Koror, Palau – U.S. military plans to rebuild the main port in a pristine Pacific archipelago have stirred painful memories of World War II and have locals concerned about being caught in a potential superpower conflict.
Palau will become the U.S. military’s top overseas location for construction next year as a crumbling wharf built by Japan in World War II is expanded to berth U.S. Navy ships and the harbor dredged deeper in a $500 million project.
Haunted by their past, Palauans have asked Washington how they will be protected if war breaks out again in a country with less than 177 square miles of habitable land.
