USS Montgomery (DD-121)-- Part 6: Service and Then the Mine

The Montgomery attacked an enemy submarine contact on 25 June 1944 without evident success.  After an escort voyage to Eniwetok and return in June and July, she sailed to Guadalcanal to prepare for the invasion of  the Palaus.

Getting underway for assault on  6 September, the Montgomery took station off Peleliu on 12 September to destroy mines swept from the Japanese minefields.  On 17 September, she screened transports landing assault troops on Angaur, and two days later sailed for mine destruction and patrol duties at Ulithi until 14 October.

She bombarded  Ngulu  on 15  October and acted as mother ship for small minelayers during capture of the atoll.

While anchored off Ngulu on 17 October, with her engines secured, the Montgomery spotted a  mine floating close to port.  The wind swung the ship down onto the mine before she could get underway or destroy it.  The resulting explosion flooded both engine rooms and one fireroom, ruptured fuel tanks and killed four of her crew.

Salvage efforts kept her afloat until she could be towed to Ulithi for repairs.  Underway under her own power, on 12 January 1945. the Montgomery arrived in San Francisco on 14 February.  There it was recommended that she be decommissioned, which she was 23 April 1945 and was sold for scrapping  on 11 March 1946.

The Montgomery received four Battle Stars for her service in World War II.

--GreGen

Marine Corps Turns 246: Role in World War II

And still as mean as ever.

Happy birthday USMC!!

During World War II, Marines performed a central role in the Battle of the Pacific, along with the U.S. Army.  

The Battles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam,  Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa saw fierce fighting between the Marines and  the Imperial Japanese Army.

Some 600,000 Americans served in the Marines during the war.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February  19, 1945, was arguably the most famous Marine engagement of the war.  The Japanese had learned lessons from their defeats during the Marianas Campaign and prepared many fortified  positions on the island, including pillboxes and a huge network of tunnels.

They put up a fierce resistance, but American forces reached the top of  Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945.  The mission was accomplished with high losses of 26,000 Americans and 22,000 Japanese.

--GreGen

Battle of Peleliu in the Pacific

From the April 13, 2018, U.S. Department of Defense  "U.S., Japan commemorate World War II Vattle of Peleliu.

The U.S. Navy, marines and Japanese Self-Defense Force laid wreaths at Peleliu Peace Memorial Park.  members of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy were also in attendance.

The Battle of Peleliu is considered the bitterest fought one in the Pacific for the Marines, who landed on the island September 15, 1944.  The expected four-day battle lasted more than two months.  It resulted in a higher U.S. casualty rate than all of the Pacific Theater of operations.

The 1st Marine Division and later the Army 81st Infantry Division fought in  it.  The objective was the capture of an airstrip.

--GreGen

U.S. Marine Corps in World War II-- Part 1: Many Engagements in the Pacific

Fom Wikipedia.

The United States Marine Corps played a central role in the War in the Pacific along with the U.S. Army.

Actions included Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The Battle of Iwo Jima began 19 February 1945.  The Japanese had constructed many fortified positions along with pillboxes and tunnels.  The Marines reached the summit of Mt. Suribachi on 26 February.  Fighting was fierce, but the island taken with 26,00 American casualties and 22,000 Japanese.

--GreGen

Downed World War II Aircraft Found in the Pacific After 72 Years

From the May 26, 2016, Value Walk by Mark Melin.

In July 1944 TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber with a three-man crew was shot down over a shallow lagoon near Palau.  A fruitless search was made but with no success.  But now, nearly 3/4 of a century later, it has been found in 85 feet of water.

It was discovered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego.  It is a part of Project recover.

Palau is a small island where the Japanese had an airfield.

The landing at Peleliu during Operation Stalemate II, caused 10,000 Japanese deaths and 1.700 Americans.

The Avenger was one of several dozen aircraft lost in a dense mangrove forests and coral reefs in the area.  Nearly 80 Americans died on those planes.

GreGen

Veterans Get Victory Lap in Indy 500 Parade-- Part 7: At Okinawa

Irv Herman, a radio communications specialist was just a kid when he entered the service.  Just 17.  he saw action at Peleliu and Okinawa.

"On Easter Sunday 1945, we landed on the beaches of Okinawa," he said.  "The Japanese were entrenched further inland. It was our responsibility to direct the delivery of supplies from the ships to the island.  We were still on Okinawa on V-J Day, August 6, 1945."

In the meantime, Japanese planes were still conducting kamikaze attacks on U.S. ships in the harbor.  He saw two of his buddies killed in the fighting.

Now 90, Herman lives in Indianapolis and says he saw enough bloodshed during his 32 months of service that he has a few words for today's politicians and world leaders and that is not to build walls and use diplomacy to solve problems.

--GreGen

Peleliu "Dream Island" Littered With Deadly Relics-- Part 2

Continued from Oct. 24th.

Americans landed on the island's Orange Beach on September 15, 1944, and were caught in a major Japanese crossfire. An expected several day fight lasted almost three months. Some 10,700 Japanese troops were killed along with 2,300 U.S. Marines.

Peleliu's importance stemmed from an airstrip located there.

Today, Peleliu is becoming a tourist destination for Japanese and even American tourists. One Japanese man was seen putting sand from a beach into a plastic bottle as a souvenir.

The left-over ordnance is becoming very dangerous after nearly 70 years, especially as their safety mechanisms rust away.

There is a munitions disposal team that has, since 2009, removed 6,500 guns and other ordnance, 9 tons worth. Tourists are warned not to go roaming through the jungle.

A path has been cleared through Death Valley onto Bloody Nose Ridge where the heaviest casualties of the action took place.

Islanders were evacuated from Peleliu before the battle and when they returned, they didn't even recognize the place as it was so torn up by the fighting. Vegetation was burned to the ground and villages destroyed. At first, they sold war relics as scrap.

Some 500 people live on the island today and they would like to have an open-air air museum on it.

Remnants of War. --GreGen

Peleliu: Dream Island Littered With Deadly Relics-- Part 1

From the Feb. 8, 2012, Spiegel On Line International "Pacific Battlefield Tourism: A Dream Island Littered With Deadly Relics" by Stephen Robert WeiBenboru.

Peleliu is an island paradise. Arriving on the island, you see a sign reading "Welcome to Peleliu-Land of Enchantment." Another reads "Remember that WWII ordnance is still dangerous and can injure or kill."

Peleliu is the site of one of the Pacific Theater's bloodiest battles between American and Japanese forces. There are rusty grenades and rifles strewn about as well as warplanes and tanks covered up in the vegetation.

Most of the debris was simply left where it was after the fighting.

Careful Where You Step on Peleliu. --GreGen