To the south the 19th Infantry, with the 3d Battalion in the lead, had also struck heavy opposition on its sector of the beach. Through error the first waves of the regiment landed almost directly behind the 34th Infantry and 800 yards north of the proposed landing point. The later waves landed at the planned spot.
Company K did not land on schedule, because its command boat broke down. Going in under heavy fire, the company had all its officers except one killed or wounded. One of its platoons was unable to make contact with the rest of the company until the following day.
Company L, on the right, met little opposition on landing, established contact with the 34th Infantry, and reached the initial phase line 500 yards in from the beach. Company I, on the left, encountered stiff resistance fifty yards off the beach. The defenses of the 33d Infantry Regiment in this sector consisted of a tank ditch and light automatic weapons, mortars, 75-mm. guns, and light and heavy machine guns in prepared positions. Company I hit a group of pillboxes and knocked out several of them as well as a 75-mm. gun. In this action Pfc. Frank B. Robinson played a spectacular role. Crawling behind a pillbox, he dropped three grenades into it and then reached down and pulled the machine gun barrel out of line. After a further advance of 200 yards, when a flame thrower aimed at a pillbox failed to ignite, he threw a bundle of lighted papers in front of the pillbox. The operator of the flame thrower then fired through the blaze and the charge was ignited. By openly exposing himself to fire from a third pillbox, Robinson enabled tanks to locate its position.[36]
During the next few hours platoons and squads fought independently. The 3d Battalion, 19th Infantry, drove into the interior about 500 yards, where it reorganized, made contact with adjacent units, and then established its perimeter on Highway 1.[37]
The 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry, had come in under intense fire in which several boats were hit, and numerous casualties occurred. The battalion landed 300 yards north of its selected area, moved in 200 yards, and then made a left, oblique turn in order to reach its predetermined assembly area. Company B suffered several casualties when it ran into strong rifle and pillbox fire, which pinned it down. The company was ordered to break off fighting and move to the northern edge of the Japanese positions. Lt. Col. Frederick R. Zierath, the commanding officer of the battalion, ordered the self-propelled guns to be brought up. They successfully neutralized the pillbox and a supporting position behind it. Company C, landing on the left flank of the battalion, was immediately pinned down by hostile fire. Zierath ordered it to disengage and proceed to the designated assembly area. Company A, which was split by enemy fire, regrouped inland and reached the assembly area just ahead of Company C.
The 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry, arrived at the beach just as the 1st Battalion was bypassing the initial resistance. By noon its first defense was formed around the beachhead. At 1245 Company E, with a rocket launcher, silenced a 75-mm. gun which had been firing on the LST’s. In its advance the company located two more 75-mm. guns which had been abandoned. Company G relieved Company E and prepared to move along the beach road southwest toward Palo. As the point started to move out at 1300 it was attacked by approximately a platoon from the 33d Infantry Regiment which attempted to retake the gun positions. The Japanese were repulsed by rifle fire, leaving eleven dead.
75-MM. M8 SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZERS move in to support the infantrymen in their advance from the beach.
At 1430 Company G, in resuming its advance, ran at once into a series of mutually supporting pillboxes about 500 yards inland, where the beach road turns to meet Highway 1. A stiff rifle fire fight followed, in which the Americans suffered fifteen casualties. Since darkness was approaching, the battalion broke off the action and dug in along the road for the night.
While the 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry, was proceeding cautiously forward the 1st Battalion was working toward Hill 522. This hill, which rose directly from the river’s edge north of Palo, overlooked the landing beaches and its upward trails were steep and winding. Hill 522 presented the most significant terrain feature which would have to be overcome before the American forces could push into the interior from Palo and it constituted one of the chief objectives for A Day. Three months earlier General Makino had started to fortify it, impressing nearly all of the male population of Palo for the work. By A Day they had constructed five well-camouflaged pillboxes of rocks, planking, and logs, covered with earth. Numerous tunnels honeycombed the hill; the communications trenches were seven feet deep.