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Rebel mortars tossed four shells into U.S. positions east of the Ozama River. One evening a rebel tank drew up to the west side of Duarte Bridge and started lobbing shells at the paratroopers on the other side; the paratroopers finally destroyed the tank with seven rounds of 106-mm. recoilless-rifle fire. A sniper picked off a paratroop lieutenant in the U.S. corridor with a single shot in the temple. Two marines driving a water truck blundered into a rebel area, ran into a hail of rebel bullets. One Marine was wounded, captured and later released. The other was killed instantly; his body remained for a day sprawled across the truck, flies buzzing about his face, his feet stripped of boots.
The sharpest firefight came near the presidential palace, where a 30-man rebel patrol opened fire on loyalist troops, incidentally spraying nearby Marine and Airborne positions. In the exchange, two paratroopers were wounded. When corpsmen tried to reach them, they too were fired upon. Finally, after an hour, an Airborne colonel ordered a 3.5-in. rocket launcher to fire on the rebels. Four rockets ended the fight, with six rebels dead, nine wounded. Among the rebel dead: Colonel Rafael Fernández Dominguez, 34, a devoted Bosch follower, who had been serving as military attaché in Chile when the revolt broke out, and Juan Miguel Román, a well-known Dominican Communist who had served in the Castroite 14th of June movement.
Savoring Victory. After seven days of bitter fighting, Imbert's loyalists had driven most of the rebels out of the northern sector of Santo Domingo. And now the man who had won sudden fame and a general's rank by assassinating Dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo stepped out on a balcony of the Congressional Palace. Before him stood a cheering crowd of 2,500 supporters. "We have absolute control of the Dominican Republic," declared Imbert. "We will unify and guarantee the welfare of the entire Dominican family." "Down with Communism! Down with Communism!" chanted the crowd.
Savoring his victory, Imbert was still reluctant to negotiate a coalition government with Caamaño's rebels. Instead, he called for their unconditional surrender. The only truce he would agree to was a plea for a 24-hour ceasefire to remove the dead and wounded from the blasted northern section of Santo Domingo. Estimates put the casualties at 400 dead, possibly 1,000 wounded, and litter teams worked frantically to carry them out. The U.S. had set up a 60-bed Navy hospital and a 200-bed Army hospital, sent medicine and food to jammed Dominican hospitals. Paratroopers handed out free food to long lines of hungry people.