_Heading south toward Shuri Castle, a 1st Marine Division patrol passes
through a small village which had been unsuccessfully defended by
Japanese troops._]
Yet the going got no easier, even with two full Marine divisions now
shoulder-to-shoulder in the west. Heavy rains and fierce fire greeted
the 6th Marine Division as its regiments entered the Shuri lines.
The situation remained as grim and deadly all along the front. On 9
May, 1/1 made a spirited attack on Hill 60 but lost its commander,
Lieutenant Colonel James C. Murray, Jr., to a sniper. Nearby that
night, 1/5 engaged in desperate hand-to-hand fighting with a force of
60 Japanese soldiers who appeared like phantoms out of the rocks.
The heavy rains caused problems for the 22d Marines in its efforts to
cross the Asa River. The 6th Engineers fabricated a narrow footbridge
under intermittent fire one night. Hundreds of infantry raced across
before two Japanese soldiers wearing satchel charges strapped to their
chests dashed into the stream and blew themselves and the bridge to
kingdom come. The engineers then spent the next night building a
more substantial Bailey Bridge. Across it poured reinforcements and
vehicles, but the tanks played hell traversing the soft mud along
both banks--each attempt was an adventure. Yet the 22d Marines were
now south of the river in force, an encouraging bit of progress on an
otherwise stalemated front.
[Illustration: 1ST MARINE DIVISION CAPTURES