Trip to Palau and Peleliu

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They were explaining that since the whole island of Peleliu was a battlefield, there is lots of unexploded ordinance potentially anywhere.

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sometimes it is small

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and sometimes large

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if you are planning on building something you can request Cleared Ground Demining to make sure the land is safe.

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it seems that they find something every month

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After lunch and just up the road is a Japanese Zero 20 yards into the jungle

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It is thought that its original location would have been somewhere on the airfield. After the Americans captured the airfield, it was pushed out of the way and the jungle reclaimed it.

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Jerry told us that veterans of this battle are always amazed at how the jungle has taken back the land they remember to be bombed and stripped of vegetation.

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landing gear

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cockpit

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Next, we were taken to the beach known as “Orange 2.” It’s one of two landing beaches where the Marine 5th Regiment came ashore.

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It has been reclaimed by the jungle now.

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what it looked like on September 15, 1944

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Now we walk a little over 100 yards up the trail from the beach to the site of the original American servicemen cemetery.

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There are monuments to the 81st infantry division, but the graves are no longer there.

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The Wildcat division