The Marines named the rebuilt landing strip the “Sledge” runway in honor of a veteran of the Peleliu battle, Pfc. The United States must recapitalize islands gained during World War II to form a Second Island Chain of strategic expeditionary points,” Georgulis wrote. For Washington, establishing strong ties to Pacific island states is also seen as a way to keep China from gaining footholds in the region. Along with the runway, US Marines are helping make improvements to the Peleliu Civic Center Museum, to house artifacts from the World War II battle. At an event last month marking the landing of the Marine aircraft on Peleliu, island Gov.

---

Persons: weren’t, Eugene Sledge, Corbis, Sledge, Grant Georgulis, ” Georgulis, Xi Jinping, Biden, Palauans, Carlos Del Toro, Del Toro, Surangel Whipps, Emais Roberts, ” Organizations: CNN, Marine Corps, Marines, KC, Heritage Command, 1st Marine Regiment, HBO, ” Troops, First Marine Division, Pentagon, “, US Air Force, US Defense Department, Marshall, Xinhua, US Coast Guard, US, Palau, Peleliu Civic Center Museum, Marine, Gov Locations: Peleliu, China, Palau, Okinawa, ”, Beijing, Japan, Philippines, United States, Marianas, Guam, China’s, Yap, Federated States, Micronesia, Pacific, Washington, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Palau’s, Koror, South Korea, Taiwan