US Military Rebuilds Historic Runway, Witness Bisu Is One Of The Bloody Battles Of World War II

The US Marine Corps Super Hercules aircraft landed and took off at Anguur Airfield, Peleliu, Palau. (Twitter/@1stMAW_Marines/Lance Cpl. Dahkareo Pritchett)

JAKARTA - The US Marine Corps aircraft have landed on a runway that has been rebuilt on Japan's World War II-era airfield on the Pacific island of Peleliu, the location of one of the most bloody battles the Marines had fought during the war and is now a US base option that allows in strategies to anticipate China.

The KC-130 Hercules transport plane landed on a 6,000-foot runway on June 22 in what the Marine Corps press release called its "significant and winning return to this iconic World War II site."

Marine engineers have been working to rebuild the runway for months, clear the bush, get rid of trees, and ensure no unexploded weaponry remains from World War II fighting on the island, which is part of the island's archipelagic country.

More than 1,500 US troops and nearly 11,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in Peleliu between August and November 1944, according to the US Navy's Historical and Heritage Command, which noted several Japanese soldiers were hiding in the island's forest and were not found until two years after World War II ended. June 30.

One US unit, the 1st Marine Regiment, suffered 70 percent of casualties in six days of fighting on the island.

The Marines named the rebuilt landing pad the "Sledge" runway in honor of a veteran of Peleliu's battle, Soldier Eugene Sledge, a mortar on the island who wrote about him in the memoir "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa," whose memories are described in the HBO miniseries "The Pacific."

Sledge describes Peleliu as "a foreign, unnatural, and realistic nightmare like the surface of another planet." Now the runway "stalls the past and future, respects World War II sacrifices while increasing security and regional cooperation," the US Marine Corps release said.

The regional security has largely focused on China in recent years, which the Pentagon has identified as an "increasing threat."

Part of mitigating the threat is building facilities where the US can deploy assets such as aircraft in the event of a conflict, including in the so-called Second Island Chain, a location quite far from mainland China so Beijing will find it difficult to strike targets there.

The First Island Chain, in places like Okinawa in Japan, and US bases in the Philippines, is not an operational location that can survive or be viable, because of China's military capabilities in long-range bombers, cruise missiles and theater ballistic missiles," US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Grant Georgulis wrote in a 2022 comment posted on the US Department of Defense's website.

"Therefore, the United States must prioritize the Mariana Islands, Palau, and Marshall Islands to complement the fortified Guam," Georgulis wrote.

For Washington, building strong relations with Pacific island countries is seen as a way to prevent China from gaining a foothold in the region.

Along with the runway, US Marines helped make repairs at the Peleliu Community Center Museum, to store artifacts from World War II battles.

At last month's event marking the landing of a Marine plane in Peleliu, island Governor Emais Roberts thanked the US Department of Defense for his efforts there.

Our small island community has benefited greatly from the presence of US Marines. We appreciate this great partnership, and we feel safe and protected with the support of the greatest country in the world."

Ready for takeoff!A #MarineCorps KC130J Super Hercules with VMGR-152 lands and takes off from Angaur Airfield in Peleliu, Republic of Palau, demonstrating that the airfield is now open for use for the first time in 80 years. 📸 Lance Cpl. Dahkareo Pritchett pic.twitter.com/Nvdln51mHt

— 1st MAW Marines (@1stMAW_Marines) July 9, 2024

Ready for takeoff! A #MarineCorps KC130J Super Hercules with VMGR-152 lands and takes off from Angar Airfield in Peleliu, Republic of Palau, demonstration that the airfield is now open for use for the first time in 80 years. Lance Cpl. Dahkareo Pritchett pic.twitter.com/Nvdln51mHt