Gunner Ira Davidson reported to the battalion command post. Maj Treitel asked him, "Could you get at those pillboxes with a 37?" The gunner nodded and moved out. Under mortar and machine gun fire, Davidson crossed the exposed airfield and headed back to his platoon assembly area. He ordered one of his 37mm sections into action. Davidson and six of his Marines manhandled their 900-pound gun across 200 yards of fire-swept ground. One of the crew was killed, two were wounded, and another shell-shocked. Once in position, Davidson took the controls of his gun. Siting in, he engaged each pillbox in turn with 12-15 high explosive rounds each. Under a continuous mortar barrage, Davidson kept shooting until advancing Marines masked his arc of fire. The infantry Marines moved up and secured the enemy defensive complex. Clearing the pillboxes, they found dead Japanese troops in each. Davidson had fired so accurately, he was able to put rounds through the pillboxes' apertures. For his actions on Iwo Jima, Davidson was later awarded the Navy Cross.