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007 - October and the Japanese Offensive · First Offensive- The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal

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  Speaker 1: Chapter four a first Offensive the Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal
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  Speaker 1: by Henry Shaw. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: October and the Japanese Offensive. On thirty September, unexpectedly, a
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  Speaker 1: BE seventeen carrying Admiral Nimitz made an emergency landing at
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  Speaker 1: Henderson Field. The sink back made most of the opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: He visited the front lines, saw Edson's Ridge, and talked
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  Speaker 1: to a number of Marines. He reaffirmed to Vandergriff that
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  Speaker 1: his overriding mission was to hold the airfield. He promised
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  Speaker 1: all the support he could give, and after awarding Navy
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  Speaker 1: crosses to a number of Marines, including Vandergriff, left the
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  Speaker 1: next day visibly encouraged by what he had seen. The
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  Speaker 1: next marine move involved a punishing return to the Metana Cow,
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  Speaker 1: this time with five infantry battalions and the Whaling Group.
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  Speaker 1: Whaling commanded his men and the third battalion, second Marine
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  Speaker 1: and a thrust inland to clear the way for two
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  Speaker 1: battalions of the seventh Marines, the first and second, to
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  Speaker 1: drive through and hook toward the coast, hitting the Japanese
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  Speaker 1: holding along the Motana Coo. Edson's second and third battalions
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  Speaker 1: would attack across the river mouth. All the division's artillery
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  Speaker 1: was positioned to fire and support. On the seventh, Whaling's
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  Speaker 1: force moved into the jungle about two thousand yards upstream
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  Speaker 1: on the Motana Caw, Encountering Japanese troops that harassed his
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  Speaker 1: forward elements, but not in enough strength to stop the advance.
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  Speaker 1: He bypassed the enemy positions and dug in for the night.
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  Speaker 1: Behind him, the seventh Marines followed suit, prepared to move
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  Speaker 1: through his lines, crossed the river and attack north towards
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  Speaker 1: the Japanese. On the eighth, the fifth Marines assault battalions,
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  Speaker 1: moving toward the Matana Coo on the seventh, ran into
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  Speaker 1: Japanese in strength about four hundred yards from the river. Unwittingly,
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  Speaker 1: the Marines had run into strong advance elements of the
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  Speaker 1: Japanese fourth Regiment, which had crossed the Mattanakao in order
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  Speaker 1: to establish a base from which artillery could fire into
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  Speaker 1: the Marine perimeter. The fighting was intense and the third
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  Speaker 1: battalion fifth could make little progress, Although the second battalion
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  Speaker 1: encountered slight opposition and won through to the river bank.
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  Speaker 1: It then turned north to hit the inland flank of
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  Speaker 1: the enemy troops. Vandergriff sent forward a company of raiders
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  Speaker 1: to reinforce the fifth, and it took a holding position
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  Speaker 1: on the right towards the beach. Rain poured down on
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  Speaker 1: the eighth all day long, virtually stopping all forward progress
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  Speaker 1: but not halting the close in fighting around the Japanese pocket,
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  Speaker 1: the enemy troops finally retreated. Attempting to escape the gradually
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  Speaker 1: encircling Marines. They smashed into the raiders position nearest to
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  Speaker 1: their escape route. A wild hand to hand battle ensued,
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  Speaker 1: and a few Japanese broke through to reach and cross
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  Speaker 1: the river. The rest died. Fighting on the ninth, Whaling's force,
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  Speaker 1: flanked by the second and then the first battalion, seventh Marines,
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  Speaker 1: crossed the Metana Caw and then turned and followed ridge
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  Speaker 1: lines to the sea. Polar's battalion discovered a number of
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  Speaker 1: Japanese in a ravine to his front, fired his mortars
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  Speaker 1: and called in artillery while his men used rifles and
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  Speaker 1: machine guns to pick off enemy troops trying to escape
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  Speaker 1: what proved to be a death trap. When his mortar
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  Speaker 1: ammunition began to run short, Polar moved on toward the beach,
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  Speaker 1: joining the rest of Whaling's force, which had encountered no opposition.
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  Speaker 1: The Marines then recrossed the Metana Caw, joined Edson's troops
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  Speaker 1: and marched back to the perimeter, leaving a strong combat
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  Speaker 1: outpost at the Metana Cao. Now cleared of Japanese, General Vandergrift,
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  Speaker 1: apprized by intelligence sources that a major Japanese attack was
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  Speaker 1: coming from the west, decided to consolidate his positions, leaving
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  Speaker 1: no sizeable marine force more than any day's march from
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  Speaker 1: the perimeter. The marine advance on seven to nine October
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  Speaker 1: had thwarted Japanese plants for an early attack and cost
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  Speaker 1: the enemy more than seven hundred men. The Marines bade
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  Speaker 1: a price too, sixty five dead and one hundred twenty
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  Speaker 1: five wounded. There was another price that Guadalcanal was exacting
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  Speaker 1: from both sides. Disease was beginning to fell men in
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  Speaker 1: numbers that equaled the battle casualties. In addition to gastro enteritis,
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  Speaker 1: which greatly weakened those who suffered its crippling stomach cramps,
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  Speaker 1: there were all kinds of tropical fungus infections, collectively known
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  Speaker 1: as jungle rod, which produced uncomfortable rashes on men's feet, armpits, elbows,
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  Speaker 1: and crotches, a product of seldom being dry. If it
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  Speaker 1: didn't rain, sweat provided the moisture. On top of this
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  Speaker 1: came hundreds of cases of malaria. Atabrine tablets provided some
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  Speaker 1: relief besides turning the skin yellow, but they were not
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  Speaker 1: effective enough to stop the of the mosquito born infection.
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  Speaker 1: Malary attacks were so pervasive that nothing short of complete
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  Speaker 1: prostration becoming a litter case could earn a respite in
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  Speaker 1: the hospital. Naturally enough, all these diseases affected most strongly
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  Speaker 1: the men who had been on the island the longest,
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  Speaker 1: particularly those who experienced the early days of short rations.
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  Speaker 1: Vandergriff had already argued with his superiors that when his
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  Speaker 1: men eventually got relieved, they should not be sent to
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  Speaker 1: another tropical island hospital, but rather to a place where
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  Speaker 1: there was a real change of atmosphere and climate. He
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  Speaker 1: asked that Auckland or Wellington, New Zealand be considered for
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  Speaker 1: the present. However, there was to be no relief for
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  Speaker 1: men starting their third month on Guadalcanal. The Japanese would
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  Speaker 1: not abandon their plan to seize back Guadalcanal and gave
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  Speaker 1: painful evidence of their intentions near mid October. General Hayakataki
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  Speaker 1: himself landed on Guadalcanal on seven October to oversee the
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  Speaker 1: coming offensive. Elements of Major General Masayo Mariyama's Sundai Division,
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  Speaker 1: already a factor in the fighting near the Mattanako, landed
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  Speaker 1: with him. More men were coming, and the Japanese, taking
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  Speaker 1: advantage of the fact that Cactus flyers had no night
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  Speaker 1: attack capability, planned to ensure that no planes at all
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  Speaker 1: would rise from Guadalcanal to meet them. On eleven October,
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  Speaker 1: US Navy's surface ships took a hand in stopping the
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  Speaker 1: Tokyo Express, the nickname that had been given to Admiral
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  Speaker 1: Tanaka's almost nightly reinforcement forays. A covering force of five
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  Speaker 1: cruisers and five destroyers located near Rental Island and commanded
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  Speaker 1: by Rear Admiral Norman Scott, got word that many ships
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  Speaker 1: were approaching Guadalcanal. Scott's mission was to protect an approaching
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  Speaker 1: reinforcement convoy, and he steamed towards Cactus at flank speed,
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  Speaker 1: Eager to engage. He encountered more ships than he had expected.
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  Speaker 1: A bombardment group of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers,
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  Speaker 1: as well as six destroyers escorting two seaplane carrier transports.
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  Speaker 1: Scott maneuver between Tsavo Island and Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal's western tip,
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  Speaker 1: and ran head on into the bombardment group. Alerted by
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  Speaker 1: a scalplane from his flagship San Francisco CAA thirty eight
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  Speaker 1: spottings later confirmed by radar contacts on the Helena Col fifty,
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  Speaker 1: the Americans opened fire before the Japanese, who had no
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  Speaker 1: radar knew of their presence. One enemy destroyer sank immediately,
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  Speaker 1: two cruisers were badly damaged. One the Furutaka, later foundered,
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  Speaker 1: and the remaining cruiser and destroyer turned away from the
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  Speaker 1: inferno of American fire. Scott's own force was punished by
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  Speaker 1: enemy return fire, which damaged two cruisers and two destroyers,
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  Speaker 1: one of which the Duncan DD four eight five sank.
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  Speaker 1: The following day, on the twelfth, two Cactus flyers spotted
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  Speaker 1: two of the reinforcement destroyer escorts retiring and sank them both.
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  Speaker 1: The Battle of Cape Esperance could be counted an American
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  Speaker 1: naval victory, one sorely needed at the time its way
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  Speaker 1: cleared by Scott's encountered with the Japanese, A really welcome
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  Speaker 1: reinforcement convoy arrived at the island on thirteen October, when
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  Speaker 1: the one hundred and sixty fourth Infantry of the Americal
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  Speaker 1: Division arrived. The soldiers, members of a National Guard outfit
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  Speaker 1: originally from North Dakota, were equipped with Geran and one rifles,
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  Speaker 1: a weapon of which most overseas Marines had only heard.
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  Speaker 1: In rate of fire, the semi automatic guarrn could easily
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  Speaker 1: outperform the single shot bolt action springfields the Marines carried
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  Speaker 1: and the bolt action rifles the Japanese carried, but most
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  Speaker 1: First Division Marines of necessity touted the springfield as inherently
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  Speaker 1: more accurate and a better weapon. This did not prevent
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  Speaker 1: some light fingered Marines from acquiring gerns when the occasion
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  Speaker 1: presented itself, and such an occasion did present itself. While
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the soldiers were landing and their supplies were being moved
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  Speaker 1: to dumps, several flights of Japanese bombers arrived over Henderson Field,
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  Speaker 1: relatively unscathed by the defending fighters, and began dropping their bombs.
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  Speaker 1: The soldiers headed for cover and alert marines, and inure
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  Speaker 1: to the bombing, used the interval to liberate interesting cartons
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  Speaker 1: and crates. The news that the army had arrived spread
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  Speaker 1: across the island like wildfire, for it meant to all
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  Speaker 1: Marines that they eventually would be relieved. There was hope.
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  Speaker 1: As if the bombing was not enough grief, the Japanese
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  Speaker 1: opened on the airfield with their one hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 1: millimeter howitzers. Also, altogether the men of the one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and sixty fourth got a rude welcome to Guadalcanal, and
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  Speaker 1: on that night, thirteen to fourteen October, they shared a
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  Speaker 1: terrifying experience with the Marines that no one would ever forget.
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  Speaker 1: Determined to knock out Henderson Field and protect their soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: Landing in strength west of Koley Point, the enemy commander
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  Speaker 1: sent the battleships Congo and Haruna into Iron Bottom Sound
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  Speaker 1: to bombard the marine positions. The usual Japanese flareplanes heralded
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  Speaker 1: the bombardment eighty minutes of sheer Hell, which had fourteen
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  Speaker 1: inch shells exploding with such effect that the accompanying cruiser
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  Speaker 1: fire was scarcely noticed. No one was safe, No place
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  Speaker 1: was safe, No dugout had been built to withstand fourteen
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  Speaker 1: inch shells. One witness, a seasoned veteran, demonstrably cool under
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  Speaker 1: enemy fire, opined that there was nothing worse in war
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  Speaker 1: than helplessly being on the receiving end of naval gunfire.
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  Speaker 1: He remembered huge trees being cut apart and flying about
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  Speaker 1: like toothpicks, and he was on the front lines, not
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  Speaker 1: the prime enemy target. The airfield and its environs were
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  Speaker 1: as shambles when dawn broke. The naval shelling, together with
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  Speaker 1: the Knight's artillery fire and bombing, had left this air
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  Speaker 1: Force's commander, General Geiger with a handful of aircraft still flyable,
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  Speaker 1: an air field thickly cratered by shells and bombs, and
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  Speaker 1: a death toll of forty one still from Henderson or
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  Speaker 1: Fighter I, which now became the main airstrip the Cactus
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  Speaker 1: flyers had to attack for the morning also revealed a
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  Speaker 1: shore and sea full of inviting targets. The expected enemy
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  Speaker 1: convoy had gotten through, and Japanese transports and landing craft
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  Speaker 1: were everywhere near Tasafaranga. At sea, The escorting cruisers and
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  Speaker 1: destroyers provided a formidable anti aircraft screen every American plane
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  Speaker 1: that could fly did General Geiger's aid. Major Jack Cram
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  Speaker 1: took off in the General's pby hastily rigged to carry
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  Speaker 1: two torpedoes and put one of them into the side
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  Speaker 1: of an enemy transport as it was unloading. He landed
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  Speaker 1: the lumbering flying boat with enemy aircraft hot on its tail.
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  Speaker 1: A new squadron of F four s VMF two twelve,
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  Speaker 1: commanded by Major Harold W. Bauer, flew in during the
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  Speaker 1: day's action, landed, refueled, and took off to join the fighting.
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  Speaker 1: An hour later, Bauer landed again, this time with four
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  Speaker 1: enemy bombers to his credit. Bauer, who added to his
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  Speaker 1: score of Japanese aircraft kills in later air battles, was
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  Speaker 1: subsequently lost in action. He was awarded the Medal of Honor,
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  Speaker 1: as were four other marine pilots of the early Cactus
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  Speaker 1: Air Force, Captain Jefferson J. De Blanc VMF one twelve,
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  Speaker 1: Captain Joseph J. Foss VMF one twenty one, Major Robert E.
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  Speaker 1: Galler VMF two twenty four, and Major John L. Smith
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  Speaker 1: VMF two twenty three. The Japanese had landed more than
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  Speaker 1: enough troops to destroy the marine beachhead and seize the
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  Speaker 1: air fuel. At least General Hayakataki thought so, and he
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  Speaker 1: heartily approved General Mariyama's plan to move most of the
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  Speaker 1: Sendai Division through the jungle, out of sight and out
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  Speaker 1: of contact with the Marines, to strike from the south
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  Speaker 1: in the vicinity of Edson's Ridge. Roughly seven thousand men,
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  Speaker 1: each carrying a mortar or artillery shell, started the trek
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  Speaker 1: along the Mariyama Trail, which had been partially hacked out
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  Speaker 1: of the jungle well inland from the marine position. Maryama,
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  Speaker 1: who had approved the trail's name to indicate his confidence,
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  Speaker 1: intended to support this attack with heavy mortars and infantry
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  Speaker 1: guns seventy millimeter pack howitzers. The men who had to lug, push,
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  Speaker 1: and drag these supporting arms over the miles of broken
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  Speaker 1: ground across two major streams, the Matanacao and the Lunga,
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  Speaker 1: and through heavy underbrush might have had another name for
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  Speaker 1: their commander's path to suppose glory. General Vandergriff knew that
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  Speaker 1: Japanese were going to attack. Patrols and reconnaissance flights had
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  Speaker 1: clearly indicated the push would be from the west, where
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  Speaker 1: the enemy reinforcements had landed, the American commander changed his
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: disposition accordingly. There were Japanese troops east of the perimeter two,
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  Speaker 1: but not in any significant strength. The new infantry regiment,
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  Speaker 1: the one hundred sixty fourth, reinforced by marine special weapons units,
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  Speaker 1: was put into the line to hold the eastern flank
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  Speaker 1: along six thousand, six hundred yards, curving inland to join
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  Speaker 1: up with the seventh Marines near Edson's Ridge. The Seventh
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  Speaker 1: held two thousand, five hundred yards from the ridge to
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  Speaker 1: the Lunga. From the Lunga, the First Marines had a
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  Speaker 1: three thousand, five hundred yard sector of jungle running west
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  Speaker 1: to the point where the line curved back to the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: beach again in the fifth Marine sector. Since the attack
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: was expected from the west, the third battalions of each
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  Speaker 1: of the First and seventh Marines held a strong outpost
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  Speaker 1: position forward of the fifth Marin's lines along the east
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  Speaker 1: bank of the Mattanako in the lull. Before the attack,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: if a time of patrol clashes, Japanese cruiser destroyer bombardments,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: bomber attacks, and artillery harassment could properly be co lull,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Vandergriff was visited by the Commandant of the Marine Corps,
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant General Thomas Holcombe. The commandant flew in on twenty
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  Speaker 1: one October to see for himself how his marines were faring.
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  Speaker 1: It also proved to be an occasion for both senior
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  Speaker 1: Marines to meet the newcom Soapack, Vice Admiral William F.
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  Speaker 1: Bull Halsey. Admiral Nimitz had announced Halsey's appointment on eighteen October,
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  Speaker 1: and the news was welcome in Navy and Marine ranks
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  Speaker 1: throughout the Pacific. Halsey's deserved reputation for elon in aggressiveness
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: promised renewed attention to the situation on Guadalcanal. On the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: twenty second, Holcombe and Vandergriff flew to New Maya to
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: meet with Halsey and to receive and give a round
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: of briefings on the Allied situation. After Vandergriff had described
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: his position, he argued strongly against the diversion of reinforcements
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: intended for Cactus to any other South Pacific venue, a
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: sometime factor of Admiral Turner's strategic vision. He insisted that
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  Speaker 1: he need all of the Americal Division and another second
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  Speaker 1: Marine Division regiment to beef up his forces, and that
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: more than half of his veterans were worn out by
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: three months fighting and the ravages of jungle incurred diseases.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Admiral Halsey told the Marine general, you go back there, Vandergriff,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: I promise to get you everything I have. When Vandergriff
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: returned to Guadalcanal, Holcombe moved on to Pearl Harbor to
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: meet with Nimitz, carrying Halsey's recommendation that in the future,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Landing Force commanders, once established Ashore, would have equal command
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: status with Navy Amphibious Force commanders at Pearl. Nimitz approved
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Halsey's recommendation, which Holcomb had drafted, and in Washington, so
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: did King. In effect, then the command status of all
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: future Pacific amphibious operations was determined by the events of Guadalcanal.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Another piece of news Vandergriff received from Holcombe also boded
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: well for the future of the Marine Corps. Hulcomb indicated
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: that if President Roosevelt did not reappoint him, unlikely in
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: view of his age and two terms in office, he
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: would recommend that Vandergriff be appointed the next commandant. This
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: news of future events had little chance of diverting Vandergriff's
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: attention when he flew back to Guadalcanal, for the Japanese
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: were in the midst of their planned offensive. On the twentieth,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: an enemy patrol accompanied by two tanks tried to find
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: a way through the line held by Lieutenant Colonel William
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: M McKelvey Junior's third Battalion, First Marines. A sharp shooting
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: thirty seven millimeter gun crew knocked out one tank and
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the enemy force fell back, meanwhile shelling the Marine positions
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: with artillery. Near sunset. The next day, the Japanese tried again,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: this time with more artillery fire and more tanks than
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the four, but again a thirty seven millimeter gun knocked
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: out a Lee tank and discouraged the attack. On twenty
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: two October, the enemy paused, waiting for Mariyama's force to
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: get into position inland. On the twenty third, planned as
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the day of Sundai's main attack, the Japanese dropped a
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: heavy rain of artillery and mortar fire on Macalvi's positions
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: near the Mattanakoo River mouth. Near dusk, Nine eighteen ton
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: medium tanks clanked out of the trees onto the River Sambar,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: and just as quickly eight of them were riddled by
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: the thirty sevens. One tank got across the river, a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: marine blasted a track off with a grenade, and a
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: seventy five millimeters half track finished it off in the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: ocean's surf. The following enemy infantry was smothered by marine
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: artillery fire as all battalions of the augmented eleventh Marines
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: ranged shells on the massed attackers. Hundreds of Japanese were
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: casualties and three more tanks were destroyed. Later, an inland
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: thrust further upstream was easily beaten back. The abortive coastal
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: attack did almost nothing to aid Mariyama's inland effense, but
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: did cause Vandergriff to shift one battalion, the second Battalion,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: seventh Marines, out of the lines to the east and
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: into the four thousand yard gap between the Mettanakao position
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: and the perimeter. This move proved providential since one of
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Maryama's planned attacks was headed right for this area. Although
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: patrols had encountered no Japanese east or south of the
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: jungle perimeter up to the twenty fourth, the Mettanakow attempts
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: had alerted everyone. When General Maryama finally was satisfied that
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: his men had struggled through to the appropriate assault positions.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: After delaying his day of attack three times, he was ready.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: On twenty four October. The Marines were waiting. An observer
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: from first Battalion, seventh Marines spotted an enemy officer surveying
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Edson's Ridge on the twenty fourth, and scout snipers reported
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: smoke from numerous rice fires rising from a valley about
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: two miles south of Lieutenant Colonel Polar's positions. Six battalions
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: of the Sendai Division were poised to attack, and near
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: midnight the first elements of the enemy hit and bypassed
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  Speaker 1: a platoon sized outposts forward of Polar's barbed wire entanglements
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: worn by the outpost, Polar's men waited, straining to see
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: through a dark night and a driving rain. Suddenly, the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Japanese charged out of the jungle, attacking in Polar's area
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: near the ridge and the flat ground to the east.
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  Speaker 1: The Marines replied with everything they had, calling in artillery,
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  Speaker 1: firing mortars, relying heavily on crossing fields of machine gun
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: fire to cut down the enemy infantrymen. Thankfully, the enemy's artillery,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: mortars and other supporting arms were scattered back along the
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Maryama Trail. They had proved too much of a burden
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: for the infantrymen to carry forward. A wedge was driven
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: into the marine lines, but eventually straightened out with repeated counterattacks.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Polars soon realized his battalion was being hit by a
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: strong Japanese force capable of rep peded attacks. He called
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: for reinforcements, and the Army's third Battalion, one hundred sixty
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: fourth Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Robert K. Hall, was ordered forward,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: its men sliding and slipping in the rain as they
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: trudged a mile south along Edson's Ridge. Polar met Hall
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: at the head of his column, and the two officers
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: walked down the length of the marine lines, peeling off
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: an Army squad at a time to feed into the lines.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: When the Japanese attacked again, as they did all night long,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: the soldiers and marines fought back together. By zero three thirty,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the army battalion was completely integrated into the first Battalion,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: seventh Marines lines, and the enemy attacks were getting weaker
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: and weaker. The American return fire, including flanking fire from
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: machine guns and Weapons Company seventh Marines thirty seven millimeter
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: guns remaining in the positions held by the second Battalion,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: one hundred sixty fourth Infantry on Pollar's left was just
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: too much to take on. Maryama pulled his men back
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: to regroup and prepared to attack again. With daylight, Polar
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: and Hall reordered the lines, putting the third Battalion one
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty fourth into its own positions on Pollers left,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: tying in with the rest of the army's regiment. The
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: driving rains had turned Fighter one into a quagmire, effectively
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: grounding Cactus flyers. Japanese planes used the free ride to
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: bomb marine positions. Their artillery fired incessantly, and a pair
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: of Japanese destroyers added their gunfire to the bombardment until
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: they got too close to the shore, and the third
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Defense battalions five inch guns drove them off. As the
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: sun bore down, the runways dried, and afternoon enemy attacks
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: were met by Cactus fighters, who downed twenty two Japanese
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: planes with a loss of three of their own. As
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: night came on again, Mariyama tried more of the same
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: with the same result. The Army marine lines held and
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: the Japanese were cut down in droves by rifle, machine gun,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: mortar thirty seven millimeter and artillery fire. To the west,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: an enemy battalion mounted three determined attacks against the positions
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: held by Lieutenant Colonel Hermann H. Hennikin's second Battalion, seventh Marines,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: thinly tied in with Poller's battalion on the left and
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: the third Battalion, seventh Marines on the right. The enemy
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: finally penetrated the positions held by Company F, but a
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: counter attack led by Major Odell M. Connolly, the battalion's
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: executive officer, drove off the Japanese again. At daylight, the
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: American positions were secure and the enemy had retreated. They
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: would not come back. The Grand Japanese offensive of the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Sendai Division was over. About three thousan five hundred enemy
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: troops had died during the attacks. General Mariyama's proud boast
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: that he would exterminate the enemy around the airfield in
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: one blow proved an empty one. What was left of
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: his force now straggled back over the Mariyama trail, losing
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: has had the Kabagucci Force in the same situation most
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: of its seriously wounded men. The Americans, Marines and soldiers
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: together probably lost three hundred men killed and wounded. Existing
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: records are sketchy and incomplete. One result of the battle, however,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: was a warm welcome to the one hundred sixty fourth
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Infantry from the first Marine Division. Vandergriff particularly commended Lieutenant
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Colonel Hall's battalion, stating the division was proud to have
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: serving with it another unit which had stood the test
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: of battle, and Colonel Kates sent a message to the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: one hundred sixty Force, Colonel Bryant Moore, saying that the
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: First Marines were proud to serve with a unit such
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: as yours. Amidst all the heroics of the two Knights fighting,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: there were many men who were singled out for recognition,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: and an equally large number who performed great deeds that
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: were never recognized. Two men stood out above all others
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: and on succeeding Knights. Sergeant John basilone of the first
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Battalion seven Marines, and platoon Sergeant Mitchell Page of the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: second Battalion, both machine gun section heads, were recognized as
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: having performed above and beyond the call of duty in
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: the inspiring words of their Medal of Honor citations, end
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: of Chapter four read by Aaron Bennett,