The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September – November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau.

By the summer of 1944, Peleliu Island was occupied by about 11, 000 Japanese of the 14th Infantry Division with Korean and Okinawan laborers.

While on the Peleliu, he signed confession documents while he was held by the United States Marine Corps and informed his interrogators that he was not merely Taliban but al-Qaeda, though his father later asserted he was not involved in, and unaware of, al-Qaeda.

Wearing swim suits, fins, and dive masks on combat operations, these " Naked Warriors " saw action across the Pacific in every major amphibious landing including: Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Angaur, Ulithi, Peleliu, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Zambales, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Labuan, Brunei Bay, and on 4 July 1945 at Balikpapan on Borneo, which was the last UDT demolition operation of the war.

Colonel Puller would lead the 1st Marines into the protracted battle on Peleliu, one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history during September and October 1944, action where he was awarded his first Legion of Merit.

After heavy and intense combat on Peleliu, the island was finally secured by U. S. forces in November, 1944.

He rose to the rank of Major while serving in the Pacific Theater where he was wounded at Peleliu and Okinawa.

" The last message of the forces on Peleliu was " Sakura, Sakura " — cherry blossoms.

Peleliu has a total area of 5 mi² ( 13 km² ), its population was about 700, making it the third most populous state of Palau.

The island was the site of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.

In April 1944, he was named Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Marine Division and participated in operations against the Japanese in the Peleliu operation during September and October 1944.

The 81 Infantry Division had finally taken the whole of Angaur with relatively light casualties but met the same stiff resistance that was found on Peleliu.

This time he was Island Commander, Peleliu, from March to August 1945, and Commanding General, Air Defense Command, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, on Okinawa until October 1945, when he took command of the 2d Wing.

The painting, a 1944 portrait of a Marine at the Battle of Peleliu, is now held by United States Army Center of Military History, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D. C. About the real-life Marine who was his subject, Lea said:

During World War II, the island was occupied by the Company I, 111th Infantry Regiment, which landed on April 22, 1944 and which used the island as a staging area prior to redeployment to Peleliu on February 1, 1945.

He was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1944, and won a gold star in lieu of a second DSM for his leadership in the assaults that took Peleliu and Angaur in the Palaus, and Ulithi in the Carolines.

He was World War II combat veteran — being decorated for his actions in the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Okinawa.

Although wounded during the first hour of the Peleliu landing, he refused evacuation to remain with his men ; and, on one occasion, when heavy Marine casualties and the enemy's point-blank cannon fire had enabled the Japanese to break through, he personally rallied and led his men in fighting to re-establish defense positions.

Fighting on Mamayev Kurgan during the Battle of Stalingrad and the Umurbrogol Pocket in the Battle of Peleliu were also examples of bloody fighting for high ground.

Ten days of fighting on Peleliu cost the 1st Marine Regiment 1, 749 casualties.

Control passed to Japan in 1914 and during World War II the islands were taken by the United States in 1944, with the costly Battle of Peleliu between September 15 and November 25 with more than 2, 000 Americans and 10, 000 Japanese killed.

The Rock Islands of Palau, also called Chelbacheb, are a small collection of limestone or coral uprises, ancient relics of coral reefs that violently surfaced to form Islands in Palau's Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu, and are now an incorporated part of Koror State.

However, despite the majority of American resources going into Europe in 1944, the U. S. still had sufficient resources to mount several major military operations in the Pacific that year: Saipan ( June 1944 ); Guam ( July 1944 ); Peleliu ( September 1944 ); and the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte in October 1944.

The caves and bunkers were connected to a vast system throughout central Peleliu, which allowed the Japanese to evacuate or reoccupy positions as needed, and to take advantage of shrinking interior lines.

* 1944 – Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps ' 1st Marine Division and the United States Army's 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.

In the meantime, in order to secure the flank for U. S. forces preparing to attack Japanese forces in the Philippines, in September, 1944, U. S. Marine and Army forces landed on the islands of Peleliu and Angaur in Palau.

Peleliu is a memorial site for both WWII U. S. and Japanese troops.

Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the U. S.

Japanese soldiers met with the Palau chiefs to discuss where to house the Peleliu people, because they planned to make Peleliu their military base.

Several AFRS outlets, such as the station on Peleliu, beamed special broadcasts in Japanese to the Imperial troops remaining.

* Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 by Bill Sloan

* USS Perry ( DD-340 ) a destroyer, turned mine sweeper, sunk in battle off Peleliu Island, 1921 – 1944

Major Davis ' action while commanding the 1st Battalion at Peleliu in September 1944 earned him the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart.

During the summer and early autumn of 1944, the Pacific Ocean Network added several other stations to its chain, including those on Saipan and Guam ( Mariana Islands in July and August 1944 ), and on Peleliu and Ulithi ( Caroline Islands in September 1944 ).

Beginning in October 1944 both echelons would be reunited when they were reunited and began operating from an airstrip on Peleliu.

Both strategies included the invasion of Peleliu, but for different reasons.

However, before MacArthur could retake the Philippines, the Palau Islands, specifically Peleliu and Angaur, were to be neutralized and an airfield built to protect MacArthur's right flank.

Nakagawa's defenses were based at Peleliu's highest point, Umurbrogol Mountain, a collection of hills and steep ridges located at the center of Peleliu overlooking a large portion of the island, including the crucial airfield.

* September 15 – WWII: The Battle of Peleliu begins.

* Henry A. Boyes-First Sergeant, Fifth Marines: Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, p. 213

Most of the population on the archipelago occurs on Angaur and Peleliu, while the species is probably already gone from Koror.