'' Peleliu '' departed from San Diego in August 2001 with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board for a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific . She was in the port of Darwin , Australia during the September 11 attacks . Following those attacks , '' Peleliu '' was sent to the North Arabian Sea and , on 26 November 2001 , she took the first U.S. Marines to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom . After the American Taliban John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan , he was taken aboard '' Peleliu '' on 14 December 2001 . There he was interrogated by a U.S. Marine Corps intelligence team . While he was on board , Lindh signed confessions and he told his interrogators that he was not merely a member of the Taliban , but a full member of Al Qaeda
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
USS Peleliu