Daily Mirror,
We have estimated about 11,000 Japanese
on Island Peleliu. We will have to start using more resources and be ready. We
plan to land on the southwest beaches. After the defeats of the other islands
the Japanese, as I assume, will be more awake and ready for attack. Even though
they are changing their ways of attack, we aren’t going to change our plan. The
key to a strong army is NOT changing your attack plan when you are hitting the
same country over and over. They will be ready on the beaches for attack.
Leaving our occupants to wade ashore through the coral reef in chest-high or deeper water while being raked by Japanese machine guns; casualties were severe and the many who reached the beach alive had lost their rifles and other gear.
The 5th Marines made the most progress on the first day. They pushed toward the airfield, but were met with Nakagawa's first counterattack. Nakagawa's tanks and escorting infantrymen were quickly destroyed.
At the end of the first day, the Americans held their 2 mi stretch of landing beaches, but little else. Their biggest push in the south moved 1 mi inland. The Marines had suffered 200 dead and 900 wounded. They believed the Japanese would quickly crumble since their perimeter had been broken.
