On this day in 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division landed on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans, but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai. The Peleliu campaign is very well documented from a first-hand perspective in the best-selling book With The Old Breed.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
Second Prize:
- A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
- A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
- A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).
Third Prize:
- Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit. This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag. The value of this kit is $220.
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!
Round 90 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
I remember my grand-father, who was on Peleliu, say that by the time the battle for the island was over it was basically flattened with few trees left standing.
My Father served with the 1st Marines at Peleliu. He never said much about, except how hot it was, how men called out for water due to the oppressive heat. The coral sand was such that one could not dig very deep to evade fire before the hole filled itself in again. The white coral behaved like a reflector oven, abrasive like rough sandpaper. Then of course there are the Japanese trying very hard and skillfully to kill you with mortars, machine guns, and grenades. The hard coral magnified the effect of explosions as additional shrapnel. My dad was 18 years old at the time. Hard to process in my head how young that was,to be sent to a killing ground at the bloom of one’s life.
RS, I appreciate your compassionate perspective: “Hard to process in my head how young that was,to be sent to a killing ground at the bloom of one’s life.”
Few people grasp the gravity of that.
Carry on in grace
Thank you. Same to you, Marine.
To say that the invasion of Pelelui was pointless, is not correct. It assumes that the Japanese knew that the US would not launch an attack from Peleliu. It also assumes that Japanese defensive decisions based on the fact that the US occupied Peleliu were not significant. Third, it downplays the US flexibility that was obtained from the extra airfield and potential base of operations. And finally, it ignores the potential problems of an enemy airfield on the US flank during an invasion of Philippines. Was is worth the cost? I don’t know. But it was not pointless.
Yeah unnecessary might have been a better word but not pointless. There are few “pointless” maneuvers in a fight/battle/war.
Here he goes again… Joe Biden has confused Iraq and Iran. This man should never be allowed near the presidency.
https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/biden-iraq-iran/
…and Kamala Harris must know this. Note her remark about a “Harris administration” and the words “together with Joe Biden”.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/09/15/kamala-harris-accidentally-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-n2576209
Take note and VOTE for Donald J. Trump.