ON THE BEACH AT CORREGIDOR
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Weldon B. Hester *

It was our second day on “The Rock” and things had quieted down on Black Beach. Threatening Jap machine guns from nearby Topside and Malinta Hill were being held in check by our machine gun crews are up and down the beach.  I had hot coffee and cigarettes a viable for the asking period the only real problem was the cord of flies which flew into our Allies, LE as an EL mounts as we talked or eight.

Suddenly there was yelling, and, looking toward the bay we saw an assault wave of “M” boats.  Two paratrooper battalions had chuted onto Topside the day before and their 1st Battalion [in reserve] was now coming in amphibiously.  We lined up to greet them as they grounded and the ramps slammed down.  They came charging out, evidently expecting a Jap held beach.  Sensing this situation we set up a barrage of cat calls such as “It’s a rough beach, boys!” “No prisoners, boys!”, and “No quarter, kill ‘em all!”  They quickly caught on, pulled up and looked sheepish.

Then some officer called, “Fall In!” and they began to form lines.  A danger signal sounded in my head and I started for my yard deep foxhole some 30 feet away.  For Jap gunners in nearby caves, the temptation was too much and they zeroed in and started firing.  Three or four more steps, a belly slide and I plunked into my foxhole, inches ahead of other guys seeking cover.  Three guys, all profane,  plunked in on top of me within a second or two and I lay underneath, happy for the protection.  Quickly out gunners got active, enemy fire slackened and my cover moved off.  I waited, and sure enough, Jap firing resumed again.

Right then my funniest experience of the war occurred.  In the midst of this second round of firing another chap thudded in on me.  The air was blue with the classiest string of profanity I’ve ever heard.  I felt a trickle of moisture, turned my head and saw my foxhole partner was bare naked and wet.  I laughed and he quit cursing, was quiet for three or four seconds, then said “And to think, I could have joined the navy.”  As things eased up he told me that he had been taking a bath in shallow water, in the open, when the firing started.  As the firing eased, still naked, he started looking for nearby shelter.  The second round of firing had caught him up and moving and he unceremoniously joined me. 

The Author was the Red Cross Field Director with the3rd Bn of the 34th Regiment.