"Private First Class Kenneth A. Bernard of Russell Springs, Ky., and his buddies in the First Battalion of this Victory Division's crack 34th Infantry Regiment helped write another stirring page in American military history in one of the most bitter offensive actions in this campaign to free the Philippines.

"With their battalion far below strength after 21 days of hard fighting, they drove deep behind enemy lines, over back breaking, muddy mountain trails to seize and hold a ridge to deny the Japanese commanding positions facing our main forces in a crucial valley...

"Artillery and mortar shells, hand grenades, rifle and machine gun fire kept them low, day and night, in a soupy mud of rain drenched foxholes. Hot, spent shell fragments, showered down upon them. At times they met the attacks head-on in furious hand-to-hand combat to save dwindling ammunition supplies,

"Acts of individual heroism became commonplace. When a relief unit was sent to the ridge, they closed their part of the mission by leading an attack to drive the Japs from strong positions near the perimeter."