What was the toughest battle of the Luzon campaign? For the guys in the 136th Infantry, action on the Kennon Road would rank at or near the top.

It was apparent to General Clarkson that before any effort could be undertaken along the Kennon Road, the Japanese would have to be driven from Hill 1802. This huge tree-covered mountain was midway between Labayug and Alibeng.

The general knew there would be no element of surprise with this road-widths approach through precipitous mountains on either side, rising in places to nearly 5,000 feet. The enemy had destroyed the long suspension bridge between Camps Three and Four and to be able to manuever would be virtually impossible.

In pre-war years, Manila travel agents referred to the Kennon Road as the "scenic route" to Baguio. (By the way, that was the same line your editor gave Irene when they returned to Baguio by bus in 1985) But it was this scenic route that afforded the enemy countless locations for snipers, machine guns and its elusive artillery pieces.

The first thrust by the 136th avoided the highway proper and sought to break through enemy strong points lining the bluffs on both sides of the road. Long range patrols were dispatched to reconnoiter routes that would allow elements of the 136th to flank the Japanese.

Colonel "Bart" Cavanee knew that if the 136th was to meet the enemy head on it would deprive them of one of their main OPs by taking Bue Bue, a hump-shaped mass rising to 3,700 feet above the Road. It fell to B/136 to take this objective.

T/Sgt. Ray Livengood, with a B Co. rifle platoon, encountered a heavily-defended position, when expecting not more than a small OP Twice repulsed by heavy enemy fire, he radioed his company commander, Captain Charlie Kissel, that the objective could not be taken. With the support of C Company flanking the road on the high ground and the 3rd Bn. on the left, the units assumed positions that would drive a wedge through the middle when the order came again to assault Bue Bue.

Enter the "X-Ray Force," consisting of Company F, a HMG platoon from Company H, the 2nd Bn. assault group, battalion medical personnel and a forward observer party for the 210th FA. The composite group took its orders directly from Col. Cavanee.

12 March the X-ray Force moved up Kennon Road to within 500 yards ofwhere Pell Mell Creek met the Kennon Road about a mile from Camp Two. With their flank covered by a patrol of guerrillas, the unit moved forward for nearly an hour before reaching a small bridge just short of Camp Two.

The Japanese waited until the lead scouts had crossed the bridge then cut loose with mortars and machine guns from their cleverly concealed emplacements.

Fox Company was caught out on the span and both lead scouts were cut down. The force immediately pulled back, regrouped, and started across the bridge again in threes and fours with X-Ray's mortars zeroing in on enemy gun positions. Snipers hidden in the rocks were picked off with M-1 fire.

By 1530 March 12, the entire force had crossed the bridge and all casualties had been evacuated, creating a breach in the enemy defenses.

"Bart" brought up C Company of the 108th Combat Engineers that created a bypass capable of handling a platoon of medium tanks from the 775th Tank Bn. which blasted the enemy from its labyrinth of emplacements lining the highway. The next two days, small gains were made while the enemy prepared a solid line of defense at Camp Three.

On 15 March, Fox Company led by Lt. Wallace Gleason, reported that he had dug in just one mile short of Camp Three.

Before noon the following morning, G Company, led by Lt. John Weatherwax, joined the force. Major John Taylor, Battalion XO, assumed command of both Companies F and G. They were joined by Capt. William Garland's anti-tank company which created a series of roadblocks.

A and C Companies of the 1 st Bn. held fast on either side of Bue Bue with C Company near Pell Mell Creek.

On 17 March the order came from "Bart" for B Co. to take Bue Bue. This effort was repulsed by the enemy. Again, the following morning, the assault group moved out with BARS, bazookas and flamethrowers. Once more they blanketed the units with fire and no ground was gained.

C Company was ordered to move to Bue Bue and to relieve B Company. The 210th F.A. was to fire on the objective and rounds fell on enemy positions that afternoon and night.

The morning of 19 March, the fifth attempt was made on Bue Bue. The 2nd Platoon, led by Lt. Sanford Winston, was caught in a barrage of knee-mortar rounds resulting in considerable casualties. Lt. Winston called upon C Company's mortars. Thirty rounds later they rushed the enemy again - and once more the Bue Bue defense held.

It was then that Col. Cavanee gave the order to bypass Bue Bue. The enemy there could be dealt with later.

With advances made by the 136th along Kennon Road, the Japanese high command became increasingly concerned. The enemy's 75-mm mountain guns remained elusive. Before the L-4 spotter planes could get a fix on them they would be rolled back into the caves.

"Bart's" Bearcats caught hell in their first 15 days of Kennon Road combat. Since the division's other regiments had been committed toward Baguio, it was imperative that the 136th Infantry keep this major enemy force tied up on the Kennon Road.

The evening of 19 March the enemy once again reared its ugly head. Shelling of the X-Ray CP began just after sundown. Major Ivan Taylor, X-Ray's commander, rose to his knees in his foxhole to see if he could see enemy give-away gun flashes as rounds exploded in the CP area. It was then an HE round screamed into a nearby tree, killing him instantly.

Morton Wolfson, 2nd Bn. Assistant S2, recalls the incident vividly.

"I was right next to the major and we were by a rock," Mort recalled. "I yelled for him to get down because he was right on top of me. When he didn't move, I saw that he was dead."

The same shell also severed both legs of Lt. Ron Peebles, regimental I&R platoon leader. "When I summoned the aid man to attend to Peebles, the aid man said `let me look at you, you're covered with blood!' He slit open my fatigues and it was then I realized it was Major Taylor's blood and not mine."

Regimental positions along Kennon Road became more stable as March faded into April. The pace had been a killing one. Rifle companies were below strength with diarrhea and yellow jaundice rampant in every battalion. But, the enemy was even worse off. Besides casualties and disease, many of its artillery rounds were duds, adding to its eventual demise.

By 7 April, the mission was "hold fast and patrol." Defensive positions were no sooner taken by companies of the 3rd Bn. when the enemy launched a counterattack on Capt. Bernard Nussbaum's Co. I.

From 9 April on the enemy was growing weaker. On 16 April the enemy launched a last-ditch banzai attack on the 3rd Bn. that was repulsed.

Baguio fell on 29 April. Acts of individual heroism were recognized, with more than one would like to count, posthumously. Several companies of the 136th received Distinguished Unit Citations.