Airdrops after daylight kept C Company supplied with ammunition, and a curtain of artillery fire, sealing off approaches from the KPA main positions prevented substantial reinforcements from entering the fight. All day on August 29, artillery fire and air strikes racked the KPA occupying E Company's old positions. Then, in the evening, E Company counterattacked and reoccupied the lost ground. At 23:00 on August 29, the KPA attacked C Company again. Men on the left flank of the company position quickly abandoned their positions and soon the entire company was retreating, leaving the KPA in possession of the mountain again. Captain Lawrence M. Corcoran, the company commander, was left with only the 17 men in his command post, which included several wounded. All of those who stayed were later given Bronze Star Medals. After daylight on August 30, UN air strikes again came in on Battle Mountain, and US artillery, mortar and tank fire from the valley concentrated on the KPA-held peak. A wounded US soldier came down off the mountain where he had hidden for several hours while cut off from escape. He reported that the main body of the KPA had withdrawn to the wooded ridges west of the peak for better cover from the airstrikes, leaving only a small covering force on the mountain itself. At 11:00, B Company, which had to this point been the reserve unit, with the 3rd Battalion in support, attacked toward the heights and retook the top by 13:00. The poor defensive positions were repaired but logistical difficulties continued for the US troops at the top. The 24th Infantry consistently captured Battle Mountain in the same way. Artillery, mortar, and tank fire raked the crest and air strikes employing napalm blanketed the top of the peak. Then, the infantry attacked from the hill beneath the east slope of the summit. Supporting mortars would set up a base of fire and would keep the heights under barrage until the infantry had arrived at a point just short of the crest. The mortar fire then lifted and the infantry moved rapidly up the last stretch to the top, usually to find it abandoned by the KPA. Stalemate Battle Mountain changed hands so often during August that there is no agreement on the exact number of times. The intelligence sergeant of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry estimated the peak changed hands 19 times. Subsequent research