The U.S. Army told him he wasn't allowed to fight. They made him fix teeth instead.
On July 7, 1944, Captain Ben Salomon was working inside a medical tent on Saipan when thousands of Japanese soldiers launched the largest banzai charge of the entire Pacific War — straight through American lines, straight into his aid station. Wounded men filled the tent. Enemy soldiers poured through the entrance. And a dentist who had begged to stay infantry made a decision that the military would argue about for the next six decades.
What he did with a machine gun that morning — and what it cost him — is one of the most extraordinary last stands in American military history. But the story doesn't end on Saipan. What happened after is almost harder to believe.
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On July 7, 1944, Captain Ben Salomon was working inside a medical tent on Saipan when thousands of Japanese soldiers launched the largest banzai charge of the entire Pacific War — straight through American lines, straight into his aid station. Wounded men filled the tent. Enemy soldiers poured through the entrance. And a dentist who had begged to stay infantry made a decision that the military would argue about for the next six decades.
What he did with a machine gun that morning — and what it cost him — is one of the most extraordinary last stands in American military history. But the story doesn't end on Saipan. What happened after is almost harder to believe.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00July 7th, 1944, 0500.
00:04Captain Ben Solomon was stitching a shrapnel wound inside a medical tent on Saipan when
00:094,000 Japanese soldiers came screaming out of the darkness toward his position.
00:14He was 29.
00:15He had been a combat surgeon for exactly 14 days.
00:19The largest bonsai charge in Pacific theater history had just torn into the 1st and 2nd
00:24battalions of the 105th Infantry Regiment.
00:27Between 3,000 and 5,000 enemy troops.
00:31And his tent stood 50 yards behind the forward foxholes.
00:35Solomon had graduated from the University of Southern California Dental School in 1937.
00:40He wanted to join the Army.
00:42Both the Canadian and American militaries rejected him.
00:45He built a dental practice in Beverly Hills instead.
00:48Then, in October 1940, the draft notice arrived.
00:52Private Benjamin Solomon reported to the 102nd Infantry Regiment as an infantry soldier.
00:58He qualified expert with both rifle and pistol.
01:01Within a year, the Army promoted him to sergeant and put him in charge of a machine gun section.
01:06On August 14, 1942, his commanding officer declared him the best all-around soldier in the regiment.
01:13Then, the War Department sent a letter, report for commissioning as a dental officer.
01:18Solomon refused.
01:19He wanted to stay infantry.
01:21The Army made it an order.
01:23Lieutenant Benjamin Solomon became a dentist again.
01:26He hated it.
01:26Even as the regimental dental officer of the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division,
01:33he joined every training run.
01:35He competed in every physical fitness competition.
01:37He won most of them.
01:39He was 30 years old, competing against front-line infantrymen half his age and beating them.
01:45His men called him the best infantry tactics instructor they ever had.
01:49June, 1944, the 105th Infantry landed on Saipan.
01:54Combat was immediate and brutal.
01:57Solomon had almost nothing to do.
01:58Nobody needed dental work when artillery shells were landing.
02:02On June 27th, a mortar round wounded the 2nd Battalion surgeon.
02:06Solomon volunteered to replace him immediately.
02:09For two weeks, he saved lives.
02:11Shrapnel wounds, gunshot wounds, burns.
02:14He worked 18-hour days in a tent 50 yards behind the forward foxholes.
02:19He was good at it, better than he expected.
02:22He told a friend he wanted to become a medical doctor after the war.
02:25He wanted to be the best surgeon that ever lived.
02:28By early July, the Japanese were trapped in the northern corner of Saipan.
02:32American land, sea, and air power had them surrounded.
02:36Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito knew he could not win.
02:40The Imperial fleet had been destroyed in the Battle of the Philippine Sea two weeks earlier.
02:44No reinforcements were coming.
02:46On July 6th, Saito apologized to Tokyo for failing to defend Saipan.
02:51Then he ordered every remaining soldier to launch a final attack.
02:55Kill ten Americans before you die.
02:57That was the order.
02:58The 2nd Battalion positioned themselves near Tanapag, on the western coast.
03:02Intelligence reports warned that the Japanese were planning something.
03:06The battalion established a defensive perimeter.
03:09Artillery protected the foxholes.
03:11Solomon set up his aid station in a small tent, 50 yards behind the forward line, 30 yards
03:16from the shoreline, close enough to reach wounded men quickly, far enough back to work safely.
03:21At 4.45 in the morning on July 7th, the Japanese attacked.
03:26Some carried rifles.
03:28Some carried swords.
03:29Some carried bamboo spears.
03:31Walking wounded limped forward in the rear ranks.
03:34Officers led from the front, screaming and waving swords overhead.
03:38The Americans heard them coming through the darkness.
03:40Then they saw them.
03:42A human wave that would not stop.
03:44Solomon was about to face 5,000 enemy soldiers with nothing but a tent full of wounded men.
03:49If you want to know what he did next, please like this video.
03:52Every like pushes this story to someone who has never heard of Ben Solomon.
03:56And he deserves to be heard.
03:58Please subscribe.
03:59Back to Solomon.
04:01The Japanese found a gap between the 1st and 2nd Battalions.
04:05They poured through it.
04:06Within minutes, they were inside the American perimeter.
04:09The forward foxholes collapsed.
04:11Soldiers fell back.
04:13The wounded stumbled toward Solomon's tent.
04:15Some walked.
04:16Some crawled.
04:17Some were carried by friends.
04:2030 wounded men filled the small tent in the first 15 minutes.
04:23Blood soaked through the canvas floor.
04:26Solomon worked as fast as he could.
04:28Bandages.
04:29Morphine.
04:30Tourniquets.
04:31He could hear gunfire getting closer.
04:33Then he saw movement at the tent entrance.
04:36A Japanese soldier stepped inside.
04:38The soldier walked past Solomon toward a wounded American lying near the wall.
04:42The soldier raised his bayonet.
04:44Solomon grabbed a rifle leaning against the tent pole.
04:47He fired from a squatting position.
04:50The Japanese soldier dropped.
04:52Solomon turned back to his patient.
04:54Two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the tent entrance.
04:57Solomon shot them both.
04:59Before he could breathe, four more soldiers crawled under the tent walls.
05:03Solomon had no time to think.
05:05The first Japanese soldier came at him with a knife.
05:08Solomon kicked it out of his hand.
05:10The knife skidded across the bloody canvas floor.
05:13The second soldier raised his rifle.
05:15Solomon shot him in the chest.
05:17The third soldier lunged with a bayonet.
05:19Solomon grabbed his own rifle and drove the bayonet straight through him.
05:23The fourth soldier charged.
05:25Solomon dropped his rifle and head-butted him in the stomach.
05:29The soldier doubled over.
05:30A wounded American lying on a cot raised his pistol and shot the Japanese soldier in the head.
05:36Solomon looked around the tent.
05:38Blood everywhere.
05:40Thirty wounded men staring at him.
05:42The sound of gunfire outside was constant now.
05:45Screaming.
05:46Explosions.
05:47The tent walls shook.
05:49He could hear Japanese voices getting closer.
05:51The perimeter was gone.
05:53The aid station would be overrun in minutes.
05:55Every wounded man in this tent would die.
05:58Solomon made a decision.
05:59He ordered the wounded to evacuate.
06:01Get back to the regimental aid station.
06:03Move now.
06:04The men who could walk grabbed the men who could not.
06:07They stumbled toward the rear.
06:09Solomon grabbed an M1 Garand rifle from one of the wounded soldiers.
06:13He checked the magazine.
06:15Eight rounds.
06:15He turned toward the tent entrance and stepped outside.
06:18The scene was chaos.
06:20Japanese soldiers were everywhere.
06:22Running.
06:22Shooting.
06:23Stabbing.
06:24American soldiers fought back from scattered positions.
06:27Foxholes.
06:28Shell craters.
06:29Behind equipment.
06:30The defensive line had completely collapsed.
06:33The Japanese had broken through and were pushing deeper into American positions.
06:37Solomon could see them moving toward the beach.
06:40Toward the supply dumps.
06:41Toward the command posts.
06:43If they reached the rear areas, hundreds more Americans would die.
06:47Solomon moved forward.
06:48He fired his rifle.
06:49One Japanese soldier dropped.
06:51He fired again.
06:53Another fell.
06:53He kept moving.
06:54He passed wounded Americans crawling toward the rear.
06:57He passed dead bodies.
06:59American.
07:00Japanese.
07:01He did not stop.
07:02Ahead of him, he saw an M1917A1 Browning machine gun.
07:06A heavy weapon.
07:08Water cooled.
07:09Belt fed.
07:09Capable of sustained fire.
07:11Four American soldiers lay dead around it.
07:14The gun was still operational.
07:16Solomon reached the machine gun position.
07:18He checked the weapon.
07:19The barrel was hot but not warped.
07:21The water jacket was intact.
07:23An ammunition belt fed into the receiver.
07:25He estimated 200 rounds remaining.
07:28Maybe more.
07:29He grabbed the gun by its handles and pulled it toward a better position.
07:32Ten yards forward.
07:33Behind a small rise that would give him cover and a clear field of fire.
07:37He dragged the bodies of the four dead Americans with him.
07:40He positioned them as sandbags around the gun.
07:43It was not respect.
07:44It was necessity.
07:45He settled behind the weapon.
07:46The Japanese were still coming.
07:48Wave after wave.
07:50Some wore uniforms.
07:51Some wore rags.
07:53Some were wounded and could barely walk.
07:55They came anyway.
07:56Officers with swords.
07:58Soldiers with rifles.
07:59Civilians with bamboo spears.
08:01They screamed as they charged.
08:03Solomon opened fire.
08:05The Browning roared.
08:06Thirty caliber rounds tore through the advancing Japanese.
08:09Men fell.
08:10The gun kicked against his shoulder.
08:12He held it steady.
08:13Short bursts.
08:14Three to five rounds.
08:16Conserve ammunition.
08:17Pick targets.
08:18Leading soldiers first.
08:20Officers next.
08:21Anyone carrying a weapon.
08:23The belt fed smoothly through the mechanism.
08:25Brass casings ejected and piled up beside him.
08:28The barrel glowed orange in the pre-dawn darkness.
08:31The Japanese kept coming.
08:32Solomon kept firing.
08:34His training as a machine gunner came back immediately.
08:37Traverse left.
08:38Traverse right.
08:39Overlapping fields of fire.
08:40Deny them an approach route.
08:42Make them pay for every yard.
08:44Bodies piled up in front of his position.
08:46Ten.
08:47Twenty.
08:48Thirty.
08:48The attack did not slow.
08:50More Japanese soldiers appeared from the darkness.
08:52They climbed over their own dead to reach him.
08:55Solomon felt something hit his leg.
08:57He looked down.
08:58Blood.
08:58He had been shot.
08:59He did not know when.
09:01He kept firing.
09:02Another impact.
09:03His shoulder.
09:04He ignored it.
09:05The Browning was everything now.
09:06Keep the belt feeding.
09:08Keep the barrel cool.
09:09Keep firing.
09:10The wounded Americans were still evacuating behind him.
09:13They needed time.
09:14He would give them time.
09:15The ammunition belt ran out.
09:17Solomon reached for another.
09:19His hands were covered in blood.
09:20His blood or someone else's he could not tell.
09:23He loaded the new belt.
09:24The gun jammed.
09:25He cleared it.
09:26Started firing again.
09:28The Japanese were closer now.
09:29Twenty yards.
09:31Fifteen.
09:31He could see their faces.
09:33Young men.
09:34Old men.
09:34Desperate men.
09:35He killed them all.
09:37Dawn broke over Saipan.
09:38The sky turned gray.
09:40Then pink.
09:41Then orange.
09:41Solomon had been firing for over an hour.
09:44His position was surrounded by Japanese dead.
09:46He estimated sixty.
09:48Maybe seventy.
09:49He had lost count.
09:50More were coming.
09:51He could see them forming up for another charge.
09:54His ammunition was running low.
09:55He had been shot multiple times.
09:57He could feel his strength fading.
09:59The machine gun was his only friend now.
10:01As long as it kept firing, he kept living.
10:04The sun rose higher.
10:06The temperature climbed.
10:07Saipan in July was brutally hot.
10:10The machine gun barrel glowed white.
10:12Water in the cooling jacket boiled.
10:14Steam hissed from the vents.
10:16Salomon fired in shorter bursts now.
10:19The barrel could not handle sustained fire anymore.
10:22Three rounds.
10:23Pause.
10:24Three rounds.
10:25Pause.
10:26Each burst dropped another Japanese soldier.
10:28Around him, the battle raged across the entire 2nd Battalion front.
10:33The Japanese bonsai charge had torn a hole through American lines.
10:37The 1st Battalion was being overrun.
10:39The 2nd Battalion was fighting for survival.
10:42Scattered groups of American soldiers held isolated positions.
10:45Some foxholes still had defenders.
10:48Others were silent.
10:49The Japanese kept pushing south toward the beach.
10:51Toward the supply dumps.
10:53Toward the artillery positions.
10:55Salomon could not see the bigger picture.
10:57He only knew his sector.
10:59The ground in front of his machine gun.
11:01Japanese soldiers kept appearing from the smoke and dust.
11:04He killed them.
11:05They fell.
11:06More appeared.
11:07He killed those too.
11:09The pile of bodies in front of his position grew larger.
11:1280.
11:1290.
11:13He stopped counting.
11:14His job was simple.
11:16Keep firing until the guns stopped or he stopped.
11:19Another bullet hit him.
11:20His right arm.
11:21He switched to firing with his left hand on the trigger.
11:24His right hand worked the ammunition belt.
11:26Blood ran down both arms.
11:29His uniform was soaked.
11:30Red mixed with sweat.
11:32He could taste copper in his mouth.
11:34He had been shot in the face.
11:35He did not remember when.
11:37His vision blurred.
11:38He blinked it clear.
11:39The machine gun kept firing.
11:41Behind him, the American line was reforming.
11:44Officers were gathering survivors.
11:46Pulling men back from forward positions.
11:49Establishing a new defensive perimeter.
11:51Artillery was firing now.
11:52Heavy shells screamed overhead and exploded in the Japanese rear.
11:57The reinforcements were coming.
11:58The 2nd Marine Division was moving up from reserve.
12:01Help was on the way.
12:03But not yet.
12:04Not for another hour.
12:05Maybe two.
12:06Solomon did not know any of this.
12:08He only knew the Japanese were still coming.
12:11His ammunition was running critically low.
12:13He had two belts left.
12:15Maybe 300 rounds total.
12:17At his current rate of fire, that gave him 10 minutes.
12:20Maybe 15.
12:21Then the gun would be empty.
12:23Then he would be dead.
12:24He felt his position shifting.
12:26The ground beneath him was unstable.
12:28Too much blood.
12:29Too many bodies.
12:31The machine gun was sinking into the mud.
12:33He tried to reposition it.
12:34His legs would not work properly.
12:36He looked down.
12:38Both legs were bleeding.
12:39Multiple wounds.
12:40Bullet holes.
12:41Bayonet cuts.
12:42He could not remember taking those hits.
12:44The adrenaline had masked the pain.
12:46Solomon dragged himself in the machine gun to a new position.
12:50Five yards to the right.
12:52Better elevation.
12:53Clearer field of fire.
12:54He left a blood trail behind him.
12:56He set up the gun again.
12:58Loaded a fresh belt.
12:59Started firing.
13:00The Japanese had not noticed him moving.
13:03They charged the old position.
13:05He cut them down from the flank.
13:06Twenty more fell.
13:08The bonsai charge was losing momentum.
13:10The Japanese had been attacking for three hours now.
13:13Their numbers were thinning.
13:14The initial wave of 4,000 had been reduced to hundreds.
13:18Then dozens.
13:19American artillery was taking a toll.
13:21Machine gun fire from other positions was tearing them apart.
13:25The charge was collapsing.
13:26But it was not over yet.
13:28A group of Japanese soldiers spotted Solomon.
13:31They changed direction.
13:32Came straight at him.
13:33Fifteen men.
13:35Maybe twenty.
13:36They were close.
13:37Twenty-five yards.
13:38Twenty.
13:39Solomon traversed the gun and fired directly into them.
13:42The range was point blank.
13:44The bullets went through multiple bodies.
13:46The group disintegrated.
13:48Three men were still standing.
13:49They kept coming.
13:51Solomon killed two.
13:52The third reached his position.
13:53The Japanese soldier jumped over the dead bodies.
13:56He landed in front of the machine gun.
13:58He raised his rifle with a bayonet.
14:01Solomon was out of time.
14:03The gun was pointed the wrong direction.
14:05He could not traverse it fast enough.
14:07The soldier lunged.
14:08Solomon grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands.
14:11It was scalding hot.
14:13His skin burned.
14:14He swung the entire weapon like a club.
14:17Forty-seven pounds of steel and water smashed into the soldier's head.
14:21The man dropped.
14:23Solomon repositioned the gun.
14:25Loaded his last ammunition belt.
14:27He estimated 150 rounds remaining.
14:29The Japanese charge was faltering now.
14:32Groups of soldiers were retreating back toward their lines.
14:35The American artillery had found their range.
14:37Shells were landing among the retreating Japanese.
14:40The bonsai charge was broken.
14:43But small groups were still probing American positions.
14:46Looking for weak points.
14:48Looking for ways through.
14:49Solomon kept firing.
14:51He would hold this position until the gun ran dry or he died.
14:55Whichever came first.
14:56He looked at the ammunition belt.
14:58100 rounds left.
15:00Maybe 90.
15:01He could feel himself getting weaker.
15:03The bleeding would not stop.
15:04He counted his wounds.
15:07Eight that he could see.
15:08Probably more that he could not.
15:10His right lung was making a strange, whistling sound.
15:13Punctured.
15:14His vision was narrowing.
15:16Tunnel vision.
15:17A sign of blood loss.
15:18He had maybe minutes left.
15:20Maybe less.
15:21But the machine guns still had bullets.
15:23And Japanese soldiers were still out there.
15:26Solomon kept his finger on the trigger.
15:28As long as one remained, so did the other.
15:31By 0800, the bonsai charge had spent itself.
15:35The Japanese had thrown everything they had at the American lines.
15:384,000 soldiers.
15:40Walking wounded.
15:41Officers.
15:42Civilians.
15:43They were broken now.
15:45Scattered groups retreated north toward the remaining Japanese positions.
15:49American artillery pursued them.
15:51Shells landed among the retreating men.
15:53Few made it back.
15:55The 2nd Battalion counted their losses.
15:57The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 105th Infantry Regiment had been devastated.
16:03Over 400 men killed.
16:04Over 500 wounded.
16:06Two entire battalions reduced to scattered survivors.
16:09Officers gathered whoever they could find.
16:12Sergeants counted heads.
16:13The numbers were catastrophic.
16:15Companies that had entered the battle with 150 men could muster 20.
16:20Platoons were gone entirely.
16:22The battalion commander ordered a tactical withdrawal.
16:24Pull back to defensible positions.
16:27Reorganize.
16:28Count ammunition.
16:29Treat the wounded.
16:31Establish a new perimeter.
16:32The survivors fell back toward the beach.
16:35They moved slowly.
16:36Exhausted.
16:37Many were wounded themselves.
16:39They helped each other.
16:40Dragged the seriously wounded.
16:42Left the dead where they fell.
16:43They would come back for the bodies later.
16:45Nobody knew what had happened to Captain Salomon.
16:48The last anyone saw him, he was heading toward a machine gun position near the forward line.
16:53That position was now deep inside what had been Japanese-held ground.
16:57The area was still dangerous.
16:59Pockets of Japanese soldiers remained.
17:02Snipers.
17:02Holdouts.
17:03Wounded men with grenades.
17:05The Americans could not safely reach that section of the battlefield yet.
17:09The thirty wounded soldiers who had been in Salomon's aid station made it back to the
17:13regimental medical station.
17:15Most survived.
17:16They told the medical staff what they had seen.
17:19Captain Salomon fighting hand-to-hand inside the tent.
17:22Four Japanese soldiers dead at his feet.
17:25Him ordering them to evacuate.
17:27Him grabbing a rifle and walking out of the tent alone.
17:30Nobody knew what happened after that.
17:32The American forces regrouped throughout the morning.
17:35The 2nd Marine Division moved up from reserve.
17:37Fresh troops.
17:38Full ammunition.
17:40They began pushing north.
17:41Slowly reclaiming the ground lost during the Banzai Charge.
17:45Artillery pounded Japanese positions.
17:47Aircraft strafed anything that moved.
17:49The Americans advanced carefully, checking every foxhole.
17:53Every crater.
17:55Every body.
17:56By noon, the temperature on Saipan reached 95 degrees.
18:00The sun beat down on the battlefield.
18:02The smell was overwhelming.
18:04Thousands of bodies, American, Japanese, baking in the tropical heat.
18:09Medics moved through the battlefield, checking for survivors.
18:12They found few.
18:14Most of the wounded from both sides had died hours ago.
18:17The Japanese had lost over 4,000 men in the Banzai Charge.
18:21It was the largest single attack of its kind in the Pacific Theater.
18:25And it had failed.
18:26The American lines had bent.
18:28They had not broken.
18:29The reinforcements had arrived.
18:31The perimeter had held.
18:33By 1800 hours on July 7th, the Americans had reclaimed all the ground lost during the attack.
18:39The Japanese were pushed back to their starting positions, and then beyond.
18:43But the cost had been enormous.
18:45The 105th Infantry Regiment was combat ineffective.
18:49They would need weeks to rebuild.
18:51Replacements would need to be brought in.
18:53Officers would need to be promoted.
18:55Equipment would need to be replaced.
18:57The regiment had been gutted.
18:58As the Americans advanced through the battlefield, they found machine gun positions.
19:03Most had been overrun.
19:05Gun crews killed.
19:06Weapons destroyed.
19:07Japanese bodies piled around defensive positions.
19:10Evidence of desperate last stands.
19:12Americans who had held their ground and died doing it.
19:16One position caught the attention of a patrol from the 27th Division.
19:20A Browning machine gun.
19:21Still set up.
19:22Still pointing north.
19:24The gun was surrounded by bodies.
19:26Japanese bodies.
19:27Dozens of them.
19:28Piled three and four deep.
19:30The patrol approached carefully.
19:32They checked for survivors.
19:33They found none.
19:35Slumped over the machine gun was an American.
19:37A captain.
19:38His uniform was soaked with blood.
19:40The patrol leader checked for identification.
19:43Captain Benjamin L. Solomon.
19:45Dental Corps.
19:462nd Battalion Surgeon.
19:47The patrol leader was confused.
19:49What was a dentist doing behind a machine gun?
19:51They examined the position more carefully.
19:53The bodies of four American soldiers had been arranged around the gun as cover.
19:58A blood trail led from another position, 15 yards away.
20:02Captain Solomon had moved the gun during the battle.
20:04While wounded.
20:05The patrol counted the Japanese bodies in front of the position.
20:09Forty.
20:09Fifty.
20:10Sixty.
20:11They kept counting.
20:12The number climbed.
20:14One of the soldiers noticed something.
20:16Captain Solomon's body was riddled with wounds.
20:18The soldier started counting.
20:20Bullet holes.
20:21Bayonet cuts.
20:22The chest.
20:23The arms.
20:24The legs.
20:25The face.
20:26The wounds were everywhere.
20:27This man had been hit dozens of times.
20:30How had he kept fighting?
20:31The patrol leader radioed back to battalion headquarters.
20:34They had found Captain Solomon.
20:36He was dead.
20:37The battalion wanted details.
20:39The patrol leader looked at the scene around him.
20:41The machine gun.
20:42The bodies.
20:43The blood.
20:44He did not know where to begin.
20:45The patrol leader called for Captain Edmund G. Love.
20:49Love was the 27th Division historian.
20:51His job was to document significant events.
20:54Record heroic actions.
20:56Gather evidence for awards and commendations.
20:59When Love arrived at the position, he understood immediately why he had been summoned.
21:03Love had seen combat.
21:05He had seen brave men die.
21:06He had documented Medal of Honor actions before.
21:09But he had never seen anything like this.
21:11He walked the perimeter of the position slowly.
21:14Making notes.
21:15Taking measurements.
21:16The Japanese bodies formed a semi-circle in front of the machine gun.
21:20The killing zone extended 30 yards forward.
21:23Nothing had survived in that arc of fire.
21:25Love ordered his team to count the bodies.
21:27Carefully.
21:28Accurately.
21:29They started at the closest and worked outward.
21:3210.
21:3320.
21:3430.
21:34The count continued.
21:3640.
21:3750.
21:38The bodies were stacked in some places.
21:40Men had climbed over their own dead to reach the gun.
21:4260.
21:4470.
21:4580.
21:45The team kept counting.
21:47When they finished, they were counted to verify.
21:5098 Japanese soldiers lay dead in front of Captain Salomon's position.
21:54Love then turned his attention to Salomon's body.
21:56He needed to document everything.
21:58The position of the body.
22:00The condition of the weapon.
22:01The nature of the wounds.
22:03This was evidence.
22:04It would be needed for the official report.
22:06Love began his examination.
22:08Captain Salomon was slumped over the Browning machine gun.
22:11His hands were still on the weapon.
22:13His finger was near the trigger.
22:14He had died fighting.
22:16Love carefully documented the body's position.
22:19Then he began counting the wounds.
22:20He started with the most obvious.
22:22Bullet holes.
22:24He found them in the chest.
22:25The abdomen.
22:26The arms.
22:27The legs.
22:28Multiple entry wounds.
22:30Some had exit wounds.
22:31Others did not.
22:32The bullets were still inside.
22:34Love counted methodically.
22:3510 wounds.
22:3715.
22:3820.
22:38He moved to the back of the body.
22:40More wounds.
22:41The shoulders.
22:42The spine.
22:43Captain Salomon had been shot from multiple directions.
22:46Front.
22:47Side.
22:47Back.
22:48He had continued fighting while surrounded.
22:5030 wounds.
22:5140.
22:52Love's count climbed higher.
22:5450.
22:5560.
22:5570.
22:56When he finished counting bullet wounds,
22:58he had documented 76 separate gunshot injuries.
23:01Then Love noticed the bayonet wounds.
23:03These were different from gunshots.
23:05Puncture marks.
23:06Slash marks.
23:08Evidence of close combat.
23:09After Salomon had been shot multiple times.
23:12After he was likely dying or dead.
23:14The Japanese had continued to attack his body.
23:17Love counted these wounds separately.
23:19He stopped counting after documenting two dozen bayonet marks.
23:22There were likely more.
23:24Love consulted with the battalion medical officer.
23:26They examined the wounds together.
23:28Their conclusion was disturbing.
23:30Based on blood flow patterns and tissue damage, approximately 24 of the wounds had been inflicted
23:35while Captain Salomon was still alive.
23:38Still conscious.
23:39Still fighting.
23:40The man had been shot and stabbed two dozen times.
23:43And he had kept firing the machine gun.
23:45Love interviewed the survivors from Salomon's aid station.
23:48The 30 wounded soldiers who had escaped.
23:51They described what they saw.
23:52Salomon fighting hand to hand.
23:54Killing four Japanese soldiers with his bare hands and bayonet.
23:58Ordering them to evacuate.
24:00Walking out of the tent with a rifle.
24:02Every witness statement corroborated the others.
24:04The story was consistent.
24:06Love gathered eyewitness accounts from other soldiers who had seen Salomon during the battle.
24:10A sergeant reported seeing him firing the machine gun at 0600.
24:14The position was already surrounded by Japanese dead.
24:17A corporal saw him repositioning the gun at 0700.
24:20The man was clearly wounded.
24:22Blood visible on his uniform.
24:24But he kept firing.
24:26Love documented the blood trail.
24:27It showed that Salomon had moved the machine gun at least twice during the battle.
24:31Dragging the 47 pound weapon while wounded.
24:34Setting it up in new positions.
24:36Maintaining his field of fire.
24:38The blood trail was substantial.
24:40Evidence of severe hemorrhaging.
24:41Most men would have collapsed.
24:43Salomon had kept fighting.
24:45Love compiled his findings into a detailed report.
24:48He included witness statements.
24:50Photographs of the position.
24:51A sketch map showing the location of bodies.
24:54Technical analysis of the wounds.
24:56Estimation of ammunition expended.
24:58Timeline of events.
25:00Everything needed for an official recommendation.
25:02On July 10, 1944, Brigadier General Ogden J. Ross reviewed Love's report.
25:09Ross was the assistant commander of the 27th Division.
25:12He had authority to recommend awards.
25:14He read the report carefully.
25:16Then he read it again.
25:17The evidence was overwhelming.
25:19Captain Benjamin L. Salomon had performed an action worthy of the Medal of Honor.
25:24The highest military decoration in the United States.
25:27Ross signed the recommendation.
25:29He forwarded it to Major General George W. Greiner.
25:32Greiner was the commanding general of the 27th Division.
25:35Final Approval Authority.
25:36The recommendation reached Greiner's desk on July 12.
25:40Greiner read it.
25:41He studied the evidence.
25:43The witness statements.
25:44The photographs.
25:45The body count.
25:46Everything pointed to extraordinary heroism.
25:50Then Greiner noticed something in Captain Salomon's service record.
25:53Dental Corps.
25:54Medical Officer.
25:55Non-combatant status.
25:57Greiner consulted the Geneva Convention.
25:59Article 24.
26:01Medical personnel are protected persons.
26:03They may not bear arms against the enemy.
26:05Salomon had not only borne arms.
26:08He had used a machine gun.
26:09A crew-served weapon.
26:11An offensive weapons system.
26:13Greiner made his decision.
26:14He denied the recommendation.
26:16His official statement was clear.
26:18Captain Salomon wore a Red Cross Broussard on his arm.
26:21Under the rules of the Geneva Convention,
26:23no medical officer can bear arms against the enemy.
26:26The Medal of Honor recommendation was returned to Captain Love.
26:30Denied.
26:30No further action.
26:31The telegram arrived at the Salomon family home in Los Angeles on July 15th, 1944.
26:38The War Department regretted to inform them that Captain Benjamin L. Salomon had been killed in
26:43action on Saipan on July 7th.
26:45The family was devastated.
26:47Ben's father had already heard stories about his son from other soldiers.
26:51The boy who wanted to be a soldier.
26:53The dentist who became a hero.
26:55But the War Department telegram contained no details about how he died.
26:59Captain Love did not forget about Benjamin Solomon.
27:02The denial from General Greiner troubled him.
27:04The evidence was overwhelming.
27:06The action was clearly worthy of the Medal of Honor.
27:09But the Geneva Convention argument had stopped the process.
27:12Love filed his report in the division archives.
27:15He documented everything.
27:17He kept copies of all witness statements.
27:19He preserved the photographs.
27:21Someday, he thought, someone might reopen this case.
27:24The war ended in August 1945.
27:27Japan surrendered.
27:29American forces returned home.
27:31The 27th Infantry Division was deactivated.
27:34Soldiers scattered across the country.
27:36They returned to civilian life.
27:38Many tried to forget what they had seen.
27:40Some could not.
27:41The veterans of Saipan carried those memories forever.
27:44In 1951, Captain Love tried again.
27:47He was no longer in the military.
27:49He was a civilian historian.
27:51But he still had all his documentation from Saipan.
27:54He had kept everything.
27:55Witness statements.
27:57Photographs.
27:58Maps.
27:58He submitted a new recommendation for Captain Solomon's Medal of Honor
28:02through the Office of the Chief of Military History.
28:04This was the proper channel for delayed awards.
28:07For cases that had been overlooked during wartime.
28:10The recommendation was reviewed.
28:12The evidence was examined.
28:14The conclusion was the same.
28:15Captain Solomon's actions were heroic.
28:18They met all criteria for the Medal of Honor.
28:20But there was a problem.
28:21A new problem.
28:23The time limit for submitting World War II awards had expired.
28:27Congress had established a deadline.
28:29All Medal of Honor recommendations had to be submitted within a certain period after the war ended.
28:34That deadline had passed.
28:36The recommendation was returned to Captain Love.
28:39No action taken.
28:40Official reason?
28:41Time limit expired.
28:43Love was told that nothing more could be done.
28:45The case was closed.
28:47He filed his documentation again.
28:49Kept his copies.
28:50Waited.
28:50Years passed.
28:52The Korean War came and went.
28:54The Vietnam War began.
28:56A new generation of soldiers fought.
28:58New heroes emerged.
29:00New medals were awarded.
29:01Benjamin Solomon remained forgotten.
29:03His family knew he had died heroically.
29:06But they had no official recognition.
29:08No medal.
29:09No ceremony.
29:10Just a telegram from 1944.
29:12In 1968, Dr. John I. Ingle became Dean of the University of Southern California School of Dentistry,
29:19the same school where Benjamin Solomon had graduated in 1937.
29:24Ingle was friends with Solomon's father.
29:25The old man told him about his son.
29:28The dentist who wanted to be a soldier.
29:30The hero of Saipan.
29:32The medal of honor that was denied.
29:34Ingle was outraged.
29:36He decided to do something about it.
29:38Ingle contacted Major General Robert B. Shira.
29:41Shira was the chief of the Army Dental Corps in 1968.
29:44Ingle explained the situation.
29:46Showed him the documentation he had obtained.
29:49Asked him to reopen the case.
29:51Shira agreed.
29:52This was an injustice that needed to be corrected.
29:54He began the process of reconstructing the award recommendation.
29:58The problem was that most records had been lost.
30:01The original 1944 recommendation could not be located.
30:05The 1951 submission had disappeared.
30:08None of the paperwork existed in official files anymore.
30:11Shira had to start from scratch.
30:13He contacted Captain Love.
30:15Love still had his copies.
30:16He had kept them for 24 years.
30:19Everything was still there.
30:20In 1969, Lieutenant General Hal B. Jennings took over as Surgeon General of the United States Army.
30:26He reviewed the Solomon case.
30:28He read all the evidence.
30:30He consulted with legal experts about the Geneva Convention issue.
30:33The interpretation had changed since 1944.
30:37Modern understanding of international law allowed medical personnel to use weapons in self-defense.
30:42And in defense of their patients.
30:45Solomon had been protecting wounded soldiers.
30:48That was defensive action.
30:50Not offensive.
30:51Jennings submitted a new Medal of Honor recommendation in 1969.
30:55It went through proper channels.
30:57Up the chain of command.
30:58Each level reviewed and approved.
31:01The recommendation reached the Secretary of the Army in 1970.
31:04Stanley R. Resor was Secretary of the Army.
31:07He read the recommendation.
31:09He approved it.
31:10He forwarded it to the Secretary of Defense with his endorsement.
31:13The recommendation sat on the desk of the Secretary of Defense.
31:17Weeks passed.
31:18Months passed.
31:19Then it came back.
31:21No action taken.
31:22No explanation given.
31:24Just returned without approval.
31:26The case was dead again.
31:27R. Resor tried to find out why.
31:29He made inquiries.
31:30He pushed for answers.
31:32The response was vague.
31:33Policy considerations.
31:35Timing issues.
31:36Nothing specific.
31:37The recommendation was filed away.
31:39Again.
31:40The Solomon family was told that the case had been reviewed.
31:43That it had been denied.
31:45Again.
31:46No medal would be awarded.
31:47The family accepted this.
31:49What else could they do?
31:51Benjamin Solomon had died 26 years earlier.
31:54The war was ancient history now.
31:56Vietnam was the current war.
31:58Nobody cared about Saipan anymore.
32:00But one person still cared.
32:02Dr. Robert West joined the University of Southern California
32:05School of Dentistry faculty in 1992.
32:08He learned about Benjamin Solomon.
32:10The school's most famous graduate.
32:12The hero who was never recognized.
32:15West read everything he could find.
32:16He studied the case.
32:18He became convinced that this was an injustice.
32:21In 1998, West decided to try one more time.
32:25Dr. Robert West was not a military historian.
32:28He was a dentist.
32:29A professor.
32:30But he understood bureaucracy.
32:31He understood how to build a case.
32:33He knew that previous attempts had failed because they went through military channels.
32:38The military had rejected Solomon five times already.
32:41West needed a different approach.
32:43He needed political pressure.
32:45West contacted Congressman Brad Sherman.
32:48Sherman represented California's 27th congressional district.
32:52His district included the University of Southern California.
32:55West explained the case to Sherman.
32:57Showed him the documentation.
32:59The evidence.
33:00The witness statements.
33:02The photographs from 1944.
33:04Sherman was convinced.
33:06This was a legitimate injustice.
33:08He agreed to help.
33:09Sherman had power that previous advocates did not.
33:13He was a member of Congress.
33:14He could make inquiries that would be taken seriously.
33:17He could push departments that had ignored earlier requests.
33:21He began working the case through congressional channels.
33:23Asking questions.
33:25Demanding reviews.
33:27Making it clear that this issue would not go away.
33:30West also contacted Major General Patrick D. Scully.
33:33Scully had become the new chief of the Army Dental Corps.
33:37He was a strong advocate for dental officers.
33:40He believed that medical personnel who fought to save lives deserved recognition.
33:45Scully reviewed the Salomon case personally.
33:47He read all the documentation.
33:49He consulted with legal experts about the Geneva Convention issues.
33:53The legal interpretation was now clear.
33:56Salomon's actions were defensive.
33:58Protecting patients was within the rules.
34:01Scully threw his full support behind the recommendation.
34:04He used his position to push the case through Army channels.
34:07He coordinated with Sherman's congressional efforts.
34:10Together, they created pressure from two directions.
34:14Military and political.
34:15The combination was effective.
34:18The recommendation went to the Department of the Army.
34:20Then to the Department of Defense.
34:22Then to the White House.
34:24Each level required review.
34:26Legal analysis.
34:28Historical verification.
34:29The process took months.
34:31West and Sherman pushed at every delay.
34:33They would not let the case die again.
34:35In 2001, the recommendation reached the desk of President George W. Bush.
34:40The President reviewed the case personally.
34:43He read Captain Solomon's story.
34:45He examined the evidence.
34:47Ninety-eight enemy soldiers killed.
34:49Seventy-six wounds.
34:51Died protecting his patients.
34:53The President made his decision.
34:55The Medal of Honor would be awarded.
34:57On May 1, 2002, a ceremony was held at the White House.
35:01Dr. Robert West attended.
35:03He would accept the medal on behalf of the University of Southern California School of Dentistry.
35:09Captain Solomon had no surviving immediate family.
35:11His parents had died years earlier.
35:14The medal would go to his school.
35:15To be displayed.
35:16To be remembered.
35:18President Bush spoke at the ceremony.
35:20He described Captain Solomon's actions on Saipan.
35:23The bonsai charge.
35:25The hand-to-hand combat.
35:26The machine gun.
35:28The ninety-eight enemy soldiers.
35:30The seventy-six wounds.
35:31He explained why the medal had been delayed.
35:34The Geneva Convention interpretation.
35:36The bureaucratic obstacles.
35:38The five previous denials.
35:40The President was clear.
35:41This delay was wrong.
35:43Captain Solomon had earned this medal in 1944.
35:47He should have received it in 1944.
35:49The fact that it took 58 years to correct this injustice was shameful.
35:54But today, the injustice would be corrected.
35:57Today, Captain Benjamin L. Solomon would receive the recognition he deserved.
36:02President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Dr. West.
36:05The citation was read aloud.
36:07The official description of Captain Solomon's actions.
36:10The medical tent under attack.
36:13The wounded soldiers evacuated.
36:15The machine gun position.
36:17The ninety-eight enemy killed.
36:19The seventy-six wounds suffered.
36:21The ultimate sacrifice.
36:23West accepted the medal.
36:25He spoke briefly.
36:26He described Benjamin Solomon as a man who wanted to serve his country.
36:30Who was forced to be a dentist when he wanted to be a soldier.
36:33Who became both in the end.
36:35A healer who killed to save lives.
36:37A dentist who died like a warrior.
36:40West said the medal would be displayed at the USC School of Dentistry.
36:43Where students could see it.
36:45Where they could learn about the man who graduated from their school.
36:48Who gave everything for his patients.
36:51The ceremony ended.
36:52The medal was placed in a case.
36:54It would be transported to Los Angeles.
36:56To the University of Southern California.
36:59To the dental school.
37:00Where it remains today.
37:02A small blue ribbon with white stars.
37:05The Medal of Honor.
37:06The highest military decoration.
37:08Earned in 1944.
37:10Awarded in 2002.
37:12Fifty-eight years late.
37:13Captain Benjamin L. Solomon became one of only three dental officers to receive the Medal of Honor in American military
37:20history.
37:20He is the only one to receive it for direct combat action.
37:24The only dentist who earned it with a machine gun.
37:26The only medical officer whose Medal of Honor was delayed for more than half a century.
37:31The story of his death became required reading at the Army Medical Department.
37:36His actions are studied in military ethics courses.
37:39The question is always the same.
37:40Did Solomon violate the Geneva Convention?
37:43Or did he uphold the highest traditions of military medicine?
37:46The debate continues.
37:48But the medal has been awarded.
37:50The question is answered.
37:51Benjamin Solomon died on July 7th, 1944.
37:55He was 29 years old.
37:57He saved 30 wounded soldiers that morning.
37:59He killed 98 enemy soldiers.
38:02He took 76 bullets and bayonet wounds.
38:05He never left his machine gun.
38:07Fifty-eight years later, his country finally said thank you.
38:10The medal sits in a display case at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry.
38:15Students walk past it every day.
38:17Most stop to read the plaque.
38:19Captain Benjamin L. Solomon.
38:22Medal of Honor.
38:23Battle of Saipan.
38:24July 7th, 1944.
38:27Some students do not understand at first.
38:29A dentist with a Medal of Honor?
38:31Then they read the details.
38:33Ninety-eight enemy killed.
38:35Seventy-six wounds.
38:36They understand.
38:37The Army Medical Department uses Solomon's story in training.
38:41Medical officers study his case.
38:43The question is always presented.
38:45What would you do?
38:46Your aid station is being overrun.
38:48Your patients cannot evacuate on their own.
38:51Enemy soldiers are bayonetting wounded men.
38:53Do you run?
38:54Or do you fight?
38:56There is no correct answer.
38:58Only the answer Solomon gave.
38:59Military ethicists debate his case.
39:02Some argue he violated the Geneva Convention.
39:05Medical personnel are non-combatants.
39:07They must not bear arms.
39:09Others argue he upheld a higher duty.
39:12The duty to protect patients.
39:14The duty to save lives.
39:16Even if it meant taking lives.
39:18The debate will never be resolved.
39:20Both sides have valid arguments.
39:22But the men who survived because of Solomon never debated.
39:25They knew what he did.
39:26He gave them time to escape.
39:28He held the position so they could live.
39:31Thirty wounded soldiers walked away from that aid station.
39:33Most survived the war.
39:35They went home.
39:36They had families.
39:38Children.
39:39Grandchildren.
39:39All because one dentist picked up a machine gun.
39:42The mathematics are simple.
39:44Solomon saved thirty lives.
39:46He took ninety-eight.
39:47The arithmetic of war.
39:49The calculus of sacrifice.
39:51One man decided that his life was worth less than thirty others.
39:55He made that decision in seconds.
39:57He lived that decision for hours.
39:59He died for that decision.
40:00Benjamin Solomon wanted to be a soldier.
40:02The army made him a dentist.
40:05On Saipan, he became both.
40:07He healed men with his hands in the morning.
40:09He killed the enemy with a machine gun by afternoon.
40:12He died doing what he always wanted to do.
40:15Fighting for his country.
40:16Protecting his men.
40:18Being a soldier.
40:19His story asks uncomfortable questions.
40:22When does a healer become a warrior?
40:24When does medicine become warfare?
40:26When does saving American lives justify everything else?
40:29These questions have no easy answers.
40:32But they are worth asking.
40:33Because men like Solomon force us to think about duty.
40:37About sacrifice.
40:38About the cost of protecting those who cannot protect themselves.
40:42The Battle of Saipan lasted twenty-five days.
40:45Over three thousand Americans gave their lives.
40:48The island became a launching point for the air campaign that would end the war.
40:53B-29 bombers flew from Saipan's runways to strike the Japanese homeland.
40:58Every mission that took off from that airfield was made possible by the men who bled for that ground.
41:04Benjamin Solomon was one of thousands who died taking Saipan.
41:07But his death was different.
41:09Not because he killed more enemy soldiers than anyone else that day.
41:13Not because he suffered more wounds.
41:15But because he chose to stay.
41:17He could have retreated with his patience.
41:19He could have abandoned the position.
41:21He could have saved himself.
41:23He chose not to.
41:24That choice defines heroism.
41:27Not the killing.
41:28Not the suffering.
41:29The choice.
41:30The decision to put others first.
41:32To value their lives above your own.
41:34To die so they can live.
41:36That is what the Medal of Honor recognizes.
41:39Not courage.
41:40Not skill.
41:41Sacrifice.
41:42Saipan is quiet now.
41:44The battlefield is overgrown.
41:46Nature has reclaimed the ground where Americans fought and died.
41:50A marker stands near where Salomon's aid station was located.
41:54Near where he made his last stand.
41:56Name.
41:57Rank.
41:58Date.
41:59Medal of Honor.
42:00Nothing more is needed.
42:01The machine gun is gone.
42:03Salvaged decades ago.
42:04The ground has healed.
42:06The scars remain only in memory.
42:08But the story survives.
42:10Passed down through generations.
42:12From veterans to children.
42:14From teachers to students.
42:16From historians to viewers like you.
42:18The dentist who became a soldier.
42:20The healer who became a warrior.
42:22The man who died so 30 Americans could live.
42:25He got his wish.
42:27He died a soldier.
42:28Not a dentist.
42:29A soldier.
42:30He earned his medal.
42:3258 years late, but earned.
42:34Captain Benjamin L. Salomon.
42:3729 years old.
42:38The only dentist in American history to receive the Medal of Honor for direct combat.
42:4398 enemy soldiers in front of his gun.
42:4676 wounds in his body.
42:48And 30 Americans alive because he refused to leave.
42:51That is the story.
42:52And now you know it.
42:54But most people do not.
42:55Most people have never heard the name Ben Salomon.
42:58That is where you come in.
42:59Hit that like button right now.
43:01Not for us.
43:02For him.
43:03Every like sends this video to someone new.
43:06Someone who should know what this man did.
43:08Hit subscribe.
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43:11We dig through archives.
43:13Through official records.
43:14Through Medal of Honor citations to find men like Salomon.
43:18Men who were forgotten.
43:19Men who were denied.
43:21Men whose stories sat in filing cabinets for decades while the world moved on.
43:25We pull them out.
43:26We tell their stories.
43:28Every week.
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43:46Tell us if someone in your family served.
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43:50This comment section is not just a comment section.
43:53It is a roll call.
43:54And every name matters.
43:57Thank you for staying until the end.
43:59And thank you for making sure that Captain Ben Solomon finally gets what the United States Army denied him for
44:0558 years.
44:06Not just a medal.
44:08An audience.
44:08Let us know who has a chance.
44:08Let us know who has a chance.
44:08This is a performance.
44:08Let us know who has a chance.
44:09This is a Fury.
44:091st, this is a Fury.
44:09Let us know who has a chance.
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