More pictures from my day on Peleliu...

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Driving up toward Hill 154....better known as "Bloody Nose Ridge".

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Bloody Nose Ridge as it looked during the battle.

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At the base of Bloody Nose Ridge (actually, about 1/2 way up), there stands this memorial stone. It's dedicated to the 1st Marine Division (the 5th and 7th Marine Divisions also fought on Peleliu). The Japanese have built a small temple shrine, and we 3 Americans went here, while the 6 Japanese in our group went to pray. It was moving for both sides...

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Another side of the memorial. You can see the Japanese shrine in the background.

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The side of the stone that is dedicated to the 8 Congressional Medal of Honor winners from the battle of Peleliu. Notable is the story of Captain Everett P. Pope... He took the peak of Bloody Nose Ridge with a company of Marines. The next morning he came down with less than 10... ( http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2952/pope-everett-parker.php )

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Looking north toward "the Horseshoe".

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A Marine Corps F4U Corsair bombing the Horseshoe. Some of the shortest bombing missions in history. They would launch from the airfield barely a mile away, leave their landing extended, drop their ordnance on the Umurbrogal Mtns (Bloody Nose Ridge, the Horseshoe, Suicide Ridge, etc), and then land. All in about five minutes time...

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Looking up toward the peak of Bloody Nose Ridge.

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Bloody Nose Ridge during the battle.

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Walking up the VERY steep stairs toward the peak of Bloody Nose Ridge. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to fight up such an incline.

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About 1/2 was up the staircase, you come upon this plaque. I don't remember what the guide said about this young man's story. I'm sure it's amazing...

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Looking SW toward the invasion beaches.

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Looking S...I think this is "Suicide Hill".

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Looking SE toward the airfield.

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An aerial view of the island about a year after the war. You can clearly see the Umurbrogal Mtns that run as the "spine" of the islands.

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Another view showing the severity of the incline at Bloody Nose Ridge.

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Cave entrances (and shell holes) around the base of Hill 154.

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Another cave entrance. Apparently, there was a single cave that held over A THOUSAND troops!

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Looking up toward the peak of Bloody Nose Ridge.

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Site of the "last stand" of the Japanese defenders.

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Cave adjacent to the plaque.

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Looking in the cave.

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In the final installment....we walk a cleared trail in the jungle in the midst of LOTS of war material.

(link to Pt.4: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3400437.html#Post3400437 )

BBall

The view looking down on the invasion beach now must have been much the same before the invasion.


Wheels

Dug up a bit of info about Leete Jackson, apparently after he was shot down he was shot by a sniper and survived.Still alive as off 2004.

Post here by his adopted? Daughter.

SCROLL DOWN TO CYNTHIA

So much bloodshed over that small piece of jungle-grown rock in the middle of a vast ocean.

Chilling.

Thanks a ton Ajay!

Fascinating stuff to be sure.

BBall