The Battle of Peleliu Battle of Peleliu) was fought during the fights for the Marian Islands and Palau, which were fought as part of the operation code-named Stalemate II . The battle itself lasted from September 15 to November 25, 1944. Throughout the battle, 47,500 soldiers were directly or indirectly involved on the American side. About 12,000 people fought on the Japanese side. The main target of the fights for the Marian Islands, including the battles of Fr. Peleliu , was the desire to master convenient bases for further landing operations in the Western Pacific region, and above all - the maximum ease of the planned landing in the Philippines. As with other landing operations in the Pacific, the Americans used significant naval forces, and the landing itself was preceded by very intense fire and air bombardment of Japanese positions. During the first two days of fighting, American troops captured almost the entire southern part of the island, but from the third day of fighting - when they began to advance into the interior of the island - the pace of the offensive slowed down dramatically and the losses began to increase. The Japanese dug in very well and masked their positions. The fights were also fought in the terrain that favored the defenders and in highly unfavorable weather conditions. The American side finally won, but suffered relatively high losses - around 2,400 killed and around 8,400 wounded. On the other hand, the Japanese side lost its entire garrison of about 12,000 people.
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is an independent branch of the US armed forces. The unit was established in November 1775, and the first branch of this unit was formed a year later. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, US Marines served primarily in the region of South and Central America, guarding American interests in this part of the world. It was also then that the principle was established that it was the USMC that was deployed to the area of operations as the first among other units of the US armed forces. Corps soldiers fought in World War I, but they gained special fame in the course of bloody and heavy fights in the Pacific in 1941-1945, taking part in such battles as Guadalcanal (1942-1943), Tarawa (1943), Iwo-Jima and Okinawa (both from 1945). Often in the face of the enemy, the soldiers of this formation showed a lot of courage, an example of which can be, for example, John Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor for his accomplishment during the battles on the Gudalcanal. After 1945, the soldiers of the Corps fought, for example, in the Korean War (1950-1953) or especially in the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975), suffering heavy losses in the latter war. After the end of the Cold War, USMC soldiers took part in, for example, both Gulf Wars (1990-1991 and 2003). Currently, there are 182,000 soldiers in the Corps, and about 38,500 in the reserve. The motto of the Corps is the Latin motto Semper Fidelis (Polish always faithful).