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Peleliu Airfield is a small airfield on Peleliu, one of the islands of Palau. It also served as an airfield during World War II.
Having quickly captured the airfield, Seabees from the 33rd and 73rd Naval Construction Battalions had it operational by D+3. The "Grasshoppers" (VMO-1) soon began aerial spotting missions for Marine artillery and Naval gunfire. On 26 September 1944 (D+11), the Corsairs of the VMF-114 landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began dive-bombing missions across Peleliu, and also brought two more useful weapons to the fight against Japanese fortifications. Corsairs fired rockets, to blow open cave entrances for the infantrymen, and also delivered napalm attacks—only the second time the weapon had been used in the Pacific. The napalm proved useful, burning away vegetation hiding , and killing their occupants.
After liberation, the Seabees further repaired, expanded and upgraded the airfield. The airbase was under the command of Colonel Karl S. Day. In December 1944, the two runways measured and . A PBY that took off from Peleliu on 3 August 1945 was the first to locate survivors of the 4 days after it was sunk.
The USAAF Seventh Air Force moved the F-5-equipped 28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron to Peleliu from Kwajalein on 5 October 1944 to carry out long-range photographic missions over the Philippines. The recon squadron remained until April, 1945 when it was moved northwest to Okinawa Island.
After the end of the war, Peleliu and its airfield were abandoned by the Americans. Today the vegetation on the island, which was largely burnt out by the battle, has regrown and has replaced the scars of war. As it had been heavily defended by the Japanese, there are still tanks, , an A6M Zero, canteens, helmets, etc., scattered in the jungle from the war. The airfield still exists but was only usable by light aircraft until the U.S. Marine Corps rehabilitated the runway in 2024, when a KC-130 tanker made its first landing there on June 22.
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