BRUTAL Combat on PELELIU From a WWII Marine Rifleman | Bill Finnegan 

Mark, I’m sure like me , you wonder how your father survived those terrible island battles.

@@Kidgavilan700 It’s truly unimaginable. He didn’t talk much about it, but he did tell me a few things. He was just 19 on Peleliu.

@@markfloyd6816 they called my dad the old man. He was 25 at Tarawa. As I wrote. Ordinary men did extraordinary things. I often wonder how these men went on to live ordinary lives and raise families and hold jobs. Last year I met a guy my age, 74, whose dad was at Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima in the 4th Division. His dad never talked about it either. It was not until near the end of his life dad talked to me. He was very proud to have been a Marine, however he never wanted to attend any reunions or gatherings. He had 2 friends he saw occasionally but I never heard them talk about the war. He told me he just wanted to forget about it.

I thought Guadalcanal was one of the worst. Then you hear this story.I appreciate his informing us, and what these soldiers went through..

I have wondered the same thing, many times. It is amazing my dad went on to have a good life. He retired from the USAF, and the State of Ohio. But his war experience never left him. I cannot imagine living day to day, carrying that awful burden. Millions did it all over the world. He was a very good man.

My Grandfather passed in 2010, he was a artillery commaner in the Ardennes forest, can't imagine what he went thru and lived his whole life and never complained. I cannot imagine what he would think if he saw what's happened to our country and military now.

@@guntherlunzchinz3095 what’s happened to our military?

@@calicojakk9974 It's been torn apart by wokism and the leadership of the past has been purged, replaced with frauds.

It’s so great that things like PTSD are way more understood and taken much more seriously now. The human mind simply cannot undergo such traumatic events without being affected in some way. A lot of these veterans “got on with their lives” because there was no other choice and that’s what they were expected to do, but they had to cope in some way. Some of them just buried and carried that weight. Others turned to alcohol or other vices. Others spoke about their experiences or wrote books. It’s so great that now veterans can get the help they need.

While you are correct, the darker truth is that the men you speak were far and few between I feel. The veterans of the 2nd World War did not have the same benefits veterans coming home today do. Most of them sadly drank themselves into insane asylums or death.

@@katherinegates1559 Nothing but respect meant here. These men are a treasure and I hope their stories never fade from our memory.

I've had the opportunity to interview over 300 Peleliu vets over the years (including Bill Finnegan) and that was a standard question I asked to those who also fought on Okinawa and Guadalcanal. They all stated Peleliu was the worst by far, including Eugene Sledge.

@@ericmailander3361 Mr. Mainlander, As a former Marine, I have the utmost respect for the "greatest generation, especially Marines like Chesty Puller." So, I have to ask, is it true? Per the interviews, did Chesty mess up on Pelilu? Thank you for interviewing these American Heroes! The story must be told from as many perspectives as possible.

@@katherinegates1559 A first marine division veteran who fought both places said that,, it was a relative statement,, calm down

@@katherinegates1559 Sounds like you need to say that to the veteran in the video and not someone quoting him...

My dad also was wounded on Peleliu. An underground Japanese ammo dump went up, and killed a bunch of Marines around him. He got shrapnel in his legs and backside. He showed me the scars after I was an adult. It is truly amazing they survived that hell.

VETERAN SCOTS GUARDS...I SALUTE YOUR FATHER AND FAMILY MEMBERS YOU MUST ALL BE SO PROUD OF YOUR FATHER..THE GREATEST GENERATION WITHOUT A DOUT...PELELIU WAS A HELL HOLE OF A FIGHT GOD BLESS YOU ALL..💂🇬🇧🦁💞

My Dad was also wounded at Peleliu, he was the Commanding Officer of Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines.

My Father was there and Pelielu was a Coral island and you couldn't dig a foxhole, you pulled up rocks around you and that was your foxhole. I know your father went through HELL as my Father did and like you said you couldn't drink the water and the daily Temperature was 125 degrees or higher, it's a miracle that anyone survived.

Bless your father...Im thankful for his service and sacrifice. Merry Christmas sir to you and your loved ones....and God Bless you.

Your dad was a hero. God bless his memory. Semper Fi.

Dude this was not recently recorded he would be 80 to 100 + years old if so. And he's clearly more well spoken and clear thinking than Biden 🤣

Posted One month ago. Dude must be almost 100

He's a marine. Just taking care of bisiness.

Same as me a Scot living in Aus. Only have respect for these guys. Alway happy to watch their stories. It’s important we never forget each and everyone of them.

I had the privilege to be the Son of one of these GREAT MEN. He told me me all about this invasion, he was one of the first Marines to hit the beach and one of the last Marines to leave the ISLAND. HE passed away March 18th 2018 at 95 years of age. I miss him every day, he like all the others who served are my HEROES, They all sacrificed to Preserve this Great Nation and my Freedom. Semper Fi.

@@seanpadgett3053 I’ll never ever forget them. 🇬🇧

My Dad from army air Corp on Guam during ww2. He was stationed in England after Korea at a B-52 base up around York. (FULL SUTTON.) During a Xmas party, (we lived civilian land) we were introduced to a gentleman who they said had fought in the Battle of Britain. When they said Battle of Britain everyone stopped talking ,rose turned toward the man and quietly bowed in his honor. Then they went back to partying. That affected me at the moment, later I learned he had become an orderly at a mental institution. Had worked there for fifteen years!

Doesn’t matter what country they came from… They were all fighting tyranny and were all badasses in their own right… God bless all of them including the resistance forces fighting in their own occupied country. I thank them all for the halfway decent world we get to live in these days… Sure hope our leaders of today will quit ruining everything when they couldn’t have better circumstances to be able to run their countries better than any other time in history…

My father was the same way. North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He would never ever talk about it. Once, though, he said to me, "That MonteCassino. THAT was rough." That's it. My dad owned a deli and a guy in the neighborhood would pester him to join the VFW. Finally, my exasperated father said, "Why would I want to sit around a bar and talk about stuff I just want to forget?"

My Father's brother was also on Iwo Jima. He was in the first wave. Remember him telling us that the sand was so hot it was burning the troops. My Uncle Don and my Dad both suffered from what we now call PSTD. WAR SUCKS! Thanks for sharing @Snuffy Ballparks.

Hardly any water or food as well.

Beautiful 58. Thank you for your service!

Thank you

Good man Codie Fitz. These are our national treasures. These men are the reason we live how we do I hope we future generations have just a fraction of the courage these men did in defending this great nation. If you love America you should be in awe of any man who stepped upon Pelelui.

My uncle was also in the Navy and fought on Peleliu. Just the mention of the word "Peleliu" changed the look on his face and he would shake his head "no" and demanded we change the subject. My aunt said he had nightmares well into the 90's. I wonder if they knew each other?? (My uncle carried a freakin' LEWIS GUN that he pulled from his landing craft)😲

My grandfather fought there aswell, Marine officer who eventually retired a colonel. I don't remember too much of him as I was pretty young when he passed but as I hear, I never told anyone even close family about it until he was about to pass

@@owencookie9868 My aunt told me about my uncle's constant nightmares for the first 25 years after the war. (He lost 2 brothers). In the 70's after a huge population of Vietnamese immigrated to his city, (about a mile from the coast, next to a WWII naval base) it started again. It tortured him because he knew it wasn't them, it was flashbacks. Even in 1993, 48 years after the war, the nightmares subsided to "only 5-8 times a year". Until the day she died, she had to whisper his name to wake him instead of touching him.

You should make youtube videoa reading and recanting these experiences and then let me watch them. 🙏

@@timg2088 My fathers job was being a Mechanic on landing craft. Unfortunately, they handed him an M1 Garrand and told him to get his gear ready.

My dad was there that morning, 15 September, 1944. He helped plug the gap near the point and tank trap. He was HQ, HQ, 1stMarDiv. He told me a little of his experience on Peleliu after I was in my 30s, and I had read a great deal about the battle. Prior to that, he was pretty tight lipped about it.

I have the B-1--1 roster for Peleliu and have done quite a bit of research on B Co. What's your father's name? Did he ever write down his memoirs?

AGREED read my critical comm on MARKING HISTORY CH , Chesty P vid. 25 lines

My grandfather may have known him. Army Engineer/Battle of the Bulge. He never owned a gun after the war. Never wanted to see snow again, either.

@@croatiancroissant28776 Dad got to Germany in Dec of 1944 and did not participate in the Battle Of the bulge. He was in the Engineers and fixed tanks. I am greatful for your grandfather's service.

Your mom or another woman?

We have an illusion of freedoms. You need a permit or license to do anything. Basically you have to ask permission to do anything, or pay to do it. You have the right to bear arms. Walk through downtown with a rifle on your shoulder wearing camouflage. Let's see what happens. You have a constitutional right to assemble. Government won't let you because of Covid. What happened to that right to assemble? This generation is so afraid of everything they've given more freedoms away, because there spineless. And what the people aren't giving away the government sneakily takes more. I'm ashamed of what my country has become. We haven't fought for our freedoms and way of life since WWII. Korea onward has been for other then our freedoms. Keep drinking the kook-aide.

"was" great

Excellent comment Max. Seeing and listening to these heroes of the Greatest Generation makes me proud to be an American and a veteran. These people who fought and gave their all to save our democracy and provide the freedoms we enjoy today. I often wonder what these survivors think of the traitors that stormed our capital on Jan 6th. What did they think of the fascists and other cowards that were actually carrying Reichskriegsflaggen, swastikas and Confederate flags.

@James Brady to look pi pi

I do sir

Ohhhh, you know it’s out of insecurity and spite. A weakling with no purpose.

Trump would have called him a “sucker” and a “loser.”

I visited Peleliu with Bruce Watkins who endured hell on that coral pinnacle with Kincaid in 1999. I called him years ago and got his side of the story. It was incredible to sit in the very spot atop that coral pinnacle atop Hill 200 and visualize the battle that night....

@@ericmailander3361 Oh my God Eric, it's you! This is amazing. I have shared this account on a number of video comments elsewhere about Peleliu, and even crediting your finding that ridge and the rusty old grenade that the boys left there. I believe you must have sent John s family that Polaroid pic of the grenade, as I recall seeing it. I have Watkin's book right beside me as I'm writing. I like to refresh my memory of that story occasionally. I never would have expected you to have commented on my post, so I was astonished to see it come in. Would love to sit down with you if it were possible and talk about your discoveries. Do you still have "Pacific Wrecks"? I enjoyed your work. My dad served aboard USS Birmingham CL-62, and was all over the Pacific between '43 and '45. Probably the most damaged ship of the Clevelands. Twenty odd years later I steamed in some of those same waters. My brother Richard, served aboard carrier Midway CVA-41 around that time. I'm flattered that you commented on my post. Many thanks.

Paul Armendariz Did you or your dad work at Bolthouse Farms in Bakersfield, CA when I was there as a draftsman and you were a machinist? I was there from '89 till '98.

I do. And I can.

My dad spoke of it often and how important flame throwers became ridding the enemy imbedded in the coral

On point brother.

I hear kaitlyn Jenner is considered a hero these days… 🤦…. Since that’s the case and they want to give the word no meaning. Then these guys are ace in the hole legendary superhero top notch badasses…. More than heroes… Saviors of the western world!!!

Todays Hero is George Floyd greater than any other Hero?🤗

@@halaheleu7013 it’s twisted reality fueled by a leftist agenda. It’s intent is division instead of unity. It’s a sick and twisted Orwellian falsity.

Yes yes and my mom was a Stuka pilot

@@torbendinesen7121 🤣😂🤣

@@torbendinesen7121 Do you not beleive him?

First Battalion had 70% casualties in the rifle companies.