The struggle to control the Munda airstrip
A history column follows Ohio's 37th Infantry Division into New Georgia in July 1943 and two soldiers whose actions stood out.
Japanese Maj. Gen. Noboru Sasaki held the Munda airstrip on New Georgia with log-reinforced, camouflaged fortifications. His machine gunners waited until American troops were almost on top of them before opening fire, and at night his soldiers slipped into American lines. The tactics held the airstrip and wore down the young troops of the 43rd Infantry Division.
Two weeks into the campaign, Adm. William Halsey sent in two more divisions, the 25th and the 37th. The 37th’s 148th Regiment, Ohio National Guardsmen that included Pvt. Rodger Young, landed along with the 145th Regiment. By July 27 the 37th had reached the foot of Horseshoe Hill, a strong position covering the main inland approach to the airstrip.
There, Pfc. Frank Petrarca, a Guard medic from Cleveland, treated wounded men under machine-gun and mortar fire about 75 yards from the enemy. When the mortar fire moved closer, he shielded a badly wounded soldier with his own body and stayed with him until the man died.
On July 29, 1st Lt. Robert Sheldon Scott of Santa Fe, N.M., was leading his platoon up a hill overlooking the airstrip when the Japanese counterattacked and his men pulled back. Scott stayed behind a shattered tree stump and held off the attack with his carbine and grenades. He kept throwing grenades with his right hand after a head wound and a wound to his left hand. Inspired, his company charged and took the hill. They found he had thrown nearly three dozen grenades, and 28 enemy dead were counted in the bunkers he destroyed.
The column was part of a series that continued the following week. Official records: Medal of Honor citations for Frank Petrarca, Robert S. Scott and Rodger Young. More local military history: Willis Lodge in Tokyo Bay. More in Community.