Suicide Stand at San Manual

8/12/2019 Suicide Stand at San Manual

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The Suicide Stand a t San ManuelHow the Infantry Rubbed Out a Jap Garrison in the i rs tTank Studded Perimeter of the Luzon Campaign

By - Lieutenant Colonel Walter M. Harrison,Sixth Army Public Relations Office

Luzon has been an infantryman s campaign.From the day of the landings in Lingayen Gulf, 9

January 1945, Sixth Army s I Corps had been pushing southand east along the main road net of the northern central plain area. The Jap faded back, defending l ightly. En-emy tanks blocking main road intersect ions, hi t and ran.

General Walter Krueger s tact ics committed I Corpsto the securing of the American l e f t flank as the main


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two 4? mm. anti-tank guns and plenty of MG a and mortars.Photos showed heavy defensive works in and around the town.

San Manuel i s a typical Philippine town, bet tersi tuated for defense than most. A steep banked stream protectsthe east approach. Drainage ditches l ined the north and southsides. A spur ridge dominates the northwest corner. There aref la t open approaches on a l l sides. From positions in thesouthwest corner the enemy had a complete f ield of observation.There was thick vegetation around the quadrangle studdedwith thick clumps of bamboo from 20 to 30 feet in diametera t the base. These natural strong points were tough indeed.

In i t ia l ly the mission of the defense force must havebeen to deny us the town to protect the road net leading


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3.was hard shelled and i t was tough inside. Bulk of the

r ~ m e n t was in the west and south sections. Weaponswere disposed in depth for an a l l around defense. Onethird of the tanks were kept in a defiladed reserve. Thefluid foot troops moved according to attack indicationsand holed up in well timbered dugouts during harassingart i l lery fire. The whole hedgehog had been preparedfor many weeks.

At San Manuel we ran into defiladed dug-in tanks forthe f i r s t time. These implacements were dug with vert icalsides two feet wider than a medium tank revetted 30inches with one end angled and open for entrance or exit .The turrets were well camouflaged. Only the gun barrel


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no movement could be observed within the defense shell .In i t ia l advances from the southwest and north were

halted, when our troops were 50 years within the town, byintense sniper and machine gun cross f ire . There followeda tank le counter-attack which drove our forces from thetown. Footholds were secured on the second day. Forfour successive days the bat t le raged hammer and tongs,point by point, house to house and block by block thruto the souti i . Suicide infi l t ra t ion attacks harassed ourtroops and knocked out several pieces of our armor.Tanks growled and threatened, the nights were endless andhideous. Every hour was a threat.

During the night of 27-28 Jan. the Japs launched an a l l


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of 27 January.The Jape accomplished very l i t t l e except to prove

that the American combat infantryman, with his magnificentsupport weapons could l ick the Nip at his own game onground of his own careful choosing.

There is nothing pretty about this type of extermination.t takes guts at both ends of the bayonet to carry thru such

operations. Our soldiers stayed at i t for more than 70 hourswithout a breather. Scant rations were crawled up to foxholes.During the day swarms of vicious fl ies pestered the men layingin their dirty foxholes. Outside bloated enemy dead withtheir nauseating s t e n c ~ Dawn 28 January found a row of


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Suicide Stand at San Manual

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