At 2100 on the night of 17 December 1944, Col. Tucker was summoned to 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters. Shortly after his return to the regiment, men of the 504 knew that they'd "had it". The enemy had broken through into Belgium and Luxembourg with a powerful thrust launched south of Aachen.

Immediately after being alerted, personnel of the 504 went into a frenzy of packing and preparation for combat. "A" and "B" bags were packed and stored, combat shortages filled, ammunition and rations drawn. Dawn of the 18th found the regiment a little short on sleep, but in every other sense, fully equipped and ready for combat.

Big trailer-trucks had roared into the area during the night and were waiting to take the paratroopers to the scene of the breakthrough; most men were grouchy and in no mood to go back into action; they had just begun to relax from the Holland mission. However, with remarks such as, "Well, I'd rather go in these things than in a damn C-47", and "Why aren't they making us walk - it's only 200 miles", they resigned themselves to their fate.

Thirteen hours after leaving Sissone, the convoy unsnarled itself from a traffic jam and unloaded at Werbomont, Belgium. On the way, the destination had been changed from Bastogne to Werbomont - a point more seriously threatened.

The dull rumble of gunfire from the East was the only obvious indication of the enemy's proximity. As the men of the 504 took up their positions in an initial defensive perimeter established upon the high ground surrounding Werbomont - a vital junction on the even more vital Bastogne-Liege lateral road of communications - they wondered what all the fuss was about. Few men had more than the faintest conception of what the big picture contained, what was at stake, or what the next few days held in store.

That night the 504 moved forward on foot for a distance of eight miles to set up a defensive position near the village of Rahier. The 1st Battalion remained in the town to prepare for an attack on Cheneux, two miles north, on the following day.

At 1400 on the 20th, the 1st Battalion, less A Company which had been dispatched to Brume, moved out toward Cheneux, where they were immediately engaged by an estimated battalion of the 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the 1st SS Division.

As the afternoon waned the battle grew in intensity and it became apparent that the enemy column, stalled within the town, contained more armor than had been originally estimated. Approaches to the town were exposed; the enemy's fire was the heaviest ever experienced by 504 men. Flak wagons, 75mm cannon, mortars, mobile artillery, and machine guns loosed a murderous barrage on the paratroopers as they attempted to advance across a 400-yard open field that was laced at 15-yard Intervals with barbed wire. No cover was afforded the attackers, who by short rushes, were inching their way toward the enemy. They jumped on enemy half-tracks and with clubbed rifles and bayonets knocked the enemy from his positions; they threw grenades, emptied their tommy guns, and kept pressing forward, fighting the Germans with anything at their disposal; even with their hands if necessary.

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