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DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATION, K/130
Company K, 130th Infantry Regiment, is cited for outstanding performance of
duty in action. Two high, rugged peaks in the vicinity of Cauringan Village,
Pangasinan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, provided the Japanese with key defensive
positions. Company K was given the mission of seizing Bench Mark Hill, which
rose in a series of grassy and precipitous slopes to a height of 1,500 feet and
was separated from the higher peak of Question Mark Hill by a sparsely wooded
600-yard draw. A Japanese company reinforced with automatic weapons and mortars
was firmly entrenched in well camouflaged spider-holes, tunnels, and pillboxes
fanatically defending Bench Mark Hill. On 19 February 1945, Company K, following
close on the heels of an artillery barrage, began its up-hill battle up the
exposed slopes of Bench Mark Hill toward the summit. In the fiercest kind of
close-in fighting, Company K eliminated the determined Japs in their well
camouflaged positions and succeeded in gaining control of the summit. After a
quick reorganization Company K fought its way down the reverse slope, despite
the intense enemy heavy machine-gun and mortar fire delivered from the
commanding slopes of the Question Mark Hill, killing the Japs in their prepared
positions which honeycombed the entire reverse slope. On and around two small
knobs on the reverse slope of Bench Mark Hill the Japanese had prepared their
strongest defenses. It was these two fortified protuberances against which
Company K was advancing. Undaunted by the intense enemy fire delivered from the
dominating slopes of Question Mark Hill, Company K arose three times to assault
these hillocks and close with the enemy. Despite the fact that more than half of
the company were casualties and the men were weary and fatigued from the
sustained fight, the heat of the day, and the rugged terrain over which they
moved, the tired fighting men of Company K launched a final concerted attack
which ended in the capture of both of the objectives. Digging in on the knolls,
they tenaciously held their position against enemy counterattacks and heavy
fire. For 4 days Company K beat off enemy counterattacks and fought the Japs at
close quarters. So completely did the company contain the enemy and occupy his
attention that our forces were able to flank and seize the key position of
Question Mark Hill. The determination, courage, and fighting spirit of the men
of Company K, 130th Infantry Regiment, contributed immeasurably to the success
of operations in Northern Luzon.
(General Orders 144, Headquarters, 33d Infantry
Division, 27 June 1945, as approved by the Commander in Chief, United States
Army Forces, Pacific.)
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