Trip to Palau and Peleliu

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Pieces of the lighthouse.

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more pieces

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.

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We walked into the ruins of several structures including the lighthouse itself as well as a separate (command/sleeping?) structure. End of exploring on day one and back to our hotel on the island of Koror.

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Friday, day two in Palau was mostly spent on Peleliu. Spending a day here was part of the reason we came all the way to Palau for the liveaboard dive trip.

We went with a company called IMPAC, a great tour company on Palau that is known to service Japanese visitors. They arranged transportation from our hotel to their dock. We got our ride to IMPAC where we met Kerrie(also on the dive trip) for the first time. Suzanne and Kerrie will be roommates during our stay on the Aggressor. IMPAC was great to work with, providing cold drinks, life vests and much-needed raincoats, as it rained on us on the boat ride over to Peleliu.

The trip was at least 25 miles through open water, there was one 10 minute heavy squall.

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We approach Peleliu from the North.

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The North Dock

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got on our bus and got a briefing at Dolphin Bay Resort, where we met our English-speaking guide, Jerry. Half of the tour spoke English, while the other half clearly were Japanese. our first stop is the cemetery on Peleiu

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at the cemetery is where Lt General Kunio Nakagawa is buried. Colonel Nakagawa was the commander of Japanese forces which defended the island of Peleliu in the Battle of Peleliu which took place from 15 September to 27 November 1944. He inflicted heavy losses on attacking U.S. Marines and held Peleliu Island for almost three months. On the evening of 24 November, after the battle was lost, he committed seppuku (ritual suicide) in the tradition of Japanese samurai warriors.

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Colonel Nakagawa ordered the construction of numerous fortifications connected by a tunnel system. The plan was to defend the island in depth, not at the beach and hold out as long as possible.

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Notice the small door at the back of the monument. Locals routinely stumbled upon the remains of Japanese soldiers on Peleliu. They were instructed to collect the bones, put them in bags, and place them in a vault behind the memorial to Nakagawa. Every so often, a representative of the Japanese government would come to Peleliu, collect the bags of bones, and return them to Japan.

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Now we head to the middle of the island, first stop is a corner of the old airfield.

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Here Jerry shows us a Type 95 light tank which had been destroyed on the first day of the battle by the US Marines. The tank was part of a counter-attack which included 17 tanks and infantry which hit the Fifth Marine regiment sector. The counter-attack was totally destroyed.

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This is our guide Jerry, Jerry was great because he had the historical data, plus albums of historical photos. And, he could tell us about his life as a child, post WWII, living on Peleliu and Koror. So, he had some personal stories to tell.

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Jerry pointing to the corner or the airfield where the tank was.

[patrickl]

Thanks for the photos. Very informative. [&o]

[Dili]

Great. Thanks for all this information.

[slpatgun]

I looked in a book I have called "Handbook on Japanese Military Forces" published by the US War Department on Oct.1 1944 . On page 250 a photo of this tank is printed with the info " New Type amphibious tank. The system of flotation is extremely interesting and is achieved by attachment of a bow and stern pontoon. Pontoons conform to the shape of the hull , and are attached by a series of pincer clamps, which are controlled by a handwheel inside the tank , enabling quick releace if so desired".

In your photo you can see the front or "Bow" pontoon . Also the running gear is of Japanese design and so is the turret.

ORIGINAL: Mark VII

What is this?

[John 3rd]

Nice shots Sir.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

Damn, that looks EXACTLY like it does in The Pacific. I am more than a little jealous [8D]

Exactly my thoughts. When I saw the second picture, the distance shot of the communications center, I realized what great job they did in making The Pacific.

The combat footage in the series certainly got the communications center right.