Bodies of Japanese WWII Soldiers Found in Island Caves

[rangerrebew]

Bodies of Japanese WWII Soldiers Found in Island Caves
Sarah Pruitt



One of the costliest battles of World War II began on September 15, 1944, when U.S. Marines landed on Peleliu, a volcanic island in the western Pacific ocean measuring only 6 miles long and 2 miles across. General Douglas MacArthur had pushed for the amphibious attack on the Japanese-controlled island and its airfield in order to diminish the potential threat to future Allied operations in the Pacific. Having learned from past attacks, however, the island’s Japanese defenders took a new strategy. They hunkered down in a vast network of underground caves connected by passageways and tunnels in an attempt to protect themselves from Allied bombardment and bog the enemy down in a protracted conflict that would yield massive casualties.

https://www.history.com/news/bodies-of-japanese-wwii-soldiers-found-in-island-caves

[skeeter]

1800 US dead were a testament to the high cost of MacArthur's ego.

[sneakypete]

How can it truly be said they were "found",when everybody has know where they are ever since the battle ended?

It ain't like they were going anywhere.

I don't know if this is still true or not,but there were still dead Japanese soldiers in caves on Okinawa in the late 1960's. There is even supposed to be a underground submarine base in a cavern under the island that was sealed off with explosives on the top where crew and supplies entered,and never entered since it was sealed off.

There was even one Japanese soldier still living there in the 60's that had never surrendered,and was living in a cave somewhere. I never saw him,but talked with some Okinawan's that had seen and talked with him,and who sometimes left food for him near a certain bus stop. He wasn't bothering anyone,so nobody really cared.

The IPA and Navy was all over Asia from the 30's to 1945,so I suspect there were some IJA soldiers still living free and unsurrendered all over Asia.