Opening slate reads LST 554, and date 8-13. Views of U.S. invasion task force vessels underway toward Peleliu Island (Palau), during World War 2. A 110 foot wooden Subchaser, number SC 633 is seen close, to starboard of camera boat (LST-554) and refueling lines are stretched between the LST and the Subchaser. Ensign Maynard K. Ross of Philadelphia, PA, directs the take-up of slack in the refueling lines while a Navy Commander on the LST bridge oversees the operation. (Note: SC 633 ended up running aground during the invasion.) Break in sequence and scene shifts to glimpse of slate reading August 20, 1944, and then view aft on LST 554. On the bridge, 21-year-old Ensign Charles Kahler, of Schenectady New York, uses a sextant to shoot sun lines. Another officer is seen taking relative bearings with a pelorus. Sailors are resting on deck. A series of splashes are created in the water by gunners testing their weapons. LST 557 is cruising to starboard. Puffs of black FLAK smoke appear overhead as antiaircraft weapons are tested.
U.S. Army tanks of 1st. Platoon, A Company, 710th Tank Battalion operating in support of Marine Corps infantry at Horseshoe Valley in Peleliu Island, Palau on October 8th 1944. Tanks are receiving fire from hidden Japanese 37mm guns up on the hills. Damaged trees in the area. United States Marines with tanks patrol on the island. U.S. tanks equipped with flamethrowers fire at Japanese positions. Marines on alert positions watch from behind bushes.
5th Marine Regiment aboard ships sail around the coast of Peleliu Island, Palau. Smoke rises from the Island in the background. Warships shell the Peleliu Island. Marine approach the island and attack dugout with flame thrower. (World War II period).
5th Marine Regiment attack Japanese soldiers at Peleliu Island, Palau. Marine crouched in front of dugout. Dead Japanese soldier on ground. View of wrecked tail assembly of Japanese plane. Marines carry wounded soldiers on litter. Marines advance over open field with tanks following them. Shell explodes in the background with smoke rising. Aircraft flies overhead. (World War II period).
5th Marine Regiment advance across Japanese airstrip at Peleliu Island, Palau. Shells explode with smoke rising in the background. Marine walks across field with tank in the background. Marine fires machine gun. Dead Japanese soldier on ground. General Walker and staff study map outside building in Salerno, Italy. (World War II period).
1st Marine Division troops with Japanese prisoners at Peleliu Island, Palau. Japanese prisoners carry goods with tents in foreground. Japanese prisoners work on ground. (World War II period).