The 7th Marines: Final Chapter at Peleliu

The 7th Marines landed on Peleliu under the command of Colonel Herman H. Hanneken. Veterans of Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester, they now faced a new kind of hell. Their mission was to seize the island's eastern shore, then pivot south to clear Japanese positions threatening the airfield. Over weeks of unrelenting combat, they fought through blockhouses, mangrove swamps, and the notorious Bloody Nose Ridge, in brutal, close-quarters action. Acts of valor, like PFC Arthur J. Jackson's Medal of Honor assault, stood against staggering casualties, disease, and exhaustion. The episode follows the 7th Marines from their D-Day landing through the grinding fight inland, their eventual relief, and the debate that still surrounds whether Peleliu was worth the cost.