Nine Men Left at Dawn | Military History Talks

September 20, 1944. Hill 100, Peleliu. Captain Pope, 25, led Company C up Suicide Ridge. Machine guns tore through them. Mortars rained. Men fell everywhere. Pope kept climbing. Reached the summit with survivors. Japanese waves came all night. Machine guns jammed. Ammo gone. Water gone. Pope's men threw rocks. Used fists against bayonets. Grenades rolled down. They kicked them back. Dawn broke. Only nine left standing from the company. Pope ordered withdrawal, covering each man. He survived, lived to 90. Before passing in 2009, he said: "I just did what any Marine would do. Those eight men—they were the heroes." Medal of Honor couldn't capture the truth: some men refuse to break. Follow for more.