 On the evening of December 14, on his way up from the treeline to launch an attack on a ridge known as Hill 730 (), Waskow's unit was attacked, with a shell landing near him and his men.Fragmentation hit Waskow in the chest and killed him almost instantly.Riley Tidwell, who had been Waskow's assistant throughout the war, left Waskow's body where he had died and went down from the mountain to notify Waskow's superiors that he had been killed.