Military Snapshot - U.S. Marines at Peleliu's Umurbrogol Mountains

The unforgiving terrain of Peleliu was a key reason why the battle to dislodge Japanese defenders was as deadly as it was for U.S. Marines. In this photo, Marines cautiously approach the face of the Umurbrogol Mountains, always keeping both eyes open for Japanese troops. Sheer walls and broken ground down to sea level characterized most of the terrain in the Umurbrogols. Photo courtesy of USMC Official Archives, from Islands of Hell: The U.S. Marines in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 by Eric Hammel.