Wicked tough place to fight on, hellish moonscape and amazing the assault survived it, Vic
Indeed. The grandfather in my host-family in the US back in the days had been a Marine who fought there. I think altogether, he had seven landings in the PTO under his belt of which Peleliu might have been the most well known.
He pointed it out to me, but alas, back then, I was not deeply involved into WW2 history yet, so I did not recognize the name and significance of Peleliu. So the chance had passed to ask a witness of the time first hand.
I did have the chance to ask one of my great uncles about the war in Russia. He narrowly escaped near Kalatch when the greater cauldron around Stalingrad closed driving an SPW 50km behind Russian lines to link up with the Germans to the west. He told me a bit but it was obvious that the memories weighed heavily on him and that he had lived through horrible things. He looked deep into my eyes when he said in a grave voice before he fell silent the sentence that I have never forgotten:
"Ich habe das Grauen gesehen..."
(Which translates roughly: "I have lived through horrors.")
After the war, he became a general in the Bundeswehr. I asked him why he joined the post-war German Army after having lived through horrors he could not even bring himself about to relate many decades later. Once more, against the background of his experiences, his answer has deeply impressed me:
"Weil unsere Werte, unsere Freiheit und unsere Demokratie es wert sind, geschützt zu werden."
(Which translates roughly: "Because our values, our freedom, and our democracy are worth to be protected.")
After that conversation, I was determined to become a soldier. As it was, fate had other plans for me and it was not to be due to an operation. The interest in military things has never waned, though.
My great uncle passed away about two years ago.
von Marwitz