NEW ORLEANS -- NEW ORLEANS - On the small Palau island chain in the western pacific, U.S. Marines
operated in one of the hardest fought battles during World War II, the Battle of
Peleliu. It took place on a small island in that chain bearing the conflict’s name between Sept.
15 and Nov. 27, 1944. It resulted in the highest number of casualties of any
amphibious assault in military history.
The inhabitants of that island have always carried with
them the history of the battle which tore their home apart. The one thing they
remember most is how the Marines eradicated the Japanese invaders.
“The Marines have always
had an impact on my life since I was a little kid,” said Sgt. Chaz Arurang, a
supply administration and operations specialist with 4th Marine Aircraft Wing,
Marine Forces Reserve, and native of the island of Peleliu. “Every year on the
anniversary of the battle, the Marines would come visit our school and bring us
gifts.”
Arurang has fond memories of the USS Peleliu, a ship
named after the famous battle, docking off the island and troops driving
hovercrafts onto the beach to pick people up in order to give them a tour of
the ship.
Arurang spent his childhood on Peleliu from the age of
two until he graduated from high school at the age of 18. Growing up on the
island, he couldn’t help but become familiar with the history that took place there
more than 70 years ago.
“As a kid we would go swimming with friends at the
beaches, and all over the island were different monuments dedicated to the
battle,” added Arurang. “There are old
tanks and shot down airplanes that are set up as memorials all around the
island.”
Arurang was raised by his
grandmother, a native of the Palau islands, who was around the age of 15 at the
time of the battle. “My grandmother hardly spoke of what happened back then,” said
Arurang. He does, however, remember stories about when his grandmother was
forced to evacuate prior to the battle. “Before the Marines hit the beach, they
evacuated everyone off the island onto another larger island. She was pregnant
with her third child [during the evacuation].”
Maj. Gen. William
Rupertus, then commander of 1st Marine Division, originally predicted the
Battle of Peleliu to last approximately four days. However, the Japanese were well prepared and
fortified, causing the battle to last more than two months. The Marines of 1st
Marine Division and III Marine Expeditionary Force, along with the U.S. Army 81st
Infantry Division, finally defeated the Japanese and secured the island on Nov.
27, ending a long 73-day battle.
Due to the sacrifices those Marines and soldiers made to
secure the island, the people of Peleliu hold Americans in high regard.
“The people of Peleliu love the Marines and America,”
said Arurang. “Most [Palauans] want to join the Army, but people from Peleliu want
to join the Marines.”
At the age of 18 Arurang moved to Seattle, Washington to
live with his uncle and attend college at the behest of his mother. Arurang had
other plans.
“I wanted to find a way to pay for college and I knew the
Marine Corps would help me with that,” said Arurang. “I also wanted to wear the
same boots those Marines wore who fought in the Battle of Peleliu.”
Arurang enlisted in the Marines in January 2010 and has
plans to join the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Educational Program, a
program which offers qualified Marines the chance to go to a four-year college
full-time, while maintaining active-duty status and pay. For him, being a
Marine is just as much a part of his identity as being from Peleliu.
“Seeing this uniform brings me back to my childhood,”
said Arurang. “It gives me a constant connection to where I grew up and a connection
with the Marines who lost their lives in the battle.”