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New Guinea, somewhere
off the Papuan coast.

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Early this morning, soldiers
of the 33rd Division,

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under the command
of Colonel Samuel A.

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Damon, seized control of a
Japanese-held airstrip in a

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daring raid that caught the
enemy totally by surprise.

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Under cover of darkness,
a strike force was ferried

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across a lightly defended
stretch of the Watabu River

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and encircled the left flank
of the Japanese perimeter.

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While an artillery attack
diverted the enemy's

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attention, Damon marched his
men 17 miles through heavy

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jungle and came up behind
the airstrip, attacking

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its rear defenses.

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Although outnumbered by a
ratio of 3 to 1, the strike

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force hit so quickly and so
efficiently that nearly half

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the Japanese defenders were
killed or wounded within the

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first 30 minutes of fighting.

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The airstrip was
secured by daybreak.