On the 19th, the Germans cut off the 463rd supply train, which Cooper had sent back for more ammunition. The next day, they succeeded in blocking all roads into Bastogne and launched major assaults on the 101st’s positions northeast and east of the town. Even with the extra ammunition they had brought with them, by the 22nd–after supporting efforts to repulse earlier German attacks–the battalion had little more than one day’s worth of rations and ammunition left.

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The temperature on the morning of the 23rd was 10 degrees above zero, and it remained painfully cold throughout the day. Despite the freezing temperatures, the men’s morale improved somewhat when they looked up around noon to see the sky filled with red, yellow and blue parachutes dropped by 16 Douglas C-47s. It was an early Christmas for the ‘Battered Bastards of Bastogne.’ One of the planes was shot down by enemy fire and crash-landed near the 463rd’s position.

Every morning during the siege the division’s artillery commanders would gather to discuss their situation and to prepare for the day ahead. Remembering Cooper’s earlier boast about his battery’s effectiveness against enemy tanks, at every one of the meetings either Lt. Col. Edward Car-michael, the commander of the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion, or the commander of the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, Lt. Col. Harry Elkins, would ask, ‘Cooper, have you knocked any tanks out yet?’ His answer was always, ‘No, not yet.’ That was about to change.

The 24th was clear and bright although still very cold. Another 160 planes dropped an additional 100 tons of supplies. Foragers from the 463rd found flour, sugar, lard and salt that had been left by the VIII Corps when it hastily departed Bastogne at the start of the German offensive. Even though they were surrounded, the morale of the men remained high. By the afternoon of the 24th, division headquarters was convinced that an attack was likely in the 327th’s sector either that day or the next. For the past week, German troops and tanks had tried to puncture holes in the 101st’s defenses east and south of Bastogne. Troop deployment to defend against these attacks had weakened defenses west and north of the city. Almost half of the 101st’s line was now covered by the 327th.

On Christmas Eve, the 101st’s operations officer, Lt. Col. Harry W.O. Kinnard, had regrouped the defenders around the perimeter of Bastogne, a line almost 16 miles long. Kinnard attached the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, two platoons of the 9th Armored Engineer Battalion and four platoons of the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion to the 327th along with an amalgam of infantry, tank destroyers and tanks.

Sergeant Rogan knew little of divisional intelligence estimates, but he could hear the sound of armored vehicles being deployed in his front as the sun went down on Christmas Eve. Unknown to him and the others huddled nearby in their foxholes, these tanks and their supporting infantry were making final preparations to come crashing through their lines early the next morning.

Rogan, Bryan and Everhardt were acting as forward observers in support of the men of the 1st Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, which was serving as the 327th’s third battalion. Nearest to the three artillerymen were the 77 men of the 401st’s Company A, commanded by 1st Lt. Howard Bowles. The lieutenant’s men defended a large section of the flat, frozen plain west of Hemroulle. They were deployed across a 1,200-yard front line along a ridge about 25 feet high. There were two small woods on top of the ridge about 50 yards apart, with an open field between them. One of the woods concealed two tank destroyers. Two more tank destroyers were in a group of trees some 400 yards to the left of Company A’s position.Company B of the 401st was dug in on the right side of Company A on the ridge, extending about 1,100 yards to a roadblock on the Champs to Mande St. Etienne road. The troops were also armed with machine guns and supported by four tank destroyers. The battalion’s Company C was kept in reserve near the 463rd’s command post at Hemroulle.

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