European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Until to fief  of 96th infantry division w0rt to but in mud of about it i j by Barrett Mcgurn yank staff correspondent with the 96th division at the Jap mar in Leyte the Philippines we slumped lower in the Slit Trench to get our Heads below ground we were in an artillery Liaison Hole with the infantry at the Jap mar main line of resistance for Leyte Valley in the wooded Foothills of the lofty Leyte in our Hole we were talking about How combat differs from what new men when they hit the beaches of these gis of the 96th division saw action for the first the Guys in this Trench and at every other spot we visited along the front and behind the lines agreed that combat was not the Way they had imagined despite All they had studied and combat with the japs was their opinion was about evenly divided As to whether combat was rougher or easier than they thought it with maybe a slight Edge for the we slouched against the consoling Earth in the Hole and the powwow few of Jap sniper bullets cracked above us like toy its not As rough As i figured it was going to said Hampton Honaker of i dont think the japs Are As Good fighters As there cracked up to As Long As you keep they cant hit its just these Guys that stand up and gawk around that get the japs Are definitely the third Day they tried to attack a tank with the tank backed up and mowed pm another group tried to pull a walking they came right up to our front lines night before about 400 Yards from there were easily 100 we got 17 in front of one Tommy they were just walking firing an occasional shot and yell ing their Heads we Only had three i think a Guys imagination works a hell of a lot More before he gets into combat than after he has been in said Richard an artillery observation scout from Des i know it was that Way with i was More scared three Days before i landed than i have been if a Man could forget combat until he got into hed be a lot better you imagine stuff a lot worse than it actually a slice of sky was blotted out Over us by heavy Black smoke from a flame one of the things that surprised Boeck went was the use of american equipment by the they had Ria radio Remington Rand ammunition and a lot of american Ford v8 Over Here is a Dodge Oren Anderson of chipped the japs had american Fountain said Paul a Cook from Hoopes who had walked Over after the flame throwing and the sniping they even had Lux toilet he a chaplain came Over with an addition for the american Treyve been using some of our medical he we found that out in other men declared the japs had Enfield bayonets from the last War and horses that could understand English and that might have come from cavalry stables around one Man told How the japs waylaid an american patrol but took Only a Diamond from an officers ring and the medical kits from each mans others said the japs were using captured mis and car As they had at when you hear the bullets even if it sounds like our you better get Honaker the conversation turned next to whether the japs were smarter or dumber than had been sex Cropper thought they were this he a Jap out on the Road there began setting up a knee kill urn Killum the spot the Jap picked was on the Edge of the Barrio Small filipino of in the heart of the american we mowed him said he must have been Battle a Low few Slit the air that was somebody sounding As if he didst think it fair for the japs to snipe any now that the flame thrower had been in a minute later we heard a Shew sound above sounds like a piece of one Man a few feet away the medical id station be stirred litter bearers had brought in a Soldier with a blood spattered face and a Hole Between his the snipers had found a a doctor in a Khaki undershirt Bent Over worked a few moments and then walked Back past what did he die Hes going except for a few medics who began giving the wounded Man plasma on an off Chance of saving the others in the area went Back quietly to whatever they had been this was the first combat experience for Luther even though he has 18 years in the army behind including 25 Days of pre War mane vering on he told what he found just a Short Way from us As we half the distance from Home plate to Soldier leaped Forward and pitched a grenade at a Hal hidden then threw him self Back and Down to escape his own Jap infiltration attempts Are often in surprised it int going drawled who is bodyguard to the colonel of the 382d infantry of the 96th i knew they were camouflaged and dug but i didst know 4o few of them could hold up so Many of Ive talked to a lot of men who have been in combat before and they All told me you had to dig the japs but i still thought wed go for Many the biggest Surprise in their first combat against the japs was to see How Many of the renowned suicide fighters were willing to Back there More cowardly than i Fig ured they would said Lewis Traugott of a Hal track Driver in a motor Pool so close to the hidden enemy that our Artil Lery shells were bursting with Bright red flashes scarcely beyond shrapnel Range through the Traugott had his first experience with the japs on the March across Leyte Valley before we reached the when you go they wont fight he they like to sneak i seen one come out in the open they usually stay where they Are arid try to said another they let you pass that what they did a fourth we went by them four i didst expect them to holler for mercy on a Banzai said Clarence Schulz of new one of them dont help As he ran right up on a machine and t5 Paul Vanneste of company a of the 382d told about a Jap sitting in the weeds in the battalion up hollering honorable honorable general both these japs were the one on the Banzai still clutching a and both were the Only japs we take prisoners Are 1st Thomas Goodwin of Here As on Bougainville and in other japs pretending to surrender have sprung traps to kill those accepting the even japs stripped to the loin a sort of diaper they have been known to hold a grenade inside their Crotch they cry and jabber like babies when there said Theodore White of fort mor and there not a bit quiet at they talk like our orders Are to stay silent along the front after and i figured they get on a line and instead there like a