The Battle of Luzon was a major campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II, lasting from the initial American landings on January 9, 1945, until the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the Philippines in August 1945. The 32nd Infantry Division, with which Elmer Peal served, was heavily involved in the intense fighting, particularly in the mountainous terrain where Japanese resistance was strongest. The battle for Manila, a key objective, involved ferocious urban combat from February to March 1945. 

PFC Peal's death in late April 1945 occurred during the later stages of the campaign, as Allied forces systematically rooted out entrenched Japanese pockets of resistance in northern Luzon.