The stench was weighted to suffocation with filth, death, and corruption.” The smell was such that few Americans were willing to explore the caves. Lieutenant Paul Austin, a company commander in the 34th Infantry, later lamented that “the odor would knock you down.” He once came upon an enemy corpse wedged against a tree, “completely eaten up . . . covered with a million maggots and black bugs. It was a horrible sight.” Sergeant McCool found one dead Japanese in especially horrifying condition. “All around the top of his head, from eye level up, the maggots had cleaned the skin off, leaving
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