battalion\u2019s suicidal assault on the landing forces in the late afternoon of D-Day on Peleliu.<\/p>\n

\"japanese\n<\/picture>
Shown above is a damaged Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank. In island fighting, lightweight tanks offered advantages over heavy tanks more frequently seen in the European Theater. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That doomed counterattack, with infantrymen hanging on to the tank turrets, was not typical of Japanese tactics here. After-action reports note American surprise at the lack of fanatical banzai charges on Peleliu. When Japanese forces attacked this late in the war, they did it methodically, using professional fire and maneuver tactics rather than the all-out suicidal charges they engaged in during earlier battles in the Pacific.<\/p>\n

\"type\n<\/picture>
A Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank sits in a clearing on Peleliu. This vehicle was one of 20 or so that counterattacked the landing force on D-Day. There was still 37mm ammo in the ready racks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We spent more days on Peleliu exploring the remnants of the old Japanese airfield and the hangars and structures that still remain there as a testament to the Korean, Okinawan and native laborers who built them in sufficient strength to resist artillery, naval gunfire and airstrikes that pounded them relentlessly for weeks during Operation Stalemate II.<\/p>\n

A day prior to leaving Peleliu, I spent a few hours in the prone position overlooking the Five Brothers. I\u2019d come up there on a long, hot hike to pay my respects to the men of my old 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Division at a monument atop the Five Brothers, but I spent a good deal of time just lying prone amidst the coral and scrub letting my imagination run, eyeing dark splotches that marked cave entrances, wondering how anyone survived brutal eyeball-range combat in such ugly conditions. No close combat is ever pleasant, as I learned in my own crucible experiences in Vietnam, but this stuff on Peleliu \u2026 this stuff must have been a frightening agony. How did anyone survive?<\/p>\n

\"wounded\n<\/picture>
A wounded Marine, who fell in the furious fighting of Peleliu, is carefully lifted aboard a transport after he had been evacuated from the bloody beaches in a landing barge. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Truthfully, way too many did not. When the butcher\u2019s bill was toted up at the end of the Palau campaign, the Marines had lost 1,050 killed and 5,450 wounded. The Army\u2019s 81st<\/sup>\u00a0Division lost 1,393 on Peleliu and another 260 killed on Angaur. The Japanese defenders at Peleliu lost an estimated 10,900 killed in action, many of them still resting in those caves near me in the Umurbrogol Pocket. Only 202 prisoners were taken on Peleliu, and of those, only 19 were Japanese. The rest were Korean or Okinawan laborers.<\/p>\n

\"americans\n<\/picture>
Three Americans are given to the sea in funeral services aboard a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport. These heroes died in the fierce fighting for Peleliu Island. Image:\u00a0U.S. Coast Guard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their bodies were never positively identified, but most historians \u2014 American and Japanese \u2014 believe both General Murai Kenjiro, who commanded the IJA 14th<\/sup>\u00a0Infantry Division, and his Peleliu subordinate, who commanded the reinforced 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Infantry Regiment, died somewhere in the fighting for the Umurbrogol Pocket.<\/p>\n

\"americans\n<\/picture>
Four Americans display a captured Japanese flag during Operation Stalemate II. The invasion began on September 15 and would run through November. This photo was taken on October 3rd. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the American CG of the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Marine Division on Peleliu, the man who predicted the whole thing would be over in a few days with light casualties? Major General William Rupertus was relieved of command at the end of the battle and sent home to run a schools command. He died of a heart attack before the war ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

I learned a lot exploring Pacific battlefields and some of that found its way into the HBO mini-series which featured a couple of episodes set on Peleliu. And I understood then why my late friend the old Master Gunny did not want to talk about that particular battle.<\/p>\n

\"dale\n<\/picture>
Veterans and families of the 1st Division Marines who fought on Peleliu erected this monument in the Five Brothers area of the Umurbrogol massif where so many died in the fight for Peleliu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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By Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret) September 15 marked the anniversary of the start to the Battle of Peleliu. Spearheaded by the 1st Marine Division, Operation Stalemate II was to take less than a week. Instead, entrenched Japanese defenders utilized the island\u2019s rugged terrain and an intricate system of caves and bunkers to inflict severe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}