After Lieutenant Colonel Barnes was injured in battle on 10 July, the battalion operated under its executive officer Major Einar Erickson.
A sergeant used a .50 caliber machine gun to suppress sniper fire, and the battalion took credit for 70 prisoners in Rennes.
The battalion, again in support of the 8th Infantry Division, moved to Bastogne, Belgium in October 1944, where it was attached to the 174th Field Artillery group.
The Germans staged an attack on 16 December against the position of VIII Corp's 333rd Field Artillery Group in Bleialf.
The newly enlarged 969th continued to support the 101st Airborne Division until 12 January 1945, where it was relieved from the 101st and assigned back to the 3334 Field Artillery Group.
By the end of the war, the 969th Field Artillery Battalion had fought with all four American armies in the European theatre, and with the French in the Colmar Pocket.
[4] Because of its success and gallant support at Bastogne, the 969th received its Distinguished Unit Citation through Third Army on 7 February 1945, from Maj. Gen. Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st.