Peleliu Things to Do

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Since Peleliu was such a battle site, there is bound to be some wreckage left over. In fact there is quite few vehicles staying lying around. Most of the stuff that I saw, the interiors were gutted and it was basically a shell of a vehicle left. There is stuff from both sides from American AMTRACs to Japanese Zeros. The two vehicles in the pictures are a LVT-4 (Landing Vehicle Tracked) and a LVAT-1 (Landing Vehicle Armoured Tracked). And they are located close to a main road by the runway area.

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The 1000 Man Cave is the largest of the caves the Japanese used and was the last one to be taken by the Americans. It is a huge cave with many entrances to wander around. The Japanese used it for just about everything. There was a hospital inside in which there are still many bottles laying around, storing all sorts of things needed for a war, sleeping, eating and whatever else. You do have to be careful wandering around the tunnels filled with bats as for there are still explosives laying around. I saw some improvised explosive devices, some broken with only a shell remaining some fully intact (they are pictured in the pictures for this tip) and a mortar with fuzes. It is located between the far northern dock and Klouklubed and alongside the main road.

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This is probaly one of the more scenic sites to visit in Peleliu. It is a WW2 Japanese cannon slightly inside a cave. You climb a couple flights of stairs and then this is right there. You can walk off to the left which leads to a cave entrance and brings you to the rear of the cannon. When I was there, there was a fair amount of crabs in the cave. This cannon never fired a shot because it is pointed to the east and the Americans did not invade the island from that direction. I believe it is in Hill 205 and it is west of the airstrip.

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There have been many stories of Japanese soldiers who held out and some kept the war going because they did not believe that World War 2 had ended. Peleliu was one of the places where this had happened. Second Lieutenant Ei Yamaguchi and 33 of his fellow men continued on a year and a half after WW2 ended and around two and half years after the Battle of Peleliu was over. American patrols and a Japanese admiral were sent to convince them that the war was over and on the 21st of April, 1947, they surrendered. They consisted of 22 army men, 8 navy men and 4 civilian employees. The cave is located in a marsh that is west of the main road that goes south from Klouklubed village. There is a metal sign that says were it is along the road. It is a bit hard to see if you are not looking for it as it is in the jungle a little bit and there are no other buildings around.

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Bloody Nose Ridge was a huge battle site on Peleliu that many American and Japanese lost their lives here. There are two monuments here on the Umurbrogal Mountains, one for the Americans which was the first one here and one for the Japanese which came afterwards. I find it kind of interesting that the Japanese one came afterwards and is so much bigger than the American monument. The American monument is for the First Marine Division and the Japanese monument is for all the Japanese soldiers who lost their lives here. The American one also has the names of the 8 soldiers who won the Medal Of Honor on this island. It is a nice kept area that provides good views of part of the island.

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Both Located on the west side of Peleliu they got their names from the Americans who designated them as places to land and invade Peleliu from. Orange Beach is the more important one and the one that was hardest fought for as many men lost there lives here. Orange Beach sits right next to the former American cementary and between the two was an old anti-tank ditch which I was told became a mass grave for Japanese soldiers. So that is something you can think about when you walk between the two. Both beaches I found to be quite relaxing and peaceful.

In between the airstrip and Bloody Nose Ridge is the Japanese Headquarters Communication Center. This was the main building for the Japanese while on Peleliu. Today it is just a shell of what it used to be. The jungle has taken over much of the building especially the roof which I think looks quite nice.

The first president of Palau was Haruo Remeliik who was assainated while in office in June of 1985. He was originally from Peleliu and his grave is the one on the left of the picture. The other grave belongs to Mamoru Nakamura who was the first Cheif Justice of Palau and he died 25 April 1992. The graves are located at the north end of Klouklubed and across the street from the state office.