Preparing video...
0:00 / 0:00
Crossing the Airfield during the Battle of Peleliu
472 views
On D+1, 16 September 1944, on Peleliu, Marines face relentless Japanese machine gun and artillery fire as they cross the airfield to begin the attacks into the Umurbrogol Mountain. The harrowing accounts of the Marines detail how the brutal the crossing was for them. Listen to The War Office Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel for more in-depth history podcast episodes. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning. If you enjoy the episodes, please help us grow the podcast by subscribing, liking, sharing, commenting, and listening to future releases.
Comments(0)
Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
Small enemy strong points are also
littered across the area, and Japanese
machine gun fire takes its toll on the
attackers.
Corporal Roma S. Burgen recalled,
"The way those tracers were coming
across there, just at the right height
to rip through a man's head or chest. I
don't see how any of us lived through
it."
Some men stumbled and simply collapsed
due to the effects of the heat
exhaustion in the extreme temperatures.
Sledge will later conclude the attack
across Peleliu airfield was the worst
combat experience I had during the
entire war.
It surpassed by the intensity of the
blast and shock of the bursting shells,
or the subsequent horrifying ordeals on
Peleliu and Okinawa.