- 8 -
 

A simple decision can often pre-ordain the result of an entire battle, and such was the case here. Had Endo chosen to advance by way of Black Trail, there would have been nothing to stop him,  nor even to give warning of the column's approach until it reached the parade field and its objective, Topside Barracks.  Once committed to the Cheney Trail route there was no choice except to mount attack after attack in the restricted area of the Wheeler Point headland to destroy the roadblock. 

Except for flares fired throughout the night by warships laying off shore, there was no artillery support; D Company's men did the job themselves with their rifles, BAR's and carbines and stopped the charging marines.  The light machine gun platoon from Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion was at Battery Chaney and could not support the beleaguered defenders at Wheeler point, only a few yards away.

The fighting there was done by roughly the equivalent of two rifle squads, one from the 1st platoon and one from the 2d platoon totaling probably less than 20 men,  19 men from the 4th platoon and 8 men from company headquarters.  The rest of the company for one reason or another was not involved in the fighting that night.  This small band fought at Wheeler Point, stopped frenzied attack after attack in wave after wave by Japanese marines trying to break through to the south.  The defenders suffered terribly; 14 of them died that night and 15 were wounded.  A bitter loss when you consider probably less than 50 men had held the cream of the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces at bay.  This would be the last attack of any significance by the Japanese on Corregidor   The terrible losses suffered by the Japanese forces in this violent clash of arms, in part, surely weakened their ability to launch another major attack and in fact they never did. 

During the savage encounter, which probably lasted less than three hours that black night at Wheeler Point, more than 250 corpses of Japanese marines were strewn along a bloody 200 yard stretch of Cheney Trail where it passes through the promontory at Wheeler Point and around the bunker where the combatants were locked in close combat in the dark.  For the men of D Company who were there, Wheeler Point will always be called Banzai Point.

At about 9:30 on Monday morning the litter party from the 161st Engineers left Topside and finally got through to Wheeler Point.  They left with seven litter cases and fourteen walking wounded.  As the column moved slowly up Chaney Trail it passed by twelve of the company's riflemen covered with green ponchos.

The long terrible fight was finally over.

Manfully they stood and everywhere with gallant front,
Opposed in fair array the shock of war,
Desperately they fought like men expert in arms,
And knowing no safety could be found,
Save from their own hands.*

* Robert Southey 1744-1843