Brotherhood of Heroes --
The Marines at Peleliu, 1944, the Bloodiest Battle

by Bill Sloan

Between Sept 15th and Oct 15, 1944, the First Marine Division suffered
over 50% casualties in taking the island of Peleliu away from the Japanese.
The enemy was well-entrenched and often invisible in elaborate bunkers and
caves. While the Marines would storm up one ridge, the enemy would fire at
them not only down from above but from other ridges behind and alongside
their charge. It was a vicious, costly battle. The Americans suffered 6,526
casualties (1,252 killed; 5,274 wounded) while the Japanese lost 11,000 to
13,000 (only 3 dozen Japanese surrendered). The enemy's objective was not
to win. They couldn't. It was simply to inflict as many casualties as they could
before being overrun.

The author painstakingly pieces together this horrific fight from careful research
and interviews from the actual veterans who fought there. The brave men who
survived became friends for life and the author tells what happened to them after
the war. Even though it was later questioned whether or not this battle should have
ever taken place, it nonetheless gave the Americans valuable experience in fighting
against an entrenched enemy which they had to then do against the Japanese at
Okinawa. Most Americans never knew what happened there until years later because
it probably would have had an adverse affect on public opinion about the war.
A superb story of supreme courage, brotherly devotion, and sacrifice for one's country.

 
Return to "Reading for Pleasure" page