Note 14 — Chapter VIII · Southern Leyte Valley: Part Two

The 1st Battalion of the 32d Infantry, however, experienced difficulty in reducing the bypassed strong point, which it reached in the middle of the afternoon. The Japanese defenses consisted of one 75-mm. and one antitank gun emplaced in bunkers and four machine guns in pillboxes; these were completely surrounded by an elaborate system of trenches and foxholes and were occupied by approximately two platoons of riflemen.14 When the battalion reached the position, Companies A and B, with Company A on the right, were on a line behind five medium tanks and one M8 self-propelled 75-mm. howitzer from the Cannon Company. As the troops moved across an open field toward a hedgerow, the Japanese opened fire upon Company A. Company B also received fire as it moved beyond the hedgerow. After several men had been killed and others wounded, Company B halted until the Japanese positions could be neutralized by the tanks and the howitzer.