We had played the deadly game right. We had allowed as many as possible to get into our field of fire before we disclosed our position. The element of surprise was priceless. Jackson's BAR spoke with deadly authority. Fox Company held another night. The dawn came, the numbers of enemy dead were awesome. We stacked our dead and prepared for the day.

The men on the east side to our back had their problems with the high rocky ridge and the harassing fire that continued to cause casualties. On the west, we had our problems also. Snipers had infested the facing slope in greater numbers than before and had wounded several men. The low bushy plants with the added snow cover gave them superb concealment.

A sniper bullet from some 300 yards across the valley to our front blew a cigarette from between the fingers of Plt. Sgt. Danford. The helmet of machine gunner Gleason was spun on his head as a bullet passed in and out through the side. Neither man got a scratch. This type of harassing fire was so persistent and concentrated that it cut off a 5" diameter tree at a point 2' above the ground allowing the upper portion to fall into our hole.