PELELIU AIRFIELD, Palau -- The muddy gravel airstrip on Palau's Peleliu Island, hacked out of tropical jungle by the Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime, has seen few flights over the past 20 years.
But in recent times, the airfield has swarmed with bulldozers and excavators. Last June, a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J aerial tanker landed to mark the runway's reactivation for military purposes for the first time since American forces withdrew in the closing days of World War II.
