Posted on 09/02/2024 7:12:58 AM PDT by Towed_Jumper
After eight decades of dormancy, the US Marines have restored a historic World War II airstrip on Peleliu, a small island that is part of the Pacific nation Palau. This strategic move, completed after months of repairs by US naval engineers, saw the landing of a KC-130J long-range tanker aircraft on June 22. The move comes amid escalating tensions between China on one side, and Taiwan and the US on the other. The Peleliu airstrip is one of several bases the Americans are eyeing or have already prepared in the context of growing tensions in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific.
The dirt airstrip on Peleliu, 2,500 kilometres from the Chinese coast, played a pivotal role in World War II, when China was a US ally and Japan the adversary. Now, the modest airfield, immortalised in several books, documentaries, and the 2010 HBO mini-series "The Pacific," finds itself at the centre of a modern arms race between Washington and Beijing.
Palau, an island nation, is one of the few countries in the Pacific that recognises Taiwan, placing it at odds with China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Palau also maintains a close relationship with the USA,
The KC-130J aircraft is a critical logistical asset for the US Air Force, capable of refuelling fighter jets and helicopters over a range exceeding 6,000 kilometres. This capability underscores the importance of Peleliu as a refuelling and logistical hub in the Pacific theatre.
(Excerpt) Read more at observers.france24.com ...
I have this vision in my head that some 95 year-old Japanese soldier, still hiding out in the caves of Peleliu, watching this renewed US military buildup with growing alarm.
If I knew how China would have turned out, maybe we should have sided with the Japs.
One of the main homes of the sneaky, very fast, man-eating Saltwater crocodile
We can side with them this time. The smart money is still on them in a naval war.
It’s an interesting “What If”, let’s say we allied with Japan in the 1920s, before the militarists took over, remember they were our Ally during WWI.
They could have been a bulwark against the Bolsheviks.
And I question over time how much of a threat they would have been, or even if with their relatively small population compared with China, if they ever could have posed the threat to the US that China does now.
Check out the history of "The Battle of Ramree Island" for more info on the hundreds of IJA soldiers eaten by crocodiles during that fight.
https://www.historynet.com/eugene-sledges-wwii-relics-from-with-the-old-breed/
N THE BEGINNING
Since men in combat weren’t permitted to keep diaries for security reasons, Sledge jotted notes about his experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa in a pocket New Testament he had received during basic training at Camp Elliott, near San Diego. The notes would form the basis of his book With the Old Breed, which he started working on in 1944 while at rest camp on Pavuvu Island. He drew up an outline shortly after returning home, and completed the book in the late 1970s. (Courtesy of an anonymous collector; photos by Beth Black Photography)
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2024-05-22/palau-military-site-china-13935392.html
Proposed May 13, 2024, completed now.
Takes the Marines.
*They could have been a bulwark against the Bolsheviks.*
Like Sunni vs. Shia. Best if both lose.
Eugene Sledge famously memorialized the carnage in his With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa published in 1981 from contemporaneous notes.
Can Wake Island be far behind? Howland? Iwo Jima?
Everyone has heard the saying about History Repeating itself.
Here we are 80 years after WW II and we have the USA reopening an airstrip on Peleliu, we have German equipment and very likely Ukrainian Nazis fighting Russians in Kursk.
We have military engagements in and around Kiev and what was known as Kharkov, what’s next an all-out assault by the Ukrainians on Stalingrad aka Volgograd
Everyone has heard the saying about History Repeating itself.
It may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme.
I am becoming mostly convinced that MacArthur had a better plan of island hopping to reach Japan that didn't require 17 fleet carriers and such a massive fleet to do it. Between air power by General Kenny and capturing larger land bases and bypassing jap strong holds to starve them out by air blockade he was doing very well with relatively few casualties.
The Peleliu campaign was considered a mistake
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-peleliu
The next objective for Admiral Chester Nimitz’s Pacific Fleet was the Palau Islands in the western Carolines, 500 miles east of the Philippines.
Another reference was that both strategies involved Peleliu, but for different reasons.
I guess in the battle of the Jap 7.7 verses the Crocs, the crocs were undefeated.
MacArthur famously said that he lost fewer men retaking the Pacific than Mark Clark did taking Anzio beach in Italy. He also did a masterful job of transforming Japan from a former enemy into a trusted ally during the occupation years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.