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re: Peleliu WW2 Chat
Posted on 5/13/26 at 6:56 am to geauxtigers87
Posted on 5/13/26 at 6:56 am to geauxtigers87
quote:
i've been there twice. it's a brutal fricking place and custom built for a defender to extract as much pain as possible.
Umbrogodol (sp) Mountains almost cost Chesty his entire regiment trying to seize it.
0
Posted on 5/13/26 at 7:07 am to heygeno
quote:
Sorry so long. But, I'm leaving a lot out.
Yet couldn’t include anything about Peleliu?
Posted on 5/13/26 at 7:10 am to Strannix
The war in the Pacific definitely had a different vibe than the war in Europe.
It doesn’t get as much attention as the fight in Europe and our boys had it rougher fighting Japan.
It doesn’t get as much attention as the fight in Europe and our boys had it rougher fighting Japan.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 7:16 am to JohnLasater
quote:
I'm interested in hearing more about the details of these trips. I'm researching going. I go to Japan every could of years and am seriously considering taking a side trip to Palau next time.
How long did you actually stay down there?
just getting there is a pain. As a part of a larger tour we did Pearl Harbor, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo. Then you go from Guam to Koror in Palau. Once there it is either an hour or so boat ride to Peleliu every day or you stay on the island. Just depends on how much you want to spend or not.
It's almost 30 hours nonstop travel to get back. You left Koror at 2am their time on a Tuesday and go to Hawaii to Houston and finally back to New Orleans. I'd recommend hooking up with a tour group, but it's been a minute since I've done any guiding on tours so I am not sure who is still in the game so to speak.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 7:41 am to sledgehammer
quote:MacArthur gets a lot of hate on this board. Some is justified, a lot isn't.
MacArthur gets a lot of hate for the invasion of Peleliu,
MacArthur gets a lot of crap for the Philippines and Korea. Some of it is fair and some isn’t. Nothing could have been done to prevent the Philippines from falling to the Japanese. Military leaders knew this as early as 1904-5. MacArthur wasn’t given the necessary resources to properly defend the island. And he did a pretty shite job of it anyway. However, he was much more valuable to us as a General leading the Army than he would’ve been in a POW camp. He was one of the first to recognize how valuable land based air support would be and organically stumbled into a sort of island hopping campaign before it became the official strategy. As a commander, he knew what he was doing.
In Korea , he wanted to blow the bridges crossing the Yalu River and attack air fields in China where Soviet aircraft were being based, but Truman would not let him.
He also could be a massive dick. Like for no reason. And torpedoed officers careers if it looked like they might outshine him. He was obsessed with his family legacy and was also just kind of an oddball. But a genuine really intelligent person.
I think his legacy has rightly taken some hits over the last few decades. But he was still a very good commander.
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 7:43 am
Posted on 5/13/26 at 7:47 am to tide06
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.
Obligatory....
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 7:48 am
Posted on 5/13/26 at 8:01 am to alajones
MacArthur was a blowhard who would’ve gladly sucked his own dick if he could’ve. More worried about looking cool in the press than winning wars.
His shitty leadership in WWII and Korea led to tens of thousands of deaths.
His shitty leadership in WWII and Korea led to tens of thousands of deaths.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 8:55 am to alajones
quote:
MacArthur gets a lot of hate on this board. Some is justified, a lot isn't.
MacArthur gets a lot of crap for the Philippines and Korea. Some of it is fair and some isn’t. Nothing could have been done to prevent the Philippines from falling to the Japanese. Military leaders knew this as early as 1904-5. MacArthur wasn’t given the necessary resources to properly defend the island. And he did a pretty shite job of it anyway. However, he was much more valuable to us as a General leading the Army than he would’ve been in a POW camp. He was one of the first to recognize how valuable land based air support would be and organically stumbled into a sort of island hopping campaign before it became the official strategy. As a commander, he knew what he was doing.
In Korea , he wanted to blow the bridges crossing the Yalu River and attack air fields in China where Soviet aircraft were being based, but Truman would not let him.
He also could be a massive dick. Like for no reason. And torpedoed officers careers if it looked like they might outshine him. He was obsessed with his family legacy and was also just kind of an oddball. But a genuine really intelligent person.
I think his legacy has rightly taken some hits over the last few decades. But he was still a very good commander.
i'm an unashamed MacArthur fanboy. agree with everything you wrote. he had a lot of shortcomings for sure, but he was a tremendous military leader and his strengths far outweighed his weaknesses. he also had tremendous physical courage, which goes against the almost universal belief about him.
it's become almost the default these days to act like he was a buffoon, and a cartoonish caricature of a general, but he was a legitimately great man - really almost a 19th century military leader living in the 20th century in a lot of ways.
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 8:59 am
Posted on 5/13/26 at 9:00 am to alajones
quote:The Japanese would’ve made a mockery and a spectacle dragging Douglas “the situation” MacArthur (Mr. EGO) through downtown Tokyo as a POW.
However, he was much more valuable to us as a General leading the Army than he would’ve been in a POW camp
Posted on 5/13/26 at 9:11 am to Sam Quint
quote:
i'm an unashamed MacArthur fanboy. agree with everything you wrote. he had a lot of shortcomings for sure, but he was a tremendous military leader and his strengths far outweighed his weaknesses.
There’s a reason why he’s generally universally derided.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 11:04 am to Sam Quint
quote:
19th century military leader living in the 20th century in a lot of ways.
Same is said about every WWI general, yet none have vocal fanboys.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 11:10 am to Strannix
My great uncle was a Navy corpsman and was there. Joined up at 16, lied about his age (crazy but not uncommon). He never spoke of the war. Came home to be offered a scholarship to med school at Tulane, which he passed on saying “I’ve seen enough blood”. Spent the rest of his life as an accountant. He had a bunch of medals that he kept stashed away.
After his death, I was going through a box of my grandfathers letters that he wrote to their mom while grandpa was stationed in Europe. Found a stash of great uncles letters too. Unc’s had a lot of redactions on where they were headed but apparently where he had been was ok. I was a history major in college at the time and was shocked to learn that he’d been on almost every island battle on the pacific. It’s a fricking miracle that he made it.
I miss him and my grandpa.
After his death, I was going through a box of my grandfathers letters that he wrote to their mom while grandpa was stationed in Europe. Found a stash of great uncles letters too. Unc’s had a lot of redactions on where they were headed but apparently where he had been was ok. I was a history major in college at the time and was shocked to learn that he’d been on almost every island battle on the pacific. It’s a fricking miracle that he made it.
I miss him and my grandpa.
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 11:40 am
Posted on 5/13/26 at 11:32 am to lsuconnman
quote:
Same is said about every WWI general, yet none have vocal fanboys.
they say that about WW1 generals because of their tactics, which were just up the middle, human wave attacks into the teeth of a defense in depth. i'm saying that about MacArthur more from the perspective of his outlook on God, country, honor, service, the military, etc.
MacArthur was definitely not 19th century from a tactical / operational level. he knew and practiced maneuver warfare as well as or better than anyone of that era.
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 11:37 am
Posted on 5/13/26 at 1:00 pm to Sam Quint
My dad, again a Marine at Peleliu, did not care for MacArthur..Said his ego got too many men needlessly killed.
My grandmother would fight you over Harry Truman. Said that if he hadn't dropped the bombs, my dad would probably had been killed invading Japan.
I have every letter Dad wrote home to my grandmother during the war. I've read all 100+ of them numerous times. He was so proud initially of being able to shower daily, getting three square meals a day, etc. Coming from a depressed north LA village and having a widow for a mother, I can understand how good he thought he had it. Until he went island hopping with the Marines.
In those letters, he went full circle on how great things were (boot camp) to how bad it was by war's end. You could tell by his tone that war had been hell.
By the end of his letters, he explained to my grandmother where all he'd been, the battles, etc. Said he was unable to mention even the weather conditions due to censorship. By then he said he did not care if they busted him from violating any censorship rules, as long as they sent him back to the US of A. Said he'd never leave this great nation again and if he ever had sons he'd hide them out in a swamp to keep them from going to war.
My grandmother would fight you over Harry Truman. Said that if he hadn't dropped the bombs, my dad would probably had been killed invading Japan.
I have every letter Dad wrote home to my grandmother during the war. I've read all 100+ of them numerous times. He was so proud initially of being able to shower daily, getting three square meals a day, etc. Coming from a depressed north LA village and having a widow for a mother, I can understand how good he thought he had it. Until he went island hopping with the Marines.
In those letters, he went full circle on how great things were (boot camp) to how bad it was by war's end. You could tell by his tone that war had been hell.
By the end of his letters, he explained to my grandmother where all he'd been, the battles, etc. Said he was unable to mention even the weather conditions due to censorship. By then he said he did not care if they busted him from violating any censorship rules, as long as they sent him back to the US of A. Said he'd never leave this great nation again and if he ever had sons he'd hide them out in a swamp to keep them from going to war.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 3:40 pm to lsuconnman
Other posts were about the pacific theater ONLY. I'm proud of my father.
Jerks, not so much.
Good day
Jerks, not so much.
Good day
Posted on 5/13/26 at 5:01 pm to OK Roughneck
quote:
My Grandad was at Peleliu on the Battleship Tennessee.
Yeah, my grandfather was on the USS Maryland from July 1943 to the end. He passed in 1971 and never spoke of his experiences. He did leave behind uniforms and photos.
It's been fun researching the Maryland and tracing where they were in the Pacific Theater. Didn't know they were at Peleliu hammering the Japanese prior to the landing. I have a color photo of the Maryland off the north side of Saipan and I've stood on that cliff where that photo was taken.
I worked in Tokyo for ten years with a Japanese software company. Great people. My co-workers were awesome. I remember sitting at my desk with 32 Japanese co-workers on my floor thinking 'this would have been my grandfather's biggest nightmare'......and two generations later they're the nicest people I've ever worked with.
Posted on 5/13/26 at 5:10 pm to geauxtigers87
quote:
just getting there is a pain. As a part of a larger tour we did Pearl Harbor, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo. Then you go from Guam to Koror in Palau. Once there it is either an hour or so boat ride to Peleliu every day or you stay on the island. Just depends on how much you want to spend or not.
Awesome. Great info. Thanks. Those tours sound interesting.
There's a good thread on the Texas board about this with some very knowledgeable folks over there.....for those of you interested.
Pacific War Locations
This post was edited on 5/13/26 at 5:17 pm
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