godot - 2019-08-14
Was hoping to hear him describe how all of the loss of life was pointless. Peleliu could have been bypassed, like numerous other Japanese atoll airfields in Micronesia. Taking that island served no strategic purpose in September 1944. Of course, ignoring it would have subjected some 10k Japanese to death by starvation.
I've been to Peleliu. Palau is a bucket-list scuba destination, and my dad was doing his bucket list. Some of the most lively and photogenic reefs in the world are just off Peleliu's SW coast. There's a mom & pop hotel ashore, and all the war memorabilia is in walking distance, though I was taxied about in a van. The caves are fairly accessible, but the only ones I entered petered out within 5m of the gun emplacement.
The Japanese memorials are much, much better than the American ones.
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