Military maps showed the designated line of departure in Target Area 214 CDE, in a ripple of ridges that looked intimidating even on paper. This meant a bracing 3,000-yard hike which kicked off shortly after sunrise and followed a road heading north from Kagman and past the little villages of Donnay and Hashigoru. They took the eastern fork at Junction 167 and at 0800 reached the front lines and relieved BLT 3-23. Lieutenant Colonel Austin R. Brunelli assigned the assault role to Baker and Charlie Companies, led by Captains Milton G. Cokin and Horace C. Parks. Captain Irving Schechter and Able Company would follow close behind in reserve. With dispositions made, the battalion killed an uneasy thirty minutes waiting for the attack to begin.

Rough as the morning maneuver was, it paled in comparison to the attack route. To the north lay a seemingly endless range of ridges and ravines, running perpendicular to the route of advance. While BLT 1-24 maintained good contact with the units on their flanks, their relatively narrow front gave them little room to seek an easier path. “Our limiting boundaries compelled us to follow an endless up-and-down course across these ravines until thirst and fatigue forced a halt,” said 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott. “No roads led into such land, and supply presented a real problem. For once we resorted to backpacking.”^[1] As they marched, battalion scouts reported “emplacements, trenches, and foxholes” – some occupied – but there was little fighting for these obstacles.^[2] It was a very tired battalion that arrived at the O-6A line – a flat shoulder below the high central ridge – just before noon.