We’ve been home for a few days, but I wanted to go ahead and finish up where I left off since I left out some important information about Peleliu and what happened there. So to continue – the second day in Palau found one of us boarding the speed boat for a second day of touring Pelelui and one of us lounging around the resort. I assume by now you know who did what.
I had mentioned that Pelelui was important in WWII, but not how you might think. There was (is) a Japanese landing strip on the island and that’s what the US wanted to capture. The battle was estimated to last about 4 days, but actually went on for over 2 months and is considered one of the worst battles for the Marines in the entire war. The casualties were extremely high but the value of the landing strip was extremely low.
As it turns out, the Japanese had told their troops there that they had to buy time. It was a different kind of fighting from the Japanese than the US had seen from them before. They simply would not give up, fighting to the death in the Emperor’s name. So, it was a terrible battle and the island, which is jungle, was completely wiped out.
Today, as I mentioned before, the jungle has reclaimed the island. Now it’s incredibly beautiful with lush flora and foliage, sometimes the individual plant leaves being the size of a loveseat. And boy, is it HOT. When we went by an old tank on the previous day, I couldn’t help but wonder how the Marines actually SURVIVED in the tanks with it being so incredibly hot and humid. We were all drenched in sweat from simply walking around in the shade.
At the end of the second day, the staff from the WWII museum brought a floral wreath and laid it at Orange Beach. A tour member’s Dad had come ashore there and he, along with the historian, laid the wreath in memory. So that was something very nice for the man whose name escapes me. Gregg got a really good picture of the museum staff that had accompanied us over the long trip, so that’s a good memory for us to have.
After touring, we all met for the final farewell dinner. And although it was a really nice dinner, it was 4 courses and seemed to drag on a bit when everyone was exhausted. Gregg and I sat with Kirk, who had been a Marine for 31 years and then had a pretty high security job at the Pentagon until he decided to retire to travel. And, like most of the tour goers (not us), it was clear he had plenty of money, because he had been all over in his extensive travels. He was very interesting to talk to, both about his job and his travels. But I had to chuckle because he looks EXACTLY like Mr. Pewterschmidt from Family Guy.
Final thoughts to come…
