thedrifter
06-22-08, 10:23 AM
Article published Jun 22, 2008
World War II comes alive on Tiscornia Beach
Re-enactors stage beach landings of Peleliu, Normandy
CAROL DRAEGER
Tribune Staff Writer
ST. JOSEPH -- Hundreds of beachgoers flocked to Lake Michigan on Saturday to watch U.S. troops storm Tiscornia Beach.
It was not a typical day in the sun.
As U.S. troops from the 1st Marine Division ran from a landing vessel into choppy water to sand bunkers, they dodged incessant gunfire from brush-covered dugouts atop the beach.
Some didn't survive.
While many lost their lives when the real-life battle began Sept. 15, 1944, at Peleliu, Saturday's beachfront World War II re-enactment had no casualties. In fact, the 25-minute battle "scene" on Tiscornia went off without a hitch, said event coordinator William Sheets.Sheets' job was to orchestrate about 250 World War II re-enactors to ensure the D-day beach landings at Peleliu (on the Palau Islands) and Normandy (in France) gave viewers a taste of the battlefront.
At 10 a.m. the re-enactors began landing on Peleliu in an effort to capture an airstrip on the small coral island, which was heavily entrenched by Japanese forces.
"The third assault wave is coming in, piling more troops on the beach," a narrator said over a loud speaker as Marines from the 1st Division took up positions in the sand.
Spectators lined two sections of the beach, which was cordoned off with yellow tape, as the battle ensued in front of them."After 27 days of fighting on Peleliu, the assault phase was over. Of the 13,000 Japanese there, less than 300 were captured alive," the narrator said, drawing a round of applause from spectators caught up in the action.
Most of the spectators were somber as many, like Mary Heiney, remembered her brother, Private 1st Class George Batchelor who was on Peleliu and survived.
Heiney, of Buchanan, and her husband, Robert, also a World War II veteran who was not at Peleliu, came to Tiscornia to remember.
"It's sad," said Mary Heiney. "He came out alive, but you never get over it," she said of her brother.
Organizers of the re-enactment, Lest We Forget of Southwestern Michigan, staged the four-day event to pay tribute to World War II veterans."It wasn't bad, but it wasn't like the real Peleliu," said Clarence Angevine, who was a sergeant in Company C, 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines.
"The boat I was on hit a land mine 700 yards from shore," said the 86-year-old Coldwater native.
He didn't make it to the beach until nearly a day later.
Many never made it at all.
"We had a lot of casualties," he said.Today's activities on the lakefront will continue with veterans telling their stories at Fiskar's hangar at 10 a.m.
Staff writer Carol Draeger:
cdraeger@sbtinfo.com
(269) 687-7005
Ellie
World War II comes alive on Tiscornia Beach
Re-enactors stage beach landings of Peleliu, Normandy
CAROL DRAEGER
Tribune Staff Writer
ST. JOSEPH -- Hundreds of beachgoers flocked to Lake Michigan on Saturday to watch U.S. troops storm Tiscornia Beach.
It was not a typical day in the sun.
As U.S. troops from the 1st Marine Division ran from a landing vessel into choppy water to sand bunkers, they dodged incessant gunfire from brush-covered dugouts atop the beach.
Some didn't survive.
While many lost their lives when the real-life battle began Sept. 15, 1944, at Peleliu, Saturday's beachfront World War II re-enactment had no casualties. In fact, the 25-minute battle "scene" on Tiscornia went off without a hitch, said event coordinator William Sheets.Sheets' job was to orchestrate about 250 World War II re-enactors to ensure the D-day beach landings at Peleliu (on the Palau Islands) and Normandy (in France) gave viewers a taste of the battlefront.
At 10 a.m. the re-enactors began landing on Peleliu in an effort to capture an airstrip on the small coral island, which was heavily entrenched by Japanese forces.
"The third assault wave is coming in, piling more troops on the beach," a narrator said over a loud speaker as Marines from the 1st Division took up positions in the sand.
Spectators lined two sections of the beach, which was cordoned off with yellow tape, as the battle ensued in front of them."After 27 days of fighting on Peleliu, the assault phase was over. Of the 13,000 Japanese there, less than 300 were captured alive," the narrator said, drawing a round of applause from spectators caught up in the action.
Most of the spectators were somber as many, like Mary Heiney, remembered her brother, Private 1st Class George Batchelor who was on Peleliu and survived.
Heiney, of Buchanan, and her husband, Robert, also a World War II veteran who was not at Peleliu, came to Tiscornia to remember.
"It's sad," said Mary Heiney. "He came out alive, but you never get over it," she said of her brother.
Organizers of the re-enactment, Lest We Forget of Southwestern Michigan, staged the four-day event to pay tribute to World War II veterans."It wasn't bad, but it wasn't like the real Peleliu," said Clarence Angevine, who was a sergeant in Company C, 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines.
"The boat I was on hit a land mine 700 yards from shore," said the 86-year-old Coldwater native.
He didn't make it to the beach until nearly a day later.
Many never made it at all.
"We had a lot of casualties," he said.Today's activities on the lakefront will continue with veterans telling their stories at Fiskar's hangar at 10 a.m.
Staff writer Carol Draeger:
cdraeger@sbtinfo.com
(269) 687-7005
Ellie