My mother's eldest brother served in Pelau ~ he said it was crap.
Turned out it was crap ~ a two year long battle with massive casualties for no discernible purpose.
Man didn't come back the same.
Not exactly. D-Day on Peleliu was 15 September 1944. Organized resistance was declared over on 27 November 1944, not quite two years.
Your point however has merit. The campaign in the Central Pacific was hamfisted at best. Brute Force and Ignorance, and it cost many American lives, unecessarily.
MacArthur, who gets slammed by Kenny Burns and his buddies was far more judicious in his campaign in the SW Pacific. He tended to attack where the Japanese weren't and bypassed their strong points leaving them to wither on the vine.
But, remember, the idea was to defeat the Japanese and put an end to the Greater Far East Asia Co-Proserity Sphere. This, your uncle, my father, and many others did. What has Kenny Burns done?