Alva Review-Courier -

Operation Stalemate II was supposed to last four days. U.S. troops would quickly swoop in and take control of the Japanese island of Peleliu, commanders expected. But that wasn't the case.

U.S. troops encountered brutal attacks from Japanese forces, and thousands of American men were killed or injured. Though the U.S. captured the island, American forces never used it afterward.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient Earl "Bob" Rice was there. He watched his friends get shot and saw their bodies lying on the beach. He was a stretcher-bearer, carrying wounded men to people who cou...