Most of another 2,100 men had suffered severe injuries from the cold. Of the Americans, 549 were killed in action and 1,148 were wounded. In the end, only 28 Japanese survived to be taken prisoner more than 2,300 lay dead on the barren island. Pulling the pins of their grenades, striking them on their helmets, and holding them under the chins, they committed one of the biggest mass suicides of World War II.

The 500 remaining Japanese soldiers knew that they had been beaten but would never surrender. By mid-afternoon the banzai attack was over. Too far away to help, Gray and his team helplessly witnessed the attack as it raged on for hours, moving farther away from them and closer to Engineer Hill. Yamazaki’s plan was to raid the American supply of food, weapons, and ammunition on Engineer Hill. Plunging their bayonets into the sleeping American soldiers, the Japanese screamed, “We die-you die, too!”

They charged forward into four American camps in the Sarana and Chichagof Valleys. Hidden by fog and darkness, and armed with bayonets tied to sticks and any other available weapons, Yamazaki and his 800 men had broken through the American front line. 30-caliber machine gun bullets and tracers…, making a weird Dante’s Inferno of the valley,” he recalled. But when he looked out over the cliff he saw something he would never forget: “Below us the entire valley, stretching about three miles long, from Chichagof Harbor to Engineer Hill, was criss-crossed in all directions by fiery streaks from trench mortar shells, 37mm cannon projectiles. It hadn’t been easy navigating in the dark and, to Gray, the rain felt like marbles pelting his face. They had just patrolled the immediate area and were glad to return.

In the predawn hours of May 29, George Gray and his team hiked back into camp, which was now located on the edge of a cliff overlooking Chichagof Valley.

Ghosts in the fog by samantha seiple