Sgt. Chaz Arurang, a supply administration and operations specialist with 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Forces Reserve, stands on the barrel of a canon at the Peleliu World War II Memorial Museum in Peleliu. Peleliu, Arurang’s native home island in the western pacific, is where one of the most ferocious and hardest fought battles by U.S. Marines took place during World War II. The 73-day long conflict resulted in the highest number of casualties of any amphibious assault in military history.