During the succeeding several days the 2nd Battalion launched an attack on the enemy-held Hill 687, but was repulsed and withdrew to a defensive position in front of Hill 1205. The 1st Battalion moved out of reserve and, with the exception of B Company which occupied Hill 710, moved up to Hill 1205 in support of the 2nd Battalion's attack. The 3rd Battalion sent out patrols toward the enemy lines, and although meeting little resistance, discovered extensive mine fields and defensive positions that had recently been vacated.

By this time the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion was well emplaced and giving direct support to the 504 Combat Team that was of exceptional accuracy and efficiency. The wire section established and maintained communications with the various units of the CT - an endless and fatiguing job frequently necessitating work under artillery fire, which usually knocked out the wire as fast as it could be replaced.

By December 20, the 504 CT was holding Hills 1205, 950, 954, 710, and 687, with patrols operating on Hills 877 and 610. The fighting of this operation consisted of the assaulting of one hill after another. It was an uphill fight all the way characterized by rock and tree bare, 45 degree slopes, and unusually stubborn resistance by the enemy. Supply and evacuation of the wounded was a matter of back-breaking work. The medic's task, at best a difficult one, was increased ten-fold on the high, craggy, windswept, and shelterless hilltops. Medical supplies were short when they were needed most and there was no quick way of obtaining more. Casualties had to be carried on stretchers down to the road-a painful six-hour journey. Mule trains were able to carry supplies to a certain point, after which it became necessary because of the increased angle of ascent, for all supplies and ammunition to be transported up to the summits by carrying parties of men. This work was carried out over heavily shelled trails, with supplies always reaching the units engaged just in time.

During the 19 days that the 504 was in action near Venafro they suffered a total of 54 dead, 226 wounded, and 2 men missing in action. These figures are exclusive of the 376 FA Battalion and Company C, 307 Engineers, each of whom suffered dead and wounded. Most of the casualties were the result of enemy artillery fire, which was, as has been mentioned, intense.

However high the number of these casualties may seem, compared to those of the enemy they must be considered light. Only the very roughest of estimates can be made of the enemy casualties, however information revealed by prisoners (5 I were taken) indicated German dead and wounded to be at least five times greater than those suffered by the 504. On December 27, the regiment was relieved of duty in the Venafro sector and was moved to new bivouac areas in the vicinity of Pignatoro.

Small, much-bombed Pignatoro, located in the heart of the lower Volturno Valley in the shadow of Hill 620, which five months before had been designated as the objective for the 504 on their much-briefed Capua mission, had now become a scene of rest for men of the regiment. A belated Christmas was celebrated, New Year's Day dinner eaten under the hungry gaze of the town's population, and finally the long-awaited Christmas packages were received and opened. The regiment was paid and for the next several days the Italian courtyards of Pignatoro echoed with the almost forgotten sound of rippling dice, and the strident coaxing of "Whup, seven - do it!"

Shower baths were made available, movies were shown nightly in a tiny renovated picture house, orange trees groaned under the weight of fresh fruit (all off limits), and "tough guy" Humphrey Bogart, wife, and company put on a few skits for the regiment from the back of a six-by-six parked in a nearby soccer field.

Still, these were simple pleasures and the paratroopers longed for Naples' gaiety and relaxation of another sort, so it was with cheery hearts that the Combat Team moved again on January 4, 1944 to the suburbs of Naples.

"Officially", Naples was off limits to the 504, but then who were they - the victors of Altavilla, the assaulters of Mt. Sammucro, and the participants of a hundred other engagements - to suddenly become impotent at the flicker of a PBS directive; besides hadn't they taken the town four months before? Naples was retaken by mass infiltration.

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