General Orders 1946 - Fort Benning

psition. With every man in the colnpxny fighting his way up the extremely
narrow ridge, even t1,ough an alarming number of ,men became casualties, those
remrriniug stubbornly continued the advance, and, in a final coneerterl effort,
rated the enemy and seized his positions. Having gained this initial advantage,
the men refused to stop. After a hasty reorg;lnizalion, Gomyany G continued
the fight and, with renewed vigor, the fatigued and n-eary men pnshed on down
the reverse slope of the hill, seizing the town of Tnba 1 day earlier tlian had
been eonsidered possible. Despitc the fact that mure than 60 pcrccnt of the
compnlly were casualtics and the men were near the point of cshaustion from
thc sustninecl drive, into!elable heat. and the rugged terr:lin over which they
fought, tlle remaining men of Comprwq! 0, without coneiderntion of lack of
rest, food, and water continued the attack and began the tortuous ntlvnnee up
Mt. Santo Tornas, towering 7,100 feet in the air. At about 1815 an 26 Agril 1945, ,
the company encountered heavy enemy resistance. Undaunted by intense enemy
fire, Conzpa?ty G arose twice lo assault the euemy positious, but unable to advance,
the men were finally compelled to dig in. On Lhe following morning after
a long night of constant vigil, and of continuous harassment hy thc enemy, the
weary and fatigued men moved once again toward tllcir objertive. Imbued
with an utterly indomitable fichtin~ . mirit. the7 met the euemv and refused to
be halted. Despite the lienvy casnnlties suICered in the fiercest type of close-in
fighting, the gallant fighting men of Conz~anu G continued on. camnletely wiping
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out an entire company, knoeking out four machine guns and three knee mortars,
penelrating the enelny ~OSition, and then continuing on to seize the summit of
thc 7,103foot peak, thus securiig the right flank of the troops advancing on
Baguia. The determinntion, uuflimching del-ation to duty, and superb couragc
dis&llnyed by each man of Company Cf, lLSd Infantrl~ Regiment, contributed immeasurably
to the success of operations in Northern Luoon and are in keeping
wirh the bighest traditions of the armed forces of the United States. (General
Orders 350, Headquarters 336 Infantry Division, 19 December 1945.)
4. m e 308th Field Artillery Battalion is cited for its magnificent courage,
heroism, and slrillful performance of duty in action against the enemy on the
Islund of Leyte. Philippine Islands, during the period 24 to 31 December 1944.
The 308th Field Avtillen~ Battalion was given the vital mission of supprting the
305th Infantry Regiment in its attack on the last enemy escape route to the seaport
of Palompan. This operation onsisted of a pincer movement of one force
driring over the mountain and another from the sea. On the night of 24
Iseeember, the 306th Field Avtillcry Battalion bcgan its marell from the Palompon
Rond Junction along the only road to Mztagnb, n distance of 10 miles over
a single, narrow causeway, undcr persistent enemy sniper fire. Immediately
upon arrival at Matagob, the 306th Field ArtilZery Baltaliml enme under
observed enemy artillery fire and promptly opened counterbattery fire while
Shells were falling in battery positions. The enemy fire was silenced and enemy
field pieces destroyed within a few minutes of the initiation of artillery fire.
The battalion's position was, of necessity, 2,000 yards in rear of the front lines
and without defilade from the commanding terrain held by the enemy demolition
~arties, which were killed at close auarters br members of the battalion.
On 25 Decemkr, the infantry adrance in the mountains encountered strong
cnemy resistance and was held uu temporarily. The enemy was concealed skillfully
in numerous mutually supporting strong points. Mnsscd artillem fire was
placed on the enemy. These concentrations were so dense and effective that
they stripped the teyrain of all vcgetation, caught the enemy in his well-concealed
and dw-in positions, and inflicted serere casualties. After these fire mi*
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