"It was a yellow smoke round which lay in plain view.

I thought the mortar was one of our own which had been captured by the Japs.

Soon afterward a fragmentation round landed close by and it did explode."

Before the 1st platoon moved out to retake the AA area, Pfc. Lloyd Hill, in our 2nd squad was hit twice in the arm by the Nambu LMG in Crockett Ravine.

B Battery disassembled one of their 75mm's, moved it upstairs in 28-D and reassembling it on the porch of the house. Capt Hoot Gibson felt he could fire directly into Battery Wheeler from this elevated position. From the porch the number two gun port was clearly visible through the gap between the southeast end of the parapet and the berm. A few well placed shells into the magazines below the gun port would very likely have blown the place; however, once again the mighty fortress was to defy our efforts to attack it.   The heavy concrete banister was too high to allow the barrel of the howitzer to be depressed enough to bring the gun to bear on the target. The banister, made of heavy concrete, was too heavy to be torn down. While disassembling the gun one of the crew members was shot and killed.

We were developing a great respect for the marksmanship of these Jap Marines. They not only hit their target, but many of their shots were of the "in between the eyes" category. This artilleryman was hit in the head and died instantly, like Thomas.

In the meantime 1st Lt. Clinton D. "Sleepy" Miller's 60 mm mortars were still busy working over the AA area, firing on the old three inch, M-3, AA gun positions. As a round would hit in or near a crater the Japs taking cover there would jump out and run.

Each time this happened, our riflemen, BAR's, and the "D" Battery's .50 calibre MG which had been assigned to first platoon, would cut them down. It was beyond decimation.

At about 1030 hours, Sleepy was exposing himself adjusting fires, and the Nambu in the ravine got him with one slug in the right ankle and four or five slugs in the left thigh. taking out pieces of the femur bone. I could see several pieces of white bone in the gaping wound. I talked to him to him and gave him a cigarette. He was in great pain and already in shock as indicated by the blueness of his lips and fingernails. This really shook me up. Sleepy was my friend, my buddy.

 We moved out and occupied the area with little opposition.

Our right flank rested near the road and railroad near where they entered Battery Wheeler. From this position we could see the number two gun port along with the ground floor magazine underneath the platform and the arched stairways leading up to the gun port floor. This was in the vicinity of the number one M-3 AA gun emplacement (they called these revetments splinterproofs).

The 3rd platoon moved out to take up positions near Battery Wheeler in preparation to attacking it. I saw Moose Campbell talking to his platoon and then moving them out. He was a new replacement. He was a very nice person and we had quickly accepted him, but we worried about him, as well as all the new men with no combat experience, because sometime they did not live long enough to learn not to make fatal mistakes.

We were so thirsty. Everything was so dusty, and the heat kept us wet with perspiration. Our fatigues were already filthy and caked with salt rings. We had jumped with two canteens filled with water. There was no resupply. The Japs were blocking the road from Bottomside to Topside.

Bill Freihoff and Delby Huff had told me that they were trapped in a room full of large canisters of black powder in Battery Wheeler. I passed this information on and suggested that a fighter drop a napalm bomb on the battery and ignite the powder rather than risk lives in an assault by the 3rd platoon. I still had the massive concrete fortress with the dark openings fresh in my mind. We knew from our briefings that fighter support from Mindoro was on call.

It was to no avail. Battalion ordered the attack to take place after an artillery barrage. The barrage could not be brought to bear upon on the battery, because the berm masked the works.

Just before Campbell was killed

 I saw six soldiers run across the floor of the number two gun port of Battery Wheeler. I thought this was the 3rd platoon making their attack. I could see the group run to the stairs at the northwest corner of the platform which led to the top of the parapet. As they ascended the stairs an automatic weapon opened up and five of the six tumbled down the stairs. I was sick, just sick. Five good men gone in a second.

I can't describe my relief when I found out a short time later that the men were Japs, and one of our BAR's cut them down.

I was the BAR gunner in S/Sgt Carl Ballard's second squad of the third platoon.

 The plan was to move the platoon up to the "big bank" (the berm) and assault on a line of skirmishers by rushing across the top of the berm, down its face, across the level ground, and into the battery.

There was a swag between the berm and the hill, just north of it. The Radio Direction Finder Shelter was located in this hill. As McGee (Pfc Edward L. McGee) and I crawled up the slope of the swag to the broad, flat top of the berm, a Jap machine guns opened fire throwing dirt in my face.   McGee was beside me when this happened. Naturally we quickly moved back a short distance to complete cover. Campbell crawled up beside us, raised up and started looking. He was hit in the head and fell behind McGee.

Another officer, a mortar officer, had crawled up with Campbell. He  also raised up to looking at the battery and was hit in the head about the same time as Campbell.

S/Sgt Ballard had been injured on the jump, and he now joined us for the first time. He crawled up and asked McGee who was in charge. McGee said, "I guess I am." Ballard asked him what he intended to do. McGee said "Guess we better get out of here," and we withdrew.

"I felt a sting on my back. I said to Gus Wommack "I'm hit, Gus." I took my shirt off and Gus looked at my back and said "Get back, it's only a ricochet."

So Gus went back.

So while being down from the top of the hill, I began to realize a bullet cannot arc so I started looking around in back and saw two heads to my bottom right. I shot and got one but the other one got away."
 

I also got to the top of the water tank in back of Ft. Wheeler while we were laying on top of the fort without water. I got to the top. A ladder was inside rusty as hell. There were a couple of G.I.'s on the bottom. I got to the bottom and drank about^. a gallon of water. I filled my helmet up for the guys in my squad and got down from the tank. On the way back to the fort I slipped on a hill and spilled the water, about 25 yds from my squad.

My squad was Smitty as first scout, Porzuczek as second scout, Unterzuber, Richens, Rockensock and Gus Wommack