Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.

The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from 15 September to 27 November 1944, on the island of Peleliu.

Peleliu is a small island in the Palau archipelago located some 500 miles east of the Philippines. The small, “crab claw”-shaped island extends largely from south to north and is roughly seven square miles. Its geography is composed largely of coral outcroppings with thick jungle undergrowth and an accompanying canopy.

Nov 18, 2009 · On September 15, 1944, U.S. Marines fighting in World War II (1939-45) landed on Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands of the western Pacific. Over the next several weeks, ferocious Japanese...

Peleliu was “a nightmare of flashes, violent explosions, and snapping bullets …” wrote Pfc. Eugene B. Sledge, a mortar man with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines.

Mar 30, 2022 · The Battle of Peleliu was a bloodly and deadly one for the American forces. Underestimating the Japanese, the US suffered heavy casualties.

Jan 10, 2020 · Crews of a U.S. battleship's 20-mm and 40-mm antiaircraft guns take a breather during the landings on Peleliu, 15 September 1944 (80-G-K-2056). By the summer of 1944, General Douglas MacArthur’s...

Mar 5, 2023 · Peleliu’s 500 natural and manmade caves were transformed by engineers and miners into what one soldier described as “a large unsinkable warship,” manned by Colonel Kunio Nakagawa‘s nearly 11,000 men.

Apr 14, 2018 · At Peleliu, both Japanese and American forces relied on the island’s terrain in their decision making. The physical landscape—from the cave systems to ridgelines—played a vital role in the movement of troops and resources across the island.

Operation Stalemate II, the invasion of Palau, was the last major obstacle to the Philippines and Peleliu was the key. To achieve success against well-fortified islands required an unprecedented level of coordination between the U.S. Navy, Marines, and Army.