Anderson Giles, a retired University of Maine at Presque Isle Art professor who has dedicated more than 30 years of his life to preserving the history of World War II and led numerous trips to the Pacific islands where historic battles were fought, is part of a documentary now nominated for a regional Emmy award in Florida.
Produced by The World War II Foundation, Peleliu: WWII’s Most Well-Preserved Battlefield, takes viewers on an in-depth tour of Peleliu, located in the Palau Island group of the Caroline Islands in the southwest Pacific and considered the most well-preserved battlefield in the world. Spanning six miles long and two miles wide, Peleliu is a living testament to the soldiers who fought there, with various relics, including human remains, unexploded ordinance, large artillery pieces, and tank and aircraft wreckage, still present across the island. It is illegal to remove any relic from the island.
Peleliu is directed by The World War II Foundation founder and president Tim Gray and narrated by Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler. The film premiered on Maine Public Television in 2024 and is now one of three nominees in the Historical Documentary category of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Suncoast Chapter’s 2025 Suncoast Emmys, to be held Dec. 6 in Hollywood, Florida.
“It is always a moving and powerful journey to make the trip to this historic island [Peleliu],” Giles said. “I have known and worked with Tim Gray for many years and Des Matsutaro [who passed away in 2024] was a very dear old friend. We all work from the same mission and passion to preserve the legacy of World War II history.”
Few Americans, unless they are Marines or scuba divers, know about Peleliu, according to The World War II Foundation. On Sept. 15, 1944, U.S. Marines, Army, and Navy troops landed on the island to embark on what was intended to be a quick 3- to 4-day operation to eliminate Japanese forces. Instead, the battle took 72 days to eliminate Japanese forces from 500 caves and resulted in some units of the 1st Marine Division sustaining 60-percent casualties. Unbeknownst to U.S. forces, Japanese forces had turned numerous caves in Peleliu’s coral ridges into defense positions that were almost impossible to see or destroy.
This year marked the 80th anniversary of the battle on Peleliu, which led to horrendous casualties for both the American and Japanese forces. In total, 1,252 U.S. Marines were killed and 5,274 were wounded; 260 U.S. Army soldiers were killed and 1,008 wounded; and 50 members of the U.S. Navy were killed and 249 wounded. Eight U.S. Marines received Medals of Honor for their service.
A total of 11,000 Japanese soldiers died on Peleliu. In addition, of the 301 men who surrendered or were captured by U.S. forces on the island, only 19 were Japanese. The rest were Koreans whom the Japanese soldiers had forced into labor.
During the filming of Peleliu in Sept. 2019,Giles was giving a tour of the island for Valor Tours to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle. He and fellow tour guide Des Matsutaro led World War II historians, veterans, and children of veterans through the lush tropical vegetation, which they had to cut through using machetes. Their journey led to the caves where Japanese forces hid and to the equipment and weapons left behind, but the most emotional discoveries came in the form of human remains and related items, including GI helmets damaged during the onslaught of artillery.
“I have travelled back to nearly every battlefield of the World War II Pacific theater. It is remarkable what was left behind when the battles concluded,” Giles said. “Finding a GI helmet cracked wide open or a tank with artillery holes through the side is always an emotional moment, knowing that these soldiers likely did not survive the attacks. These sites [on Peleliu] are sacred in honor of the horrific fighting and great loss for both the Americans and Japanese.”
Researching Pacific World War II history has been a long-time passion for Giles, whose father, H.A. Giles, Jr., fought as part of the 4th Marine Division and participated in storming the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. H.A. Giles, Jr. was killed in combat near the end of the Korean War when Giles was four. Giles has honored his father’s memories through paintings, photographs, and films centered on the Pacific islands of WWII. In 2019, he was featured in another Tim Gray-directed documentary from The World War II Foundation, The Portillo Expedition: Mystery on Bougainville Island, that followed his discovery of a gold tooth that could have belonged to famous Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
In addition to the tour in Sept. 2019, Giles embarked on a separate visit to Peleliu with his wife Celia and a group of U.S. Marines and Seabees that same year. The group also travelled to the Pacific islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Yap to visit sites where his father and other World War II soldiers fought. During previous Pacific trips, Giles led commemorative visits and research expeditions to Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Bougainville, China, Vietnam, and the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Giles’ most recent visit to Peleliu occurred in 2022.
Peleliu: WWII’s Most Well-Preserved Battlefield is available for viewing on both the Maine Public Television and The World War II Foundation’s websites. Behind-the-scenes clips featuring Giles are available on The World War II Foundation’s website.