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Location
Peleiu is an island ringed with mangrove swamps inside a coral reef
and dominated by long steep jungle
covered ridges. Today, Taiwanese real estate and tourism interests
are moving into Palau in force, from Taiwanese developers.
History
A German colony prior to WWI, Koror
became the capital island and with its fine harbors enclosed
in a magnificent barrier reef, it was an idyllic location from
which to administer the Caroline and Marshall
Islands. After WWI, the islands were mandated
to Japan by the League of Nations. Palau
had been the headquarters of the Japanese South Seas Colonial
Administration since March 1922 when a civilian administration
took over administration from the Navy. Selected for occupation
by USMC, to secure the flank of MacArthur's drive to liberate
the Philippines, contrary
to what planners believed, Peleliu and Angaur were heavily fortified
and made the Americans pay a heavy price for their capture.
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Heavy fighting between Japanese
and US Marines |
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Small
island off Peleliu off Orange Beach 3 |
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Heavily
defended by the Japanese |
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Lightly
defended. National museum |
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Lightly
defended island with mostly civilian population. |
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Site
of most of the contemporary tourist resorts |
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Heavy fighting between Japanese
and US Marines |
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Island to the north of Peleliu |
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Island six miles NNE of Peleliu |
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Last Updated
November 5, 2009
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