September 15, 1944 - D-Day on Peleliu

The first wave of LVTs moves toward the invasion beaches, passing through the inshore bombardment line of LCI gunboats. Cruisers and battleships are bombarding from the distance. The landing area is almost totally hidden in dust and smoke. Photographed from a USS Honolulu (CL-48) plane.

70 years ago today, the 1st Marine Division began the invasion of Palau (Peleliu and later, Anguar and Ngesebus Islands.)

In the video clip below, Eugene Sledge gives a brief description of the landing from his perspective.

Thankfully, my father was not part of the initial landings (his date book has September 17 noted for Peleliu.)  He was on the SS Crescent City with others of the 12th AAA watching the invasion unfold.  He remained impressed his entire life with the 16 inch guns of the battleships; how loud they were and the damage they were doing.

Below are some of the photos Marine photographers took of the landings September 15, 1944.  These are some of the photographs my father had in his mementos of his service.