Paced by tanks, 38th Division infantrymen were storming a narrow gorge, its 500-ft. walls honeycombed with Japanese caves, leading to Wawa Dam east of Manila. The tanks stalled in the bouldered terrain. So they called up lanky Charles R. Oliver Jr., who a year ago was a Wortham, Tex. high-school student, gave him a bazooka and appointed him spearhead.
The bazooka was borrowed and Charlie noticed that the sight was broken. A runner started back to battalion headquarters for a new sight, but the attack could not wait. With two scouts on his flanks to protect him, Charlie and his bazooka loader...
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