The next objective, Hill 660, lay at the left of General Shepherd's zone
of action, just inland of the coastal track. The 3d Battalion, 7th
Marines, commanded since 9 January by Lieutenant Colonel Henry W. Buse,
Jr., got the assignment of seizing the hill. In preparation for Buse's
attack, Captain Joseph W. Buckley, commander of the Weapons Company, 7th
Marines, set up a task force to bypass Hill 660 and block the coastal
trail beyond that objective. Buckley's group--two platoons of infantry,
a platoon of 37mm guns, two light tanks, two half-tracks mounting 75mm
guns, a platoon of pioneers from the 17th Marines with a bulldozer, and
one of the Army's rocket-firing DUKWs--pushed through the mud and set up
a roadblock athwart the line of retreat from Hill 660. The Japanese
directed long-range plunging fire against Buckley's command as it
advanced roughly one mile along the trail. Because of their flat
trajectory, his 75mm and 37mm guns could not destroy the enemy's
automatic weapons, but the Marines succeeded in forcing the hostile
gunners to keep their heads down. As they advanced, Buckley's men
unreeled telephone wire to maintain contact with higher headquarters.
Once the roadblock was in place and camouflaged, the captain requested
that a truck bring hot meals for his men. When the vehicle bogged down,
he sent the bulldozer to push it free.
[Illustration: Department of Defense (USMC) photo 71520
_Advancing past Hill 660, a task force under Capt Joseph W. Buckley cuts
the line of retreat for the Japanese defenders. The 37mm gun in the
emplacement on the right and the half-track mounted 75mm gun on the left
drove the attacking enemy back with heavy casualties._]
[Illustration: _Gaunt, weary, hollow-eyed, machine gunner PFC George C.
Miller carries his weapon to the rear after 19 days of heavy fighting
while beating back the Japanese counterattack at Hill 660. This moving
photograph was taken by Marine Corps combat photographer Sgt Robert R.
Brenner._