The first night of July 21–22

The first night of July 21–22, the Marines of 3rd Battalion came under a concerted counterattack by the survivors of the Japanese 320th Independent Infantry Battalion, as well as the 319th, committed by Japanese commander General Kiyoshi Shigematsu to retake the Chonito Cliffs.[21] The Japanese managed to infiltrate past many 3rd Battalion units through ravines and dry river beds and briefly threatened to overrun the battalion command post. The fighting was so heavy that parts of the Division Reserve were committed and the destroyer USS McKee was unable to provide close fire support, as the Japanese and Marines were so closely intermingled.[22] However the Marines held firm and managed to repulse the attack by 0830.[22] During the counterattack, a mortarman with Kilo Company, Private First Class Luther Skaggs, Jr., was critically wounded in the leg by a Japanese grenade. After applying a tourniquet Skaggs continued to fight for another eight hours before moving unassisted to the rear where most of his leg was amputated. For this he became the first Marine from 3rd Battalion to be awarded the Medal of Honor.[16] Over the next two days the 3rd Battalion fought a savage battle with the Japanese defenders for the Chonito Cliffs and Fonte Plateau area, as the battalion struggled to capture the Mt. Tenjo Road. On the 23rd, 3rd Battalion seized the last ridge leading to the Fonte Plateau, provoking a heavy Japanese counterattack. Houser himself was seriously wounded in this engagement and the Executive Officer, Major Royal Bastian, took command.[16][23] Then 3rd Battalion, now reinforced with tanks, took part in the assault on the Fonte Plateau on July 25, seizing the key position after just an hour of fighting.[24] The night of July 25–26 saw the climax of the fighting on Guam when the Japanese launched an all-out counterattack against the Americans. In the 3rd Battalion's sector, Japanese sailors of the 54th Keibitai launched a series of failed attacks against the now-well defended Marine positions. Backed up with artillery, the Marines easily repulsed the Japanese.[25]


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