. "You're there -- now, stay there," was the famous message General Alexander sent to Major Whittlesey's Lost Battalion in the last world war. Once our jumpers had secured their positions on the Top-Side, and the reinforcements of the 2nd Battalion had arrived, the General's remark could have been addresses to us. Bursts of enemy fire on all sides indicated that the Japs were here in greater strength than we had anticipated. When they should reorganize and hurl their full-scale banzai counterattacks at us, would they be able to break through our hasty lines of resistance? None of us thought so, but past experience in the Pacific war taught that the Japs had accomplished just this in other actions. At Biak, particularly, friends had told me of their experiences, and of the American Battalion which was pinned down after taking a beachhead and finally forced to back off by barge under cover of intensive fire from its own landing craft and from the naval units off shore. With us there would be no such possibility of withdrawal. Our men could only back up to their own perimeter and hold on. We were here and meant to stay here.