Evening star., 1942-02-23

gun, holding bush in front of his
face, ostrich-like, believing the bush
would conceal him.
Attacking again on the following
morning, with the last ravine behind
1t and only $50 yards of jungle be-
fore reaching the enemy river posi-
tions, Company K of the I'd Bat
talon ran into severe fire from
reinforced japanese units.
The attack was stalled momen-
tarily and Company K was forced to
retire.
For the next three days the 3lst
Regiment was almost necessarily at
tackled by the infantry. artillery and
air bombs, but it didn't yield an
inch. The japanese infantry attacks
were made mostly at night.
The first attack came at 3 am,
when the Japanese crawled unde-
tected to within 80 yards of the 31st's
barbed wire. Then the enemy
made the mistake Of yelling and
shooting simultaneously. thereby
putting the defenders on the alert.
The 3lst stopped the attackers liter
ally dead In their tracks with ter
rife bursts of small-arms fire.
The American artillery co-ordi-
mated its fire beautifully. dropping
shells within 500 yards Of the 3st's
front line, then shortening the in
tervening distance to 200 yards.
Enemy Attacks Again.
After a half hour of this the jap
anese retired, but they attacked
again at AIS and $50 in the morn
ing, apparently to enable them to
remove their dead and wounded.
But many of the enemy dead re-
manned on the American barbed
wire, including % piled in front OF
a single machine-gun.
On the following day entirely
fresh Japanese troops appeared in
front of the 31st with different
uniforms and new equipment, and
the Americans believed that the
entire force which had participated
in the night attacks, estimated at a
battalion at least, had been COM
pletely exterminated.
Uees note: II was at the 31St
Regiments command post during
the above attack, but was not
permitted to write the details at
the time'0
During five hours of these attacks
one company of the 3lst alone fired
80 900 rounds of rife ammunition.
The guns were in action necessarily
and many soldiers blistered their
hands on the redhot barrels, espe-
cially the barrels of the aircooled
light machine-guns. The Army's
new Garand rife more than proved
its effectiveness and the soldiers
praised 1t highly, especially the ease
with which it could be reloaded.
During the night battles, Sergt.
William H. Steward of Van Alstyne,
Tex. was struck by bit Of mortar
shell and was stunned, but not
wounded. He grabbed a rife and
ran to the firing line and helped
repulse the attacks then and during
the next two days, showing complete
contempt for the enemys bombing
and shelling and "irrepressible
optimism" For this, he was awarded
the Distinguished Service Cross.
Incessant Attacks.
For the remainder of the day the
31st was pinned to its fox holes and
trenches by incessant, accurate
shell fire and innumerable dive
bombing attacks.
Capt. Coral M. Talbot Of Little
Rock, Ark, was in the worst of the
fire, and was awarded the Silver
Star for holding his position in
tact.
Pvt. James B. Kinyan of Seattle,
attached to a medical company, was
wounded but helped treat other
wounded men at the risk of his own
life. His bravery won him the Dis
tinguished Service Cross.
At S pm. the japanese attacked
strongly, but were repulsed with
rifle and machine gun fire, and a
o'clock drive the next morning
was halted by artillery and small
arms fire.
Enemy snipers were most active
during this period and Sergt. James
I. Mallette of Los Angeles won the
Distinguished Service Cross for in
vading snipers nests with hand
grenades and a tommygun, and also
for distributing ammunition under
heavy fire.
On the following morning, as the
31st prepared to carry out orders to
withdraw to new positions, the jap
anese staged a surprise attack. The
regiment turned about and resisted
so strongly the Japanese attack
folded up.
Assaults Continued.
The japanese continued their rs.
saults until midafternoon, however
and covering units OF the 31st had Il