While their Marine comrades on the west coast pushed crumbling Japanese defenders out of Garapan, and the doggies in the 27th Division faced moderate resistance in the center of the island, the men of the 4th Marine Division gazed warily at four potential obstacles. A series of hills lay between them and their objective. They would encounter the rugged slopes of Radar Hill (the Japanese had installed the still relatively new detection equipment on the peak), then Hill 721 (named for its height) and the hopefully named Fourth of July Hill. Finally, Hill 767 loomed in the distance, the last forbidding edifice before the pleasant sounding Paradise Valley.
Although wishing to capitalize on their successes of the day before, the 4th MarDiv got off to a rocky start. The planned morning jump off was delayed by the endemic communication problems with the Army units on the left flank, and the attack didn't get under way until 1100. The Marines moved in what Carl Hoffman calls "an unusual formation" - they went in abreast, and in a column of battalions. This deployment was adopted due to the direction of the advance - the right flank regiment (the 23rd Marines) would have to constantly extend their lines as their own right flank grew more exposed. The battalions who would bear the brunt of any Japanese activity were 3/23, 3/25, and 1/24.
That night's shelling was the answer to the Jap strongpoint of the preceding afternoon, and on "D plus 18" it was overrun without loss as we started forward. For the most part it was a day of slow movement, but for "B" Company it was like "shooting fish in a barrel". In the forenoon the company came upon large numbers of Japs pocketed in a ravine bed and practically defenseless. Air strikes, artillery, mortars, and small arms were employed with success and satisfaction. It is highly satisfying to pour out destructive fires with effect and without retaliation.
- Captain Frederic Stott, 1/24, "Saipan Under Fire."
The Marines overran Radar Hill without much difficulty, and continued on until 3/23 approached the slopes of Hill 721 and Fourth of July Hill, about 1615. Suddenly, they were hit by strong small arms fire. They attempted to frontally assault the Japanese, and were repulsed with a bloody nose. Attempts to encircle the position were likewise fruitless. Tank and halftrack support was impossible; the approaches had been mined and the vehicles couldn't approach closer than a thousand yards. 3/23 was faced with the ugly prospect of a full battalion of Japanese infantry, well hidden and determined, that had to be cleared out before the advance could continue - neither 3/25 or 1/24 could move with the enemy on the commanding heights.
After an hour of fighting, 3/23 was withdrawn several hundred yards, allowing artillery to plaster the two hills. The 4th Marine Division advanced no farther on July 3. The assault battalions were rotated off the line, with 1/24 pulled back into reserve on the summit of the newly won Radar Hill. They spent a quiet night on their perch, as the 14th Marines (artillery) sent volley after volley slamming into the hills - "the sweetest music on Saipan."
Wounded:
PFC Merle Leon "Mother" Geesaman
Total: 1
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