D-Day in the Pacific
Peleliu
I caught a soft hallelujah from my wife placing her seatback and tray-table in their full upright positions for the last time. Our flight marathon rolled to a stop on the island of Babelthuap, the largest in a chain of islands within the Palau archipelago. A location ranked among the seven wonders of the underwater world, divers from all walks of life are drawn to these remote waters by spectacular coral gardens teeming with brilliant marine life. Yet, beyond all the splendor that is Palau, lie hidden secrets of a darkened past, painful reminders of a bitter conflict now resting silent in the shadows of dense jungles and lost lagoons.
The plan called for us to meet here in Koror with divemates Dan Bailey, author of the book WWII Wrecks of Palau, and Joe Maxwell for a brief taste of island paradise and Palauan charm before time-traveling twenty miles south to the battle-torn, and since forgotten, island of Peleliu.
From the air, Palau’s “Rock Islands” resemble giant, green toadstools clustered within a striking turquoise backdrop. Yet, nestled within these “emerald jewels,” ironically, lay scores of sunken war wrecks second only to Truk. Given Palau’s significant role in the war, it seemed rather unusual to watch busy dive boats congregating near the island’s reefs and walls while showing little, if any interest in the sunken Japanese fleet they literally passed over en route. Gearing up for the ultimate thrill ride in drift dives along the “Peleliu Express” (offshore wall), I pondered the question of how many divers would visit this popular dive attraction, oblivious to the pillboxes that lay hidden within the nearby jungle’s shoreline, the same site in which a young Marine PFC Arthur Jackson’s heroic actions were awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.
By the summer of 1944, the US Marines’ “island hopping” campaign in concert with air and sea operations of Carrier Task Force 58 had succeeded in bringing the war within reach of Japan’s homeland. So with the Marianas falling to the Allies, President Roosevelt travelled to Pearl Harbor for a meeting
