With the 96th Infantry Division held up by strong resistance in the Catmon Hills, its 383rd Infantry Regiment tried to outflank those defenses by taking San Vicente Hill at the north-western end of the rise. After a brief and ineffective artillery bombardment, Lt. Col. James McCray sent a single reinforced company from his 2nd Battalion up the slopes.

McCray joined the company command post as the attack began; his troops advanced as the Japanese rained down mortar, machine gun and rifle fire and men began to fall. The wounded cried for help, and Japanese soldiers ventured out of their hidden fighting positions to bayonet them. Unnerved by the screams of the murdered wounded, McCray left the command post under heavy sniper fire to drag them out of harm’s way. At some point he was shot and killed, but in his absence the directionless attack had fallen apart. The battalion had hundreds of brave men who could have rescued the wounded, but only one who could command it.