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Lieutenant Colonel William O’Brien’s decision to stand in an exposed jeep with a .50 caliber machine gun became one of the most dramatic moments of the Battle of Saipan. As 4,500 Japanese soldiers surged through a gap in the American line during the largest banzai charge in the Pacific War, O’Brien kept fighting after his pistols, rifle, and then the jeep-mounted Browning M2 all ran hot and empty. The battle on the Tanapag Plain turned into a brutal test of infantry defense, leadership, and sheer endurance.
This military history story follows the chaos of the night attack, the hand-to-hand fighting, and the desperate improvisation that helped stop the charge. It also traces the stand of Private Thomas Baker and Captain Benjamin Solomon, whose actions on the same day became part of the same extraordinary Saipan story. The result is a powerful World War II battlefield narrative about courage under fire, defensive doctrine, and the cost of holding the line.
For listeners who enjoy WW2 stories, combat history, battlefield analysis, and narrated military history, this Saipan story offers a gripping look at the Pacific War. It is ideal for fans of history documentaries, war stories, and tactical accounts of the Battle of Saipan, the banzai charge, and the men who fought it.
SEO: WW2 history, Battle of Saipan, Pacific War, military history narration, banzai charge, World War 2 stories, battlefield story, war documentary style, infantry combat, combat history, and historical narration for listeners who enjoy detailed war stories and military analysis.
This military history story follows the chaos of the night attack, the hand-to-hand fighting, and the desperate improvisation that helped stop the charge. It also traces the stand of Private Thomas Baker and Captain Benjamin Solomon, whose actions on the same day became part of the same extraordinary Saipan story. The result is a powerful World War II battlefield narrative about courage under fire, defensive doctrine, and the cost of holding the line.
For listeners who enjoy WW2 stories, combat history, battlefield analysis, and narrated military history, this Saipan story offers a gripping look at the Pacific War. It is ideal for fans of history documentaries, war stories, and tactical accounts of the Battle of Saipan, the banzai charge, and the men who fought it.
SEO: WW2 history, Battle of Saipan, Pacific War, military history narration, banzai charge, World War 2 stories, battlefield story, war documentary style, infantry combat, combat history, and historical narration for listeners who enjoy detailed war stories and military analysis.
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 0445 on July 7, 1944, Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph O'Brien stood in the center
00:06of his battalion's defensive line on the Tanapag Plain in northern Saipan, watching
00:124,500 Japanese soldiers emerge from the darkness 200 yards away.
00:1744 years old, 24 years in the Army, 3 weeks in Hell, the Japanese had gathered every soldier
00:25capable of walking for the largest bonsai charge in the Pacific War.
00:30O'Brien's 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, had landed on Saipan's southern beaches
00:35on June 16.
00:37The mission was simple, secure the island, put B-29 bombers within striking distance of
00:43Tokyo.
00:44But the Japanese commander, Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito, had 31,000 troops waiting.
00:50Every cave, every ridge, every yard of volcanic rock was defended.
00:55By July 6, O'Brien's battalion had pushed the Japanese into a narrow pocket on the
01:00island's northern tip.
01:02His men were exhausted, low on ammunition.
01:05The 1st and 2nd Battalions had lost 650 men killed or wounded in three weeks.
01:1111 rifle companies were down to half strength.
01:14Some platoons had 15 men left.
01:16O'Brien knew what was coming.
01:18Japanese prisoners had warned that Saito was ordering a final suicide attack.
01:23Every able-bodied soldier, every walking wounded, even civilians with sharpened bamboo spears.
01:29The Japanese called it yokusai, honorable death.
01:33The Americans called it a bonsai charge.
01:36Either way, it meant the same thing.
01:38Human wave.
01:39No retreat.
01:41No surrender.
01:42O'Brien's battalion held a thin line 250 yards from the beach.
01:461st Battalion on the left.
01:482nd Battalion on the right.
01:50A gap existed between them.
01:52Not enough men to fill it.
01:54O'Brien had requested reinforcements.
01:56None were available.
01:57The entire 27th Infantry Division was stretched thin across the northern plain.
02:02The night of July 6, Japanese soldiers probed the American lines.
02:07Testing for weak points.
02:08O'Brien walked his defensive positions.
02:11Checked ammunition levels.
02:13Made sure every foxhole had extra grenades.
02:16He told his company commanders to fix bayonets.
02:18This wasn't going to be a firefight.
02:20This was going to be hand-to-hand.
02:23At 0430, the probing stopped.
02:26Silence settled over the plain.
02:28O'Brien stood near his command post, listening.
02:31That's when he heard it.
02:33Thousands of voices.
02:34Singing.
02:35Chanting.
02:36Screaming.
02:37The Japanese were working themselves into a frenzy.
02:40Drinking sake.
02:42Saying prayers.
02:43Preparing to die.
02:45Then came the charge.
02:464,500 Japanese soldiers poured through the gap between 1st and 2nd Battalions.
02:52Officers in front.
02:54Waving swords.
02:55Screaming at the tops of their lungs.
02:57Behind them came waves of infantry.
02:59Some had rifles.
03:01Some had bayonets tied to sticks.
03:03Some had rocks.
03:04Some had nothing but bare hands.
03:07Major Edward McCarthy, commanding 2nd Battalion, said it looked like a cattle stampede from a western movie.
03:13Except the cattle kept coming.
03:15And they wanted to kill you.
03:16O'Brien grabbed the two pistols he always carried.
03:20Colt 1911s.
03:2145 caliber.
03:23He ran forward into the mass of his men.
03:25Started firing.
03:26Left hand.
03:27Right hand.
03:28Shouting encouragement.
03:30Telling them to hold the line.
03:32Not to give up an inch.
03:33The Japanese wave crashed into the American positions.
03:37Hand-to-hand fighting erupted everywhere.
03:40Bayonets.
03:40Rifle butts.
03:42Entrenching tools.
03:43Men wrestling in the dark.
03:45The defensive line began to crack.
03:47Small pockets of Americans were getting cut off.
03:50Surrounded.
03:51O'Brien kept moving.
03:53Firing his pistols.
03:54A Japanese soldier lunged at him with a sword.
03:57O'Brien shot him.
03:58Another came from the left.
04:00O'Brien dropped him.
04:01His presence steadied the men.
04:03If their colonel was fighting in the middle of it, they could too.
04:07Then O'Brien's pistols ran dry.
04:09He grabbed a rifle from a wounded soldier.
04:12Kept firing.
04:13The Japanese kept coming.
04:14Wave after wave.
04:16O'Brien took a round to the shoulder.
04:18The impact spun him around.
04:20Blood soaked through his uniform.
04:22His men tried to pull him back.
04:23He refused.
04:25Kept firing the rifle until it too ran empty.
04:28That's when O'Brien saw the jeep.
04:30If you want to see what O'Brien did with that jeep, please hit that like button.
04:34It helps us share more stories like this one.
04:37And please subscribe if you haven't already.
04:39Back to O'Brien.
04:4150 yards behind the front line sat a Willie's jeep.
04:44Mounted on the back was an M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun.
04:48The gunner was dead.
04:50Slumped over the weapon.
04:51O'Brien ran to it.
04:53Pushed the body aside.
04:55Grabbed the charging handle.
04:56Racked it back.
04:57The bolt slammed forward.
04:59He squeezed the trigger.
05:00The gun roared to life.
05:02O'Brien stood upright in the back of that jeep.
05:05Fully exposed.
05:06No cover.
05:07No protection.
05:08The .50 caliber bucked in his hands.
05:11550 rounds per minute.
05:13Every fifth round, a tracer.
05:15He swept the gun across the mass of Japanese soldiers charging his position.
05:19Men fell in rows.
05:21But the Japanese didn't stop.
05:23They kept coming.
05:24Straight at the jeep.
05:25Straight at O'Brien.
05:27And he had no idea if he had enough ammunition to stop them all.
05:32The M2 Browning was never designed for a jeep.
05:35The weapon weighed 84 pounds.
05:37The recoil shook the entire vehicle with every burst.
05:41But O'Brien didn't care.
05:42He stood in that open jeep and poured fire into the charging Japanese forces.
05:47The .50 caliber round was devastating.
05:50It had been designed near the end of World War I to pierce aircraft armor.
05:54Against human targets, the effect was catastrophic.
05:57A single round could pass through three men.
06:01The heavy bullets tore through bone and tissue.
06:04Japanese soldiers charging in tight formations gave O'Brien perfect targets.
06:08He fired in short bursts.
06:10Three to five rounds.
06:12Swept left.
06:13Swept right.
06:13The tracers drew bright lines through the darkness.
06:16Every fifth round glowed red-orange.
06:19O'Brien used them to adjust his aim.
06:21He could see the impacts.
06:23See men falling.
06:24But for every man who fell, three more took his place.
06:28The Japanese charge had split into multiple waves.
06:31The first wave hit the gap between 1st and 2nd battalions.
06:35Thousands of soldiers pushing through.
06:37The second wave was hitting the flanks, trying to roll up the American positions from both sides.
06:42The third wave was moving toward the artillery batteries positioned 500 yards behind the infantry line.
06:48O'Brien's position gave him a clear field of fire across the gap.
06:52He concentrated on the soldiers pouring through.
06:55The jeep sat on slightly elevated ground.
06:58He could see over the heads of his own men.
07:00Could track the mass of Japanese infantry pushing forward.
07:03His wounded shoulder burned.
07:05Blood ran down his arm.
07:07Made the machine gun grip slippery.
07:09But O'Brien kept firing.
07:11The adrenaline overrode the pain.
07:13He had one job.
07:15Stop this charge.
07:16Or his entire battalion would be overrun.
07:19American soldiers in the foxholes below watched their colonel standing fully exposed in that jeep.
07:25Japanese bullets snapped past him.
07:27Mortar rounds exploded nearby.
07:29Shrapnel pinged off the jeep's metal body.
07:32O'Brien never flinched.
07:34Never ducked.
07:35Just kept firing.
07:36The sound was deafening.
07:38The M2 had a distinct hammering rhythm.
07:40Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
07:43550 rounds per minute translated to 9 rounds per second.
07:48The barrel began to glow red from the heat.
07:50The ammunition cans mounted on the jeep held 400 rounds total.
07:55O'Brien was burning through them fast.
07:58Around O'Brien's position, the battle had devolved into chaos.
08:01American soldiers were fighting with everything they had.
08:05Rifles, bayonets, entrenching tools, rocks.
08:10Some positions reported Japanese soldiers armed only with sharpened bamboo spears.
08:15Others faced enemy troops swinging samurai swords.
08:19Private Thomas Baker, positioned in Company A, about 200 yards from O'Brien,
08:25was delivering devastating fire with his M1 Garand.
08:29Baker was 29 years old.
08:31A former factory worker from Troy, New York.
08:34Same hometown as O'Brien.
08:35He'd already distinguished himself earlier in the campaign
08:38by single-handedly destroying a Japanese strongpoint.
08:42Now, he was cutting down attackers as fast as he could pull the trigger.
08:46But the sheer weight of numbers was overwhelming.
08:50Japanese soldiers were breaking through the American lines in multiple places.
08:54Small groups of defenders were being isolated.
08:57Cut off.
08:58The defensive line was fragmenting into desperate pockets of resistance.
09:02500 yards behind O'Brien, the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine's Artillery Battery,
09:08was taking direct hits from the charge.
09:10Japanese soldiers had punched through the infantry line and were now attacking the howitzers.
09:15The gun crews abandoned their artillery pieces and fought with rifles and pistols.
09:21Some used the artillery themselves, firing canister rounds point-blank into the mass of attackers.
09:28Each canister shell contained hundreds of steel balls, like a giant shotgun.
09:33The effect at close range was horrific.
09:36O'Brien changed ammunition cans.
09:38His hands moved automatically.
09:40Release the empty.
09:41Snap in the fresh belt.
09:43Charge the weapon.
09:44Resume firing.
09:45He'd done this hundreds of times in training.
09:47Now he was doing it under combat conditions while standing in an exposed jeep with a wounded shoulder.
09:53The sky was beginning to lighten.
09:56Dawn was approaching.
09:57O'Brien could see better now.
09:59Could see the full scale of what was happening.
10:02Thousands of Japanese bodies littered the ground in front of the American positions.
10:06But thousands more were still coming.
10:08The charge showed no signs of stopping.
10:11Then, O'Brien's jeep-mounted machine gun jammed.
10:14The bolt locked open.
10:15The barrel was too hot.
10:17The weapon had overheated.
10:19O'Brien slapped the charging handle.
10:21Nothing.
10:22The gun was done.
10:24And the Japanese were less than 50 yards away from his position.
10:28Closing fast.
10:29Screaming.
10:30Waving swords and bayonets.
10:33O'Brien stood in that jeep with a useless machine gun.
10:36His wounded shoulder throbbing.
10:38His battalion fragmenting.
10:39And 4,000 Japanese soldiers still attacking.
10:43He had seconds to make a decision.
10:45Abandon the jeep and fall back.
10:47Or find another weapon and keep fighting.
10:52O'Brien didn't abandon the jeep.
10:54He grabbed the charging handle again.
10:56Yanked it back.
10:57Hard.
10:58The hot metal burned his palm.
11:01The bolt stayed locked.
11:03The barrel was glowing cherry red.
11:05500 rounds in less than 10 minutes had overheated the weapon beyond its operational limits.
11:11The M2 Browning had a design flaw.
11:14Unlike water-cooled machine guns, the air-cooled barrel could only sustain so much continuous fire before the metal expanded
11:21and the weapon seized.
11:22Standard doctrine called for firing in short bursts with cooling pauses.
11:27O'Brien hadn't had time for cooling pauses.
11:31He looked at the barrel.
11:32Steam rose from the metal.
11:34The weapon needed at least five minutes to cool.
11:37O'Brien didn't have five minutes.
11:39He had maybe 30 seconds before the Japanese reached the jeep.
11:44Around him, the battle raged.
11:46American soldiers were fighting hand-to-hand in their foxholes.
11:50Rifle butts cracking skulls.
11:52Bayonets thrust into bodies.
11:54Men grappling in the dirt.
11:56The noise was overwhelming.
11:58Screaming.
12:00Gunfire.
12:01Explosions.
12:02The metallic smell of blood mixed with cordite smoke.
12:05O'Brien made a decision.
12:07He couldn't fix the gun.
12:08But he could keep fighting.
12:11He jumped down from the jeep.
12:12His boots hit the ground hard.
12:14The impact sent pain shooting through his wounded shoulder.
12:18He ignored it.
12:19Scanned for a weapon.
12:20Any weapon.
12:2120 feet away lay a dead American soldier.
12:24An M1 Garand rifle beside him.
12:27O'Brien ran to it.
12:29Scooped up the rifle.
12:30Checked the magazine.
12:32Three rounds left.
12:33Better than nothing.
12:34He fired all three into the nearest Japanese soldiers.
12:38Dropped the empty Garand.
12:40Looked for another weapon.
12:41The ground was littered with dead and wounded from both sides.
12:45Rifles.
12:46Pistols.
12:47Grenades.
12:48O'Brien grabbed a carbine from another fallen soldier.
12:51This one had a full magazine.
12:5315 rounds.
12:55He started firing.
12:57Methodical.
12:57Aimed shots.
12:59He'd been trained as an infantryman decades ago.
13:02The skills came back automatically.
13:04But O'Brien wasn't just fighting.
13:06He was rallying his men.
13:08His presence on the line made a difference.
13:11Soldiers who saw their colonel standing upright.
13:13Wounded.
13:14Still firing.
13:16Found their own courage.
13:17They stopped thinking about falling back.
13:20Started thinking about holding ground.
13:22Sergeant John Breen.
13:24Fighting in a foxhole 30 yards from O'Brien.
13:26Later said he saw his colonel moving through the chaos like he was invincible.
13:30Taking weapons from the dead.
13:32Firing.
13:34Moving.
13:34Finding more ammunition.
13:36Never stopping.
13:37Never retreating.
13:39The battle had been raging for over an hour.
13:42The initial Japanese wave had punched through in multiple places.
13:45But now, the momentum was shifting.
13:48The American defenders were adapting.
13:51Artillery batteries that hadn't been overrun were firing over open sites.
13:55Canister rounds.
13:57High explosive.
13:58Anything they had.
13:59Marines from reserve positions were counterattacking from the flanks.
14:03But the center of the line, where O'Brien's battalion fought, was still under massive pressure.
14:09Japanese soldiers kept coming.
14:11The charge wasn't stopping.
14:13It was a suicide attack in the truest sense.
14:16The attackers knew they were going to die.
14:18They just wanted to take as many Americans with them as possible.
14:22O'Brien's carbine ran dry.
14:25He dropped it.
14:26Picked up a Thompson submachine gun.
14:28The weapon was heavier than the carbine.
14:30.45 caliber.
14:32Same round as his pistols.
14:3420-round stick magazine.
14:36O'Brien fired in controlled bursts.
14:39The Thompson's rate of fire was lower than the .50 caliber, but it was devastating at close range.
14:44Around him, other soldiers were doing the same thing, fighting with whatever they could find.
14:50The defensive line had become a collection of individual fights.
14:54Small groups of Americans surrounded by Japanese attackers.
14:57No organized formations.
14:59Just survival.
15:01200 yards to O'Brien's right, Private Baker was still fighting.
15:06He'd been wounded.
15:07A bullet to the leg.
15:08But Baker refused to leave his position.
15:11He sat in his foxhole, firing his Garand methodically.
15:15Every shot counted.
15:17Every shot dropped an attacker.
15:19Baker's position had become an anchor point for Company A.
15:22As long as he was firing, the men around him kept fighting.
15:26500 yards behind O'Brien, Captain Benjamin Salomon, the battalion dentist, was facing his own crisis.
15:33Salomon had volunteered to run the aid station when the battalion surgeon was wounded.
15:38Now that aid station was being overrun.
15:41Japanese soldiers were killing the wounded Americans lying on stretchers.
15:45Salomon fought back.
15:46He killed four Japanese soldiers with his bare hands and a scalpel.
15:50Then grabbed an M1 rifle and started firing.
15:53But the situation was hopeless.
15:55Too many Japanese.
15:57Too few defenders.
15:59Salomon ordered the wounded who could walk to evacuate.
16:02Then he grabbed a machine gun.
16:04Back on the line, O'Brien's Thompson ran empty.
16:07He looked around for more weapons.
16:09More ammunition.
16:10But he was running out of options.
16:12The Japanese were pressing from three sides now.
16:15His position was becoming untenable.
16:17And the sun was fully up.
16:19He could see the entire battlefield.
16:21See how desperate the situation really was.
16:25O'Brien saw something that made him move.
16:27The jeep.
16:28The .50 caliber.
16:29The barrel had been cooling for several minutes.
16:32Maybe enough.
16:33Maybe the gun would fire again.
16:35If it would, he could stop this wave.
16:38If it wouldn't, he was out of options.
16:42O'Brien ran back to the jeep.
16:44His legs burned.
16:46His shoulders screamed.
16:47Blood loss was making him lightheaded.
16:49But he climbed back into that exposed position.
16:52Grabbed the charging handle of the .50 caliber.
16:54Pulled it back.
16:55The bolt moved.
16:57Sluggish.
16:58But it moved.
16:59The barrel had cooled enough.
17:01Barely.
17:02O'Brien chambered a round.
17:04Aimed at the mass of Japanese soldiers 50 yards away.
17:08Squeezed the trigger.
17:09The gun fired.
17:10One round.
17:12Two rounds.
17:13Three rounds.
17:14Then it jammed again.
17:16O'Brien cursed.
17:17Slapped the charging handle.
17:19The bolt wouldn't move.
17:20The barrel was still too hot.
17:22The weapon needed more time.
17:24Time he didn't have.
17:26Japanese soldiers were closing in.
17:28Forty yards now.
17:29He could see their faces.
17:31See the determination.
17:32The willingness to die.
17:34He had no choice.
17:36O'Brien jumped down from the jeep again.
17:38Looked for any weapon he could find.
17:40Saw a pile of grenades near a destroyed foxhole.
17:43Grabbed three.
17:44Pulled the pin on the first one.
17:46Threw it into the advancing mass.
17:48The explosion scattered bodies.
17:50He threw the second grenade.
17:52Then the third.
17:52Each explosion bought him precious seconds.
17:56The sun was fully up now.
17:58O'Brien could see the full scale of the carnage.
18:01Japanese bodies covered the ground in front of the American positions.
18:04Hundreds of them.
18:06Piled three and four deep in some places.
18:08But the attack wasn't stopping.
18:11More Japanese soldiers were climbing over their own dead to reach the American line.
18:16American casualties were mounting too.
18:18The first battalion had started the night with approximately 800 men.
18:23O'Brien could see that number dropping by the minute.
18:26Foxholes that had held three soldiers now held one.
18:29Some positions were empty.
18:31Overrun.
18:32The soldiers either dead or forced to fall back.
18:35Major McCarthy's second battalion was in similar condition.
18:38The gap between the two battalions had become a killing field.
18:42Bodies from both sides littered the ground.
18:45The Japanese had exploited that gap perfectly.
18:48Thousands had poured through.
18:50Now they were behind the front line.
18:52Attacking from multiple directions.
18:53O'Brien grabbed another rifle.
18:56Started firing.
18:57He was operating on instinct now.
19:00Training.
19:00Experience.
19:0124 years in the army.
19:03All of it distilled into this moment.
19:06Pick up weapon.
19:07Fire.
19:08Drop weapon.
19:09Find another.
19:10Keep moving.
19:11Keep fighting.
19:13200 yards away.
19:14Private Baker's situation had become critical.
19:17He'd been wounded again.
19:18This time in the arm.
19:20Blood soaked his uniform.
19:22His foxhole was surrounded.
19:24Japanese soldiers were closing in from three sides.
19:27Baker's rifle was empty.
19:29No more ammunition.
19:30The men who'd been fighting beside him were dead or had fallen back.
19:34A soldier tried to pull Baker from the foxhole.
19:37Tried to evacuate him.
19:39But Baker refused.
19:40He knew he was too badly wounded to move fast.
19:43Knew he would slow down anyone trying to carry him.
19:46Knew he would get them killed.
19:48Baker made a request.
19:50Leave him propped against a tree.
19:52Give him a pistol.
19:53A Colt 1911.
19:55Eight rounds in the magazine.
19:57The soldier hesitated.
19:59Then nodded.
20:00Did as Baker asked.
20:01Positioned him facing the enemy.
20:04Handed him the loaded pistol.
20:05Then ran.
20:06Baker waited.
20:08Japanese soldiers approached.
20:10He let them get close.
20:11Then started firing.
20:13One round.
20:14One target.
20:15He made every shot count.
20:17Five hundred yards behind the front line.
20:20Captain Solomon had mounted a Browning .30 caliber machine gun.
20:24The aid station was completely overrun.
20:27The wounded had evacuated.
20:29Solomon was alone.
20:30But he wasn't leaving.
20:31He positioned the machine gun to cover the route the wounded had taken.
20:36Started firing at the Japanese soldiers pursuing them.
20:39Solomon fired continuously.
20:41The .30 caliber didn't have the range or power of O'Brien's .50 caliber.
20:45But at close range, it was lethal.
20:48Japanese soldiers fell in waves.
20:51But they kept coming.
20:53Solomon moved the gun.
20:54Found better position.
20:56Kept firing.
20:57He moved it three more times.
20:59Always finding better fields of fire.
21:02Always covering the retreat of the wounded.
21:04Back on the main line, O'Brien returned to the jeep.
21:07The .50 caliber had been cooling for another five minutes.
21:10He had to try again.
21:12Had to get that weapon working.
21:14It was the only thing with enough firepower to stop this charge.
21:17He climbed into the jeep.
21:19Grabbed the charging handle.
21:20Pulled it back.
21:22The bolt moved smoothly this time.
21:24The barrel had cooled enough.
21:26O'Brien chambered around.
21:28Aimed.
21:29Fired.
21:29The gun roared to life.
21:31The familiar hammering rhythm filled his ears.
21:35O'Brien stood upright again.
21:36Fully exposed.
21:37The same position that had drawn fire earlier.
21:40He didn't care.
21:41He swept the gun across the Japanese forces.
21:44Cut down entire ranks.
21:46But something was different now.
21:48The Japanese charge was beginning to falter.
21:50Not stopping.
21:51But slowing.
21:53The momentum was gone.
21:54Too many casualties.
21:56Too much firepower.
21:57The human wave was breaking apart.
22:00American reinforcements were arriving.
22:02Marines from reserve positions.
22:04Artillery crews who'd abandoned their guns and were fighting as infantry.
22:07Tank destroyers rolling up from the beach.
22:10The tide was turning.
22:12O'Brien kept firing.
22:14The .50 caliber bucked in his hands.
22:16Japanese soldiers were now less than 30 yards away.
22:19Close enough to throw grenades.
22:21Close enough to charge with bayonets.
22:23And O'Brien had no idea if his ammunition would last long enough to stop them before they reached his
22:28position.
22:31O'Brien's ammunition belt was running low.
22:33He could see the end of it feeding into the gun.
22:36Maybe 50 rounds left.
22:38Maybe less.
22:39The Japanese were 25 yards away now.
22:42Close enough that he could see their expressions.
22:44The rage.
22:45The determination.
22:46The acceptance of death.
22:48He kept firing.
22:50Short controlled bursts.
22:51Making every round count.
22:53The .50 caliber rounds tore through the advancing soldiers.
22:56But for every man who fell, another stepped over the body.
23:00The charge was losing momentum, but it wasn't stopping.
23:03The jeep's suspension creaked under the recoil.
23:06The vehicle was never designed for this.
23:08Jeeps were reconnaissance vehicles.
23:10Light transport.
23:11The M2 Browning weighed more than the entire jeep's rated cargo capacity.
23:16Every burst pushed the vehicle backwards slightly.
23:19Dug the tires deeper into the volcanic soil.
23:22O'Brien's wounded shoulder was beyond pain now.
23:25Nerve damage.
23:26Blood loss.
23:27Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him upright.
23:30His vision was narrowing.
23:31Tunnel vision.
23:32A sign of shock.
23:34But his hand stayed steady on the machine gun grips.
23:36Around him, the American defensive line was holding.
23:40Barely.
23:41Reinforcements from the 4th Marine Division had arrived on the right flank.
23:45Fresh troops with full ammunition.
23:47They were pushing back against the Japanese penetration.
23:50Closing the gaps.
23:51Re-establishing the line.
23:53Tank destroyers were rolling up from the beach.
23:55M10 Wolverines.
23:5776mm guns.
23:59They positioned themselves behind the infantry line
24:01and started firing high explosive rounds into the remaining Japanese forces.
24:06Each shell killed dozens.
24:08The explosions threw bodies into the air.
24:10But the center of the line, where O'Brien stood, was still under direct assault.
24:15The Japanese had concentrated their final push there.
24:18Hundreds of soldiers were charging straight at his position.
24:21Straight at that jeep-mounted .50 caliber.
24:24O'Brien's ammunition ran out.
24:26The bolt locked back on an empty chamber.
24:28The gun was silent.
24:30No more belts.
24:31No more rounds.
24:31He'd fired approximately 800 rounds in the last 20 minutes.
24:36The barrel was glowing red again.
24:38Smoke rose from the weapon.
24:41Japanese soldiers were 15 yards away.
24:44Charging.
24:45Screaming.
24:46Officers with swords leading the way.
24:49O'Brien looked down at the jeep.
24:51Saw a rifle lying on the passenger seat.
24:54Grabbed it.
24:55Jumped down from his exposed position.
24:57Started firing from behind the jeep's minimal cover.
25:00The rifle gave him another 8 rounds.
25:02He fired them all.
25:04Dropped 8 more attackers.
25:06Then, the rifle was empty.
25:08O'Brien threw it aside.
25:10Looked for another weapon.
25:12Found a bayonet lying in the dirt.
25:14Picked it up.
25:15The Japanese were 10 yards away now.
25:18Around O'Brien, American soldiers saw what was happening.
25:22Saw their colonel preparing to fight with a bayonet against hundreds of enemy troops.
25:27Several men started moving toward him.
25:29Trying to reach his position.
25:31Trying to help.
25:32But they were cut off.
25:34Surrounded by their own fights.
25:36O'Brien stood there with that bayonet.
25:38His back to the jeep.
25:40Blood soaking through his uniform.
25:42His shoulder useless.
25:44But he was still standing.
25:46Still fighting.
25:47And he was still shouting at his men.
25:49His voice carried across the battlefield even now.
25:53The same message he'd been giving all night.
25:55Hold the line.
25:57Don't give them a damn inch.
25:59The Japanese soldiers reached him.
26:02Swords flashing in the morning sun.
26:04O'Brien fought back.
26:06The bayonet was short.
26:08Designed for close quarters.
26:10He used it.
26:11Thrust.
26:12Parry.
26:13Block.
26:13The movements were automatic.
26:16Training from decades ago.
26:17But he was wounded.
26:19Exhausted.
26:20Losing blood.
26:22More Japanese soldiers surrounded the jeep.
26:25O'Brien was fighting three.
26:26Then five.
26:28Then ten.
26:29He couldn't hold them all off.
26:31The mathematics were simple.
26:33One wounded man against hundreds.
26:35The outcome was inevitable.
26:38Sergeant Breen.
26:39Fighting from his foxhole.
26:41Saw the moment O'Brien went down.
26:43Saw the mass of Japanese soldiers around the jeep.
26:46Saw the swords falling.
26:49Then the mass moved on.
26:51Continuing their charge.
26:52Leaving O'Brien behind.
26:54The battle raged for another ten hours.
26:58The Japanese charge finally broke around noon.
27:01American forces had killed or wounded most of the attackers.
27:04The survivors retreated into the hills.
27:06Some committed suicide rather than surrender.
27:09Others fought until they were killed.
27:11By 1800 hours, the Tanapag plane was secure.
27:15The butcher's bill was catastrophic.
27:181st and 2nd battalions of the 105th Infantry Regiment had nearly been wiped out.
27:24406 killed.
27:26512 wounded.
27:27Out of approximately 1,600 men who'd started the battle,
27:31less than 700 were still combat effective.
27:34Japanese casualties were even worse.
27:374,311 confirmed dead in front of the 105th's positions.
27:42The largest bonsai charge in Pacific War history had failed.
27:46But it had come close.
27:48Very close.
27:49If the American line had broken,
27:51if the artillery had been overrun,
27:53if the reinforcements had arrived five minutes later,
27:56the outcome could have been different.
27:57When American soldiers cleared the battlefield the next morning,
28:01they found O'Brien's body.
28:03He was still near the jeep, surrounded by 30 dead Japanese soldiers.
28:07The bayonet was still in his hand.
28:09His eyes were open, facing the enemy.
28:12Even in death, Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph O'Brien hadn't retreated.
28:19Private Thomas Baker never left that tree.
28:21When American forces retook his position later that day,
28:25they found him slumped against the trunk.
28:27The pistol was empty.
28:29Eight dead Japanese soldiers lay in a semicircle around him.
28:33Baker had fired every round.
28:35Made every shot count.
28:37Just like he'd promised.
28:39Captain Benjamin Solomon's body was found at his machine gun position.
28:43He'd been hit 76 times.
28:46Bullets, bayonets, sword wounds.
28:49But Solomon had moved that machine gun four times during the battle.
28:53Always finding better fields of fire.
28:56Always covering the retreat of the wounded.
28:58When they found him,
29:0098 dead Japanese soldiers were piled in front of his position.
29:03Three men.
29:05Three different positions.
29:07Three different weapons.
29:08All three had made the same choice.
29:11Stand and fight.
29:12Buy time for their comrades.
29:15Accept death rather than retreat.
29:17O'Brien with his .50 caliber and bayonet.
29:20Baker with his eight-round pistol.
29:22Solomon with his machine gun.
29:25All three from the same division.
29:27All three fighting in the same battle.
29:30All three giving everything.
29:32The Battle of Saipan ended two days later on July 9th.
29:36The island was declared secure.
29:38But the horror didn't end there.
29:40In the days that followed,
29:42Marines and soldiers watched helplessly
29:44as hundreds of Japanese civilians committed mass suicide.
29:47They jumped from the northern cliffs
29:49rather than surrender to American forces.
29:52Japanese propaganda had convinced them
29:54the Americans would torture and kill them.
29:56Mothers threw their children off the cliffs.
29:59Then jumped themselves.
30:01The strategic impact of Saipan was immediate.
30:04The island put Tokyo within range of B-29 bombers.
30:08Long-range strategic bombing could now reach the Japanese homeland.
30:11The loss was so catastrophic for Japan
30:14that Prime Minister Hideki Tojo resigned.
30:17The Japanese government understood what Saipan meant.
30:20The war was lost.
30:22But the cost had been staggering.
30:24American forces suffered nearly 3,000 killed
30:27and over 10,000 wounded.
30:29The 27th Infantry Division,
30:31which bore the brunt of the Banzai Charge,
30:33lost almost a third of its strength.
30:35Some rifle companies ceased to exist as functioning units.
30:39The division spent the next nine months rebuilding
30:41before it was committed to combat again at Okinawa.
30:45Japanese casualties were apocalyptic.
30:4829,000 defenders killed.
30:50Nearly the entire garrison.
30:53Only a few hundred survived.
30:55Captain Sakai Oba,
30:57who had led part of the Banzai Charge,
30:59escaped into Saipan's interior with 46 soldiers
31:02and protected 160 Japanese civilians.
31:06Oba conducted guerrilla operations
31:08for 16 more months.
31:09He finally surrendered on December 1, 1945.
31:13Four months after Japan's official surrender,
31:16the Medal of Honor nominations
31:18were filed immediately after the battle.
31:21O'Brien's citation documented everything.
31:23His actions on June 20,
31:25directing tanks under fire.
31:27June 28,
31:29leading the assault on a defended ridge.
31:31July 7,
31:32refusing evacuation when wounded
31:34and manning that jeep-mounted machine gun
31:37until killed.
31:38But the award process took time.
31:40The war was still raging.
31:42Forms had to be completed.
31:44Witnesses had to provide statements.
31:46The chain of command had to review and approve.
31:50O'Brien's widow waited.
31:51His son waited.
31:52The men who'd fought beside him waited.
31:55May 27, 1945.
31:58Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
32:01Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson
32:03presented the Medal of Honor to O'Brien's widow.
32:06The ceremony was held in O'Brien's hometown,
32:09the place where he'd grown up,
32:11where he'd joined the National Guard at age 18
32:13during World War I,
32:15where he'd spent 24 years preparing for one moment
32:18on a volcanic island 7,000 miles away.
32:22Private Baker received the Medal of Honor posthumously
32:25at the same ceremony.
32:27His family accepted it.
32:29The citation detailed his actions,
32:31refusing evacuation when wounded,
32:34fighting until his ammunition was exhausted,
32:36making his last stand with eight bullets.
32:38Captain Solomon was recommended for the Medal of Honor.
32:42But the Army rejected the nomination.
32:45Solomon was a medical officer, a dentist.
32:48Medical personnel were considered non-combatants
32:50under the Geneva Convention.
32:52The rule said medical officers
32:54couldn't receive combat awards,
32:55even if they'd killed 98 enemy soldiers
32:58while protecting wounded men.
33:01Solomon's case remained in bureaucratic limbo
33:03for 58 years.
33:05Veterans who'd witnessed his actions
33:07campaigned for the award,
33:08submitted new evidence,
33:10filed appeals.
33:11Finally, in May 2002,
33:14President George W. Bush presented
33:16the Medal of Honor to Solomon's family.
33:1858 years late,
33:20but finally recognized.
33:23Three men,
33:24three Medals of Honor,
33:26same unit,
33:27same day,
33:28same battle.
33:29That had never happened before
33:31in American military history,
33:33and it never happened again.
33:35In November 2009,
33:36Troy,
33:38Troy,
33:38New York,
33:38erected a memorial to O'Brien
33:39at the Rensselaer County Office Building.
33:42It honors him alongside
33:44two other Troy natives,
33:45Major General Ogden Ross
33:47and Sergeant Thomas Baker.
33:49All three had served
33:51in the 105th Infantry Regiment.
33:53All three had fought on Saipan.
33:55The memorial includes replicas
33:57of the Medals of Honor
33:58awarded to O'Brien and Baker.
33:59But the real memorial is simpler.
34:02It's the men who survived.
34:04The soldiers O'Brien bought time for.
34:06The wounded Solomon protected.
34:08The positions Baker held.
34:11Every man who lived.
34:13Because three men stood
34:14and fought.
34:16That's the real memorial.
34:19The tactical analysis
34:21of the July 7th Banzai Charge
34:23began immediately.
34:25Military intelligence officers
34:27studied what had worked
34:29and what had failed.
34:30Why had the Japanese charge
34:32come so close to succeeding?
34:34Why had it ultimately failed?
34:36The answers would shape
34:37American defensive doctrine
34:39for the rest of the Pacific War.
34:41The first lesson was obvious.
34:43Machine guns stopped Banzai charges.
34:46But not just any machine gun.
34:48The .50 caliber Browning M2
34:51proved decisive.
34:53Its range, power, and rate of fire
34:56created killing zones
34:57that even fanatical attackers
34:59couldn't cross.
35:00The smaller .30 caliber machine guns
35:03were effective
35:04but lacked the stopping power.
35:06A .50 caliber round
35:07hitting center mass
35:09dropped a man instantly.
35:11A .30 caliber required multiple hits.
35:13O'Brien's jeep-mounted .50 caliber
35:17had been improvised.
35:19Jeeps weren't supposed to mount
35:20heavy machine guns.
35:21The M31 pedestal mount
35:23was designed for .30 caliber weapons.
35:26Some units had modified them
35:28to accept .50 caliber guns
35:29but it wasn't standard.
35:31The recoil was too much
35:33for the light vehicle.
35:34The weapon was too heavy.
35:36But when you needed maximum firepower
35:38and didn't have a tank,
35:40a jeep-mounted .50 caliber
35:42was better than nothing.
35:43The Marine Corps took note.
35:46After Saipan,
35:47they standardized jeep-mounted
35:49heavy machine guns
35:50for defensive positions.
35:52The vehicles were positioned
35:53behind the front line
35:54with clear fields of fire.
35:56When Banzai charges came,
35:58the jeeps provided mobile firepower
36:00that could shift
36:01to threaten sectors.
36:02The tactics saved lives
36:04at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
36:07The second lesson was leadership.
36:08O'Brien's presence on the line
36:11had tangible effects.
36:12Soldiers fought harder
36:14when they saw their commander
36:15sharing the same risks.
36:17The data proved it.
36:18Positions near O'Brien
36:20held longer than positions
36:21where officers had stayed
36:23in command posts.
36:24Men who saw their colonel
36:26firing a .50 caliber
36:27from an exposed jeep
36:28didn't think about retreating.
36:30They thought about holding ground.
36:32The Army adjusted its doctrine.
36:34Junior officers and senior NCOs
36:37were instructed to be visible
36:38during defensive actions,
36:40not recklessly exposed
36:41like O'Brien,
36:42but visible,
36:43where their men could see them.
36:45Studies showed that
36:46small unit cohesion
36:47during Japanese night attacks
36:49correlated directly
36:50with leadership visibility.
36:52The third lesson
36:53was ammunition management.
36:55O'Brien had fired
36:57approximately 800 rounds
36:58through that .50 caliber
37:00in 20 minutes.
37:01That was excessive
37:02by doctrine standards.
37:03The M2 was designed
37:05for sustained fire
37:06of 40 to 50 rounds per minute.
37:08O'Brien had been firing
37:10nearly five times that rate.
37:12The weapon had overheated twice,
37:14had jammed repeatedly,
37:15but it had also stopped
37:17a human wave attack.
37:18The Army revised
37:19its ammunition allocations
37:21for defensive positions.
37:22More .50 caliber ammunition
37:24per gun,
37:25extra barrels for quick changes
37:27when weapons overheated,
37:29better supply chains
37:30to keep ammunition flowing
37:31to the front
37:32during extended battles.
37:33Saipan proved
37:35that in extreme circumstances,
37:37excessive fire
37:38was better than
37:38insufficient fire.
37:40The fourth lesson
37:41was gap defense.
37:42The Japanese had exploited
37:44the gap between
37:451st and 2nd battalions
37:46perfectly.
37:48O'Brien had requested
37:49reinforcements to fill it.
37:51None were available.
37:52The gap became
37:53the penetration point
37:54for 4,000 attackers.
37:57After Saipan,
37:58the 27th Infantry Division
38:00never left gaps
38:01in its defensive lines.
38:02If they didn't have
38:03enough men to fill a sector,
38:05they repositioned
38:06to shorten the line.
38:08Better to defend
38:08less ground
38:09with a solid line
38:10than more ground
38:11with gaps.
38:12The bonsai charge
38:14as a tactic
38:14essentially died at Saipan.
38:16The Japanese military command
38:18understood the mathematics.
38:204,000 attackers,
38:214,300 dead,
38:24less than 200 Americans
38:25killed in exchange.
38:26The exchange ratio
38:28was catastrophic.
38:29Bonsai charges
38:30accomplished nothing
38:31except hastening defeat.
38:33But individual Japanese units
38:35still attempted
38:35smaller charges
38:36throughout the rest of the war.
38:38At Peleliu,
38:39at Iwo Jima,
38:40at Okinawa,
38:41none approached
38:42the scale of Saipan.
38:44None succeeded
38:45in breaking American lines.
38:46The defenders had learned.
38:48Machine guns,
38:49leadership,
38:50ammunition,
38:52no gaps.
38:53The lessons from
38:54Tanapag Plain
38:55were applied
38:55across the Pacific.
38:56O'Brien's actions
38:57became case studies
38:58at the infantry school
38:59at Fort Benning.
39:00His decision to mount the jeep,
39:02his refusal to retreat
39:03when wounded,
39:04his continued fighting
39:05with multiple weapons.
39:06Future officers
39:07studied his choices,
39:09debated whether he should have
39:10stayed on the jeep
39:11or fallen back,
39:12whether the risk
39:13was justified,
39:14whether one man's courage
39:15could change the outcome
39:16of a battle.
39:17The answer was complicated.
39:19O'Brien had died.
39:20His death hadn't stopped
39:21the charge by itself,
39:22but his actions
39:24had bought time,
39:25had steadied his men,
39:26had killed dozens of attackers.
39:28The cumulative effect
39:29of his sacrifice,
39:30combined with Baker's stand
39:32and Solomon's defense,
39:33had prevented
39:33a complete breakthrough.
39:35Three men,
39:36three positions,
39:37three different moments
39:38where the line
39:39could have collapsed
39:39but didn't.
39:40Saipan changed
39:41the Pacific War,
39:42not just strategically
39:43with the B-29 bases,
39:45but tactically.
39:46The Americans learned
39:47how to defend
39:48against suicidal attacks.
39:49The Japanese learned
39:50that suicidal attacks
39:52failed against prepared defenses.
39:53The mathematics of attrition
39:55favored the side
39:56with more machine guns
39:57and more ammunition.
39:58And at Saipan,
40:00one colonel
40:00with a jeep-mounted .50 caliber
40:02had proven just how
40:03decisive machine gun fire
40:04could be
40:05against human wave tactics.
40:09Lieutenant Colonel
40:10William Joseph O'Brien
40:11was buried
40:12with full military honors
40:13at St. Peter's Cemetery
40:15in Troy, New York.
40:16The funeral procession
40:18stretched for blocks.
40:19Veterans from World War I
40:21marched alongside soldiers
40:23who'd fought on Saipan.
40:25The city of Troy
40:26shut down for the day.
40:27Every business closed.
40:29Every flag
40:30flew at half-mast.
40:32O'Brien had been
40:33one of their own,
40:34a local boy
40:35who'd spent
40:36his entire adult life
40:37preparing for one moment
40:39of supreme sacrifice.
40:41His widow received
40:42the Medal of Honor
40:43on his behalf.
40:44His son,
40:45William Jr.,
40:47stood beside her
40:47during the ceremony.
40:49The boy was 10 years old,
40:51old enough to understand
40:53that his father
40:54wasn't coming home.
40:55Old enough to understand
40:57what the medal meant,
40:58that his father
40:59had died a hero.
41:01But young enough
41:02to wish his father
41:03was just coming home
41:04instead.
41:05The 105th Infantry Regiment
41:07rebuilt.
41:08New replacements arrived.
41:10New officers took command.
41:12But the men
41:13who'd survived Saipan
41:15never forgot
41:16what happened
41:16on Tanapag Plain.
41:18They'd seen their colonel
41:19standing in that jeep.
41:21Seen him refuse
41:22to retreat when wounded.
41:24Seen him fight
41:25with pistols
41:25and rifles
41:26and a bayonet.
41:27Seen him die
41:29rather than give ground.
41:31Sergeant John Breen,
41:32who'd fought 30 yards
41:34from O'Brien's position,
41:35said it simply,
41:37Obie was one of the boys
41:38that day.
41:39He died right on
41:40the front line with us.
41:42That was the highest compliment
41:43an enlisted man
41:44could give an officer.
41:45Not that he led well.
41:47Not that he gave
41:48good orders.
41:49But that he was
41:50one of them.
41:51That he fought
41:52beside them.
41:53That he died
41:54with them.
41:55The Willys jeep
41:56that O'Brien used
41:57was never recovered.
41:59It was either destroyed
42:00in subsequent fighting
42:01or abandoned
42:03as scrap metal
42:03after the battle.
42:05But the M2
42:06Browning 50 caliber
42:07machine gun
42:08became legendary.
42:09That particular weapon
42:11was supposedly recovered
42:12and sent to the
42:13Ordnance Museum
42:14at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
42:15But the records are unclear.
42:18Thousands of 50 caliber
42:19Browning served
42:20in World War II.
42:21Tracking one specific weapon
42:23through the chaos
42:23of the Pacific War
42:24was nearly impossible.
42:26What matters
42:27isn't the physical weapon.
42:29It's what O'Brien
42:30did with it.
42:31He stood in an exposed jeep
42:32and fired 800 rounds
42:34in 20 minutes.
42:35Killed dozens
42:36of enemy soldiers.
42:37Bought precious time
42:39for his battalion.
42:40Proved that courage
42:41and firepower
42:42could stop even
42:43the largest bonsai charge
42:44in history.
42:45The Patton Museum
42:47at Fort Knox
42:47has exhibits
42:48on the 27th Infantry Division.
42:51Photographs from Saipan.
42:52Weapons used
42:53during the battle.
42:54The Medal of Honor
42:55citations for O'Brien,
42:57Baker, and Solomon.
42:58Visitors can read
42:59the official accounts.
43:01See the weapons.
43:02Understand what
43:03these men faced.
43:04Troy, New York
43:05maintains the memorial
43:06to O'Brien, Baker, and Ross.
43:09The city
43:09hasn't forgotten.
43:10Every Memorial Day,
43:12veterans gather there,
43:14lay wreaths,
43:15honor the men
43:16who left Troy
43:17and never came home.
43:18The memorial includes
43:19detailed plaques
43:20explaining what happened
43:22on Saipan,
43:23how three men
43:24from one city
43:25earned three medals
43:26of honor
43:26in one battle.
43:28The National World War II
43:29Museum in New Orleans
43:30has extensive
43:31Saipan exhibits.
43:33They include
43:34first-hand accounts
43:34from survivors
43:35of the bonsai charge,
43:37photographs
43:37of the aftermath,
43:38analysis of the tactics.
43:40One exhibit
43:41specifically focuses
43:42on the jeep-mounted
43:44.50 caliber machine guns
43:45and their effectiveness
43:46against human wave attacks.
43:48But the most important memorial
43:50isn't in a museum.
43:51It's in the doctrine.
43:53It's in the training manuals
43:54at infantry school.
43:56It's in the lessons learned
43:57that saved lives
43:58at Iwo Jima
43:59and Okinawa.
44:00O'Brien's sacrifice
44:01wasn't just heroic.
44:03It was instructive.
44:05Future soldiers learned
44:06from what he did,
44:07learned when to stand,
44:08when to fire,
44:10how to defend
44:11against suicidal attacks.
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44:59Lieutenant Colonel
45:00William O'Brien,
45:01Private Thomas Baker,
45:02and Captain Benjamin Solomon
45:04don't disappear
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