.
The American advance on both the right and the left was next halted by an enemy machine gun located in the gun pit of Battery Denver near the water tower. From this commanding position the gun could hit any movement from the north coast to the south. The gun drew the attention of Major Williams who personally took on the gun with his Springfield rifle with no result. At 0730 Lieutenant Bethel B. Otter, USN, commanding Company T, took Ensign William R. Lloyd and four volunteers, armed only with hand grenades, to take out the gun.

Under covering fire of the company, Otter crawled with his volunteers to within 25 yards of the gun pit and lobbed grenades into the position. For a few moments the weapon was silent, the gun crew dead. Almost immediately the gun crew was replaced and all but one member of the assault party was killed. With the gun still in operation, no movement further east could be accomplished. Army Captain Calvin E. Chunn of the battalion staff took over the company and led an advance on a group of Japanese soldiers setting up a light artillery piece. As the company moved forward, a shell struck amidst the command group, wounding Chunn and two other officers. By 0900 the 4th Battalion was stalled and Williams sent to Colonel Howard for reinforcements and artillery support to resume the attack. Neither were available.

Photograph courtesy of 61st Infantry Association