The following article first appeared in the Jun 2003 issue of the 33rd Infantry Division Newsletter, pg.1.

In the course of the Pacific War there doubtless have been engagements as fraught with hardship and self-sacrifice as the 130th Infantry's battle for Bench Mark and Question Mark Hills.

This four-day battle represented land warfare at its worst: 96-hours of constant close combat capped by periods of intense thirst, hunger, lack of medical aid and costly stalemate with the enemy.

Within the regiment's companies were many green troops who were committed to a fight that opened on a furious note and mounted in ferocity each passing day.

The 2,500 foot Question Mark was covered with mostly cogon grass with numerous wooded gullies sharply indenting its steep slopes. Between Question Mark and lush rice paddies at a lower elevation stood Bench Mark, similar in angle of rise but almost a thousand feet lower. A steep 600-foot-wide draw separated the two that are the two principal landmarks in the chain of foothills leading into the Caraballo mountain range.

Individual links in the narrow chain were heavily fortified to serve as guardians for General Tomoyuki Yamashita's Baguio headquarters to the north.

Question Mark got its name from its semicircular crest that seemed to resemble a vast question mark. Bench mark came to its title naturally with a surveyor's small triangular marking at its top.

A challenging tactical situation confronted the 130th's 3rd Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Minton, as large groups of the enemy were strongly entrenched on the crest, forward slope, and on two sides of Bench Mark. No general advance could take place until the hill was in Golden Cross possession. That meant that Question Mark must also fall as part of a single operation.

In the first disposition of troops, Company K, led by Capt. Elbert Hicks, dug in on the reverse side of Bench Mark, just below the summit. Company L established its perimeter around a small knob to the left rear of K Company. Sections of heavy machine guns from Company M followed each unit into the line. The battalion CP was sited near Cauringan, close to the foot of Bench Mark.

Combat reconnaissance patrols began on 16 February but they were unable to gain answers to enemy deployment of weapons or troop strength. The Japanese defense was formidable.

It was known the Japanese 23rd Division had endured five weeks of heavy action with the 130th's predecessor, elements of the 43rd Infantry Division.

A coordinated battalion attack was slated for 19 February with K and L Companies to advance up the reverse slope of Bench Mark and secure the summit and forward slope. Company I was to leave its bivouac area and follow K up Bench Mark.

Captain Alan Kennedy, commanding Company I, was to swing around the right flank of the hill, moving down its side, crossing the large draw and then hit the second objective. The Division's battalion of 155mm howitzers, together with the 210th Field Artillery, would provide fire for both advances.

Japanese raiding parties harassed the company perimeters nightly where nightlong grenade duels were commonplace. At dawn, the Japanese would collect their casualties and withdraw to their own positions.

To signal the 130th's offensive, artillery opened up at daybreak with 15 solid minutes of fire. Moving out, K and L Companies faced immediate difficulty. Visibility was poor and the inside flanks of the two companies drifted apart and radio communications was lost.

For more on K/130 see their citation for the D.U.C.