“And we made the landing on Peleliu, which in my opinion was the most ferocious thing I’ve ever been in.” (Audio Interview, 14:40)

Henry W. Andrasovsky

Portrait of Henry Andrasovsky in uniform War: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953; Cold War Branch: Marine Corps Unit: A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division; A Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division; Fleet Reserve Service Location: Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); New Guinea; Peleliu Island (Palau); also: Chosin and Seoul, Korea Rank: Gunnery Sergeant Place of Birth: Parma, OH

After a long voyage in an LST, Marine scout Henry Andrasovsky and his comrades landed at Peleliu, a tiny island deemed of significant strategic importance to retaking the Philippines. Just getting to the beach was perilous enough, as withering machine gun fire and mortar explosions killed or wounded dozens of men with Andrasovsky’s line of vision. Though he was wounded that first day on the beach (and subsequently injured by an explosion near the aid station where he was recovering), his recollections of the details of one of the war’s most hellish amphibious assaults are vivid and gripping.