_The skies over the landing beaches of Peleliu are blackened with smoke
rising from the ground as the result of the combined naval and aerial
prelanding bombardment, as amphibian tractors rush shoreward carrying
the assault waves._]
At dusk, Hunt’s Company K held the Point, but by then the Marines
had been reduced to platoon strength, with no adjacent units in
contact. Only the sketchy radio communications got through to bring in
supporting fires and desperately needed re-supply. One LVT got into the
beach just before dark, with grenades, mortar shells, and water. It
evacuated casualties as it departed. The ammunition made the difference
in that night’s furious struggle against Japanese determined to
recapture the Point.
[Illustration: _Marines and corpsmen scramble ashore and seek any cover
they can to escape the incoming murderous enemy mortar and artillery
fire. Behind them, smoking and abandoned, are amphibian tractors which
were hit as they approached the beach._]
The next afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond G. Davis’ 1/1 moved
its Company B to establish contact with Hunt, to help hang onto
the bitterly contested positions. Hunt’s company also regained the
survivors of the platoon which had been pinned at the beach fight
throughout D-Day. Of equal importance, the company regained artillery
and naval gunfire communications, which proved critical during
the second night. That night, the Japanese organized another and
heavier--two companies--counterattack directed at the Marines at the
Point. It was narrowly defeated. By mid-morning, D plus 2, Hunt’s
survivors, together with Company B, 1/1, owned the Point, and could
look out upon some 500 Japanese who had died defending or trying to
re-take it.
To the right of Puller’s struggling 3d Battalion, his 2d Battalion,
Lieutenant Colonel Russell E. Honsowetz commanding, met artillery
and mortar opposition in landing, as well as machine-gun fire from
still effective beach defenders. The same was true for 5th Marines’
two assault battalions, Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Boyd’s 1/5 and
Lieutenant Colonel Austin C. Shofner’s 3/5, which fought through the
beach defenses and toward the edge of the clearing looking east over
the airfield area.
[Illustration: