They were known as "Rudder's Rangers"—the most elite and experienced attack unit in the United States Army—and in December 1944, they would form the spearhead into Germany. James Rudder was given two objectives: Take Hill 400, and hold it by any means possible. Unknown to the Allies, the height was the key to Hitler's plans for a massive counterattack, later known to history as the Battle of the Bulge. As the authors of Lucky 666 recount, the clash of the two determined forces was one of the bloodiest and most costly encounters of World War II.