Note 25 — Chapter XXI · Westward to the Sea
Reading edition
On 26 December the regiment limited its activity to patrolling. Since it was Christmas Day in the States, “All guns of the Division Artillery fired ... at ... 1200 as a salute to the nation on Christmas Day. This was followed by one minute of silent prayer for the dead and wounded of the 77th Division.”25 That night General Bruce ordered the troops to build bonfires and sing, and employ other ruses in the hope that the Japanese might believe that the troops were celebrating Christmas and might therefore try to enter the defensive perimeters. These ruses were unsuccessful in the sectors of the assault battalions, but a similar one employed in the area of the regimental command post attracted some Japanese patrols, which were either destroyed or driven off.