The Dentist who Fought an Entire BANZAI Charge Single-handedly (1 Man vs 98)

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simplehistory the dentist who fought an entire bonsai charge single-handedly 1944 world war ii a dentist often strikes fear into their patients the dreaded sound of the drill and the excruciating pain that comes with dental treatment is often too much for most of us to bear good dental health is important to a soldier too as they need to concentrate in battle and not be distracted by a painful toothache such a role was assigned to ben l solomon who was a dentist in the us army he was born in 1914 in milwaukee wisconsin and had a happy childhood being heavily involved in the boy scout movement solomon went on to university and then dental school when he graduated in 1937 he set up his own successful dental practice in los angeles but then in 1940 solomon was drafted into the us army as america prepared for war he was initially assigned to the infantry as a private and qualified as an expert in the use of small arms weaponry however he was quickly transferred to the army dental corps and was commissioned as a first lieutenant by all accounts he was an excellent soldier and liked by all those around him by 1944 he had risen to the rank of captain and had been assigned to the 27th infantry division whose nickname was the orion's roughnecks due to the unit's irish new york roots at the beginning of june 1944 solomon was finally about to taste combat for the first time when his division was transferred to pearl harbor in order to join a large u.s amphibious invasion force that was about to set off for the japanese held mariana islands the reason why this island group was so strategically important to the us was that capturing them would allow the new us b-29 super fortress heavy bombers to be stationed within range of the japanese mainland on june 15th after a massive u.s naval bombardment that had lasted for two days eight thousand marines supported by amphibious tanks landed ashore at saipan one of the most important islands in the mariana island group the japanese were well prepared on saipan with numerous minefields barbed wire pillboxes and entrenched troops they launched several major counter-attacks that included fighter bomber aircraft nevertheless by nightfall the us forces had secured a beachhead and were pouring ashore in increasing numbers the next day solomon and the roughnecks landed ashore and joined in the fighting over the next few weeks the japanese continued to counter attack again and again resulting in heavy casualties on both sides which often ended in bitter and bloody hand-to-hand fighting with the us casualties mounting solomon volunteered to move up to the front line to replace the battalion surgeon who had been severely wounded on july 7th just as the battle was finally coming to an end solomon found himself supervising a forward field aid station at the edge of the front line when the enemy unexpectedly launched their final major counter-attack in fact it was one of the largest assaults by the japanese during the whole of the pacific campaign in desperation five thousand japanese soldiers had charged forward with bayonets fixed in a near suicidal attempt to push the americans back the ill-prepared americans were caught totally by surprise by the sheer brutality and scale of the attack the japanese succeeded in breaking through the forward perimeter of the american front line and threatened to overrun the whole sector nevertheless solomon stayed at his post despite it being less than 50 yards from the front line and continued to attend to the growing number of wounded that were arriving at the station then the situation became much more desperate as he became aware of an attack on the station by japanese soldiers he saw some of the enemies starting to bayonet some of the helpless wounded patients outside the station's main medical tent without a moment's hesitation solomon grabbed the nearby m1 garen semi-automatic rifle from one of his wounded patients and killed the enemy soldiers then he returned inside of the main tent to try to continue his job of saving the lives of the patients but moments later two other japanese soldiers stormed into the tent itself solomon reacted quickly and shot them both dead only to realize four more enemies were crawling into the tent from the sides fearing for his patients lives and without a thought for his own safety he rushed forward attacking the group of enemy soldiers he kicked a knife out of the hand of the first enemy soldier then shot him dead he then turned and shot the second soldier who collapsed mortally wounded onto the floor then solomon using his own bayonet killed the third one but the last of the four proved to be much more difficult and he became locked in fierce hand-to-hand combat solomon managed to hit the soldier hard in the stomach with the butt of his rifle winding him for an instant this allowed a wounded comrade of solomon's to finish him off in the well-aimed shot solomon realizing the situation would soon become hopeless wanting to avoid his patients being massacred ordered the station to be evacuated immediately while he chose to stay behind to cover their retreat the last thing that he was heard saying was i'll hold them off until you get them to safety see you later solomon then single-handedly manned an abandoned heavy machine gun firing burst after burst into the enemy troops that overwhelmed the station in a mass attack he sacrificed his life so others could evacuate when the u.s army retook the station a few days later solomon's dead body was found surrounded by 98 dead japanese soldiers piled around his position it is said that he had been shot 24 times before finally succumbing to his wounds after he was dead the japanese troops had continued to shoot him and bayonet him countless times leaving his body badly mutilated and barely recognizable he was just 29 years old at the time of his death during the three weeks of intense fighting on saipan there were around 43 000 american and japanese casualties there were also a further 22 000 civilians who had lost their lives in the fighting so distraught was the enemy at losing the battle that thousands of japanese soldiers and civilians committed suicide rather than face the shame of surrendering solomon was not truly recognized for his selfless heroism and sacrifice until 2002 nearly 60 years after his death when he was finally awarded america's highest military honor the medal of honor the reason why it had taken so long for solomon's bravery to be fully recognized was that the geneva convention that governs how wars can be fought stated that military medical personnel cannot use weapons in battle but the u.s authorities had misinterpreted this rule as it was meant to apply only in offensive situations whereas in solomon's case he was clearly using it to defend himself and protect his men you

Channel: Simple History

Views: 1,567,857

Rating: 4.9636998 out of 5

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, dentist, ben, US Army, Ben Salomon, jewish, Benjamin Lewis Salomon, Battle of Saipan, Mariana Islands, rear-guard action, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Army Dental Corp, America, pacific, japanese, Saipan, beachhead, the Roughnecks, M1 Garand, bayonet, badass, valor, men of valor, heroes, medal of honor, Geneva, teeth, ww2, world war ii

Id: 7N3cPxMY3to

Length: 8min 13sec (493 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/mbarland]

Three dentists have received the Medal of Honor interestingly enough.

https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=85509

[u/Stalins_Mustache420]

This is what happens when you dont floss daily