Posted on 04/17/2002 8:46:59 PM PDT by doug from upland
Although it is no fun to get up at 1:15 AM and drive from Upland to San Pedro, it was worth it. Today I had an enjoyable adventure aboard the assault ship, the USS PELELIU.
We took a bus from San Pedro to San Diego and then cruised back to San Pedro. The crew was hospitable and professional.
Yes, vetnet, I did meet the CO and personally hand him a copy of THE BALLAD OF MIKE MORAN for the ship. I also explained the history of the song.
Aboard the ship was a flag from the World Trade Center with numerous signatures from heroes.
The crew did hours of helo flight ops and landed an LCAT amphibous assault vehicle. This ship puts Marines and equipment on the beach.
Have any FReepers served on the Peleliu?
Like the bloody World War II island campaigns before it, Peleliu was a fight to capture an airstrip on a far-flung speck of coral in the western Pacific. And, as with previous island battles, the Americans would prevail, but at a cost no one anticipated, against a fanatical enemy whose new defense strategy would make the invaders pay dearly for every chunk of coral taken. By the summer of 1944, the United States had come a long way since the dark days of Pearl Harbor, Wake Island and Bataan. 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. From this the president would make his own decision. 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. It would also be one of the Pacific War's most forgotten campaigns.
Sounds like fun.
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