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Like the bloody World War II island campaigns before it, the battle of
Peleliu was a fight to capture an airstrip on a speck of coral in the
western Pacific. And, as with previous island battles, the Americans would
prevail, but at a higher cost than anticipated, against the determined
resistance of the Japanese forces.
By the summer of 1944 victories in the Southwest and Central Pacific had
brought the war even closer to Japan, with American bombers now able to
strike at the Japanese homeland itself. But there was disagreement by the
U.S. Joint Chiefs over two proposed strategies to crush the Japanese Empire.
One strategy proposed by General Douglas MacArthur called for the recapture
of the Philippines, followed by the capture of Okinawa then Formosa for an
attack at the Chinese mainland. From there, the eventual invasion of Japan
would come. Admiral Chester Nimitz, on the other hand, favored a more direct
strategy of bypassing the Philippines, but seizing Okinawa and Formosa as
staging areas for the future invasion of Japan's southernmost islands.
As for Peleliu, both commanders' strategies included the invasion of this
island, but for different reasons, and the 1st Marine Division had already
been chosen to make the assault. To settle this dispute, President Franklin
Roosevelt traveled to Pearl Harbor to meet personally with both commanders
and hear their respective arguments. After a review of both positions,
MacArthur's strategy was chosen. However, before MacArthur could retake the
Philippines, the Palau Islands - Peleliu specifically, would have to be
neutralized to protect his right flank. What followed would be a ferocious
battle lasting more than two months and costing over 12,000 lives.
The amphibious assault ship Peleliu was named in memory of the battle.
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