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Peleliu WW2 Chat
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:14 am
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:14 am
Never payed the Pacific island fighting in depth attention outside of the general campaigns until last few weeks. Got started reading "Chesty" and then in depth on a bunch of podcasts. It is actually depressing knowing the hell on earth those Marines went through for no reason.
Nimitz should have cancelled it IMO, we should have just dropped napalm on it and hit it with WP from naval gunfire until they all starved to death.
Nimitz should have cancelled it IMO, we should have just dropped napalm on it and hit it with WP from naval gunfire until they all starved to death.
10
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:21 am to Strannix
quote:
we should have just dropped napalm on it and hit it with WP from naval gunfire until they all starved to death.
They tried that. There are plenty of books and documentaries of Marines stating they were certain everyone was dead before they landed on XXXXX Island. It was never true. The Japanese were dug in deep and willing to starve and fight it out to the last man. This is pre laser guided smart bombs and bunker busters. Short of skipping around the islands, it's own conversation, I don't think there were a lot of options other than to land and fight it out.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:24 am to Strannix
Listen to Dan Carlin's podcast "Supernova in the East". He goes in to detail on the Pacific island hopping campaign.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:27 am to jbgleason
quote:
Short of skipping around the islands, it's own conversation,
Ding ding ding.
quote:
Strategic Redundancy: The primary justification for the battle was to neutralize Japanese airfields to protect General MacArthur’s right flank during the invasion of the Philippines. However, reconnaissance revealed that Japanese air power in the area was already largely neutralized by previous bombing raids, and the Philippines were less heavily defended than initially feared
quote:
Alternative Options: Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, commander of the Western Pacific Task Force, argued that the island could have been bypassed and sealed off, similar to other Japanese bases in the Pacific, allowing the garrison to "wither on the vine" without a costly amphibious assault.
quote:
Decision to Proceed: Despite Halsey’s urgent recommendation to abort the operation two days before the assault, Admiral Chester Nimitz refused to cancel the invasion, citing that the fleet was already at sea. The battle ultimately resulted in over 9,600 U.S. casualties and nearly 11,000 Japanese deaths for minimal strategic gain, with the captured airfield seeing limited use in the subsequent Philippines campaign.
Nimitz sacrificed 10k US casualties because he didnt want to turn his fleet around.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:29 am to jbgleason
quote:
They tried that. There are plenty of books and documentaries of Marines stating they were certain everyone was dead before they landed on XXXXX Island. It was never true. The Japanese were dug in deep and willing to starve and fight it out to the last man. This is pre laser guided smart bombs and bunker busters.
This is also true.
We didnt have anything capable of blowing up coral caves and by that point of the war Japan had already had a chance to dig in to a degree that once ashore the only way to take an island was rock to rock while blowing and sealing cave complexes in the heat and sand.
The defenders knew they were going to die and didnt care, they just wanted to take as many Americans with them as possible.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:30 am to Strannix
I had a distant cousin (my Dad knew him) who was wounded in the hills of Peleliu.
Like Huertgen Forest in the ETO, it was largely an unnecessary operation (supposedly in support of Big Mac’s vanity project of returning to the Philippines). The only reason to really take it was to deny the Japanese use of the airfield. Otherwise it could’ve been bypassed.
Like Huertgen Forest in the ETO, it was largely an unnecessary operation (supposedly in support of Big Mac’s vanity project of returning to the Philippines). The only reason to really take it was to deny the Japanese use of the airfield. Otherwise it could’ve been bypassed.
This post was edited on 5/12/26 at 10:31 am
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:31 am to Strannix
With the Old Breed is the classic "ground level" story about the fighting on Peleliu.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:35 am to Strannix
MacArthur gets a lot of hate for the invasion of Peleliu, but Nimitz ultimately had the final word. There was no need for an invasion once the airfields were thoroughly bombed. Leave the Japanese to starve like Rabaul and many other islands.
I don’t know how those Marines and the Army kept it together especially after reading With the Old Breed and his son’s new book. Like you said, literal hell on earth with flies, oppressive heat, little water, little sleep, incessant shelling, an enemy you rarely saw, atrocities to your fellow buddies etc…
I don’t know how those Marines and the Army kept it together especially after reading With the Old Breed and his son’s new book. Like you said, literal hell on earth with flies, oppressive heat, little water, little sleep, incessant shelling, an enemy you rarely saw, atrocities to your fellow buddies etc…
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:38 am to sledgehammer
quote:
sledgehammer
username checks out for thread
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:38 am to jbgleason
quote:
They tried that. There are plenty of books and documentaries of Marines stating they were certain
They did two days of mostly high explosives and then one more day but stopped that because they wanted to save ammo. Chesty specifically mentioned the point to the left of his beachhead and peninsula south. Both were untouched.
I’m not talking about arty/HE bombing. I’m talking about fricking carpet bombing it with napalm and WP naval gunfire for a few weeks. I would have gassed it too.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:39 am to jbgleason
The war would’ve gone a whole lot better if the Japanese on Peleliu, Iwo, and Okinawa had acted like the Ichiki detachment on Guadalcanal.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:39 am to Strannix
See “The Pacific” episode on Peleliu.
In the first days of the fighting, the temps were brutal, often upwards of 100 F. The Japanese had tainted every supply of freshwater on the island, and a shipboard SNAFU had caused the Marines water supply to be stored in oil barrels that hadn’t been cleaned, rendering the water undrinkable. It was literally Hell on Earth for those Marines.
In the first days of the fighting, the temps were brutal, often upwards of 100 F. The Japanese had tainted every supply of freshwater on the island, and a shipboard SNAFU had caused the Marines water supply to be stored in oil barrels that hadn’t been cleaned, rendering the water undrinkable. It was literally Hell on Earth for those Marines.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:45 am to Sam Quint
quote:
With the Old Breed is the classic "ground level" story about the fighting on Peleliu.
I think I read that one...there are some other books on the Pacific theater that are fantastic as well. I'm just struggling to remember them
I think Flyboys is one of them. Guadal Canal might be another.
ETA: Clash of the Carriers (about the turkey shoot at midway)
This post was edited on 5/12/26 at 10:46 am
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:47 am to Chucktown_Badger
quote:
I think Flyboys is one of them.
Flyboys is great. The story of Chichi Jima.
American history could’ve been altered drastically had the Japanese patrol boats reached one of those pilots before an American sub did.
This post was edited on 5/12/26 at 10:48 am
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:53 am to Godfather1
quote:
Flyboys is great.
meh. Bradley goes out of his way to deconstruct the "American good guys vs Japanese bad guys" and make it sound like both sides were equally morally grey, which just isnt true.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:54 am to Godfather1
quote:
tainted every supply of freshwater on the island,
One of my closest friend's father was a Marine 1st LT on the Pacific Campaign. I had a couple of opportunities to talk to him about it before he died.
One of the stories that stuck in my head was him telling me about the time they found a fresh water pool in the jungle and filled all their canteens. Someone commented that the water tasted "funny" and the medic made them stop drinking (they were dieing of thirst) while the pool was examined. They found two Japanese soldier bodies in the water. Purposefully placed their after death with the intent of ruining the water.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:57 am to Godfather1
My dad (USMC) was on Peleliu for that campaign. Never talked much about any of his war service but he said it was hell on earth.
While watching a documentary a couple of years ago I actually saw my dad on there twice. Surreal, humbling, and made me proud. I actually got tears and my daughter found a copy of the documentary and bought it for me.
Ridges of Peleliu I think is the name of it.
While watching a documentary a couple of years ago I actually saw my dad on there twice. Surreal, humbling, and made me proud. I actually got tears and my daughter found a copy of the documentary and bought it for me.
Ridges of Peleliu I think is the name of it.
This post was edited on 5/12/26 at 11:07 am
Posted on 5/12/26 at 10:57 am to Strannix
My Papa was a Seabee for 23 months overseas. Went to most of the islands. Said Peleliu was the worst all around. Always said he felt so bad for the Marines coming back from the lines. Also said his proudest moment was being picked to help build the monument for the fallen Marines.
My brother has the picture of him standing next to it after it was built. Very cool to see the same monument in today's time.
My brother has the picture of him standing next to it after it was built. Very cool to see the same monument in today's time.
Posted on 5/12/26 at 11:12 am to Strannix
Posted on 5/12/26 at 11:21 am to Godfather1
Whenever I am really thirsty and drink water, I think of those Marines and their lack of water. And how much they would have appreciated just an ounce or two of clean, cold water.
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