Peleliu, Palau Islands, Western Pacific Ocean • November 27, 1944 On this date in 1944, after 74 grueling days Peleliu was declared secure, although isolated pockets of Japanese resistance took many more days to exterminate. The battle for the island, ironically codenamed Operation Stalemate II, turned out to be the costliest amphibious operation in U.S. history:…
Peleliu, Palau Islands, Western Pacific Ocean • September 15, 1944 Beginning on this date in 1944 3 U.S. Marine Corps infantry regiments—the 1st, 5th, and 7th—of the 1st Marine Division landed on Japanese-held Peleliu, a 6‑mile/9.7‑km-long by 2‑mile/3.2‑km-wide speck of coral in the Pacific Ocean’s Palau Island chain. The first wave of Marines was followed less than…
Washington, D.C. • April 3, 1945 On this date in 1945 the Roosevelt administration appointed Gen. Douglas MacArthur Commander-in-Chief U.S. Army Forces Pacific (AFPAC), responsible for all Army and Army Air Forces units in the Pacific Theater excepting Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay’s Twentieth Air Force based in the Marianas. At the same time Adm. Chester…
Washington, D.C. · April 3, 1945 On this date in 1945 the Roosevelt administration appointed Gen. Douglas MacArthur Commander-in-Chief U.S. Army Forces Pacific (AFPAC), responsible for all Army and Army Air Forces units in the Pacific Theater excepting Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay’s Twentieth Air Force based in the Marianas. At the same time Adm. Chester…
Washington, D.C. · April 3, 1945 On this date in 1945 the Roosevelt administration appointed Gen. Douglas MacArthur Commander-in-Chief U.S. Army Forces Pacific (AFPAC), responsible for all Army and Army Air Forces units in the Pacific theater excepting Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay’s Twentieth Air Force based in the Marianas. At the same time Adm. Chester…