In the raids on Bologna and Avignon (in late June and July 1944), Yossarian has no interest in medals. Nor is he devoted to the cause. He just wants to stay alive. When the first Bologna mission is announced, Yossarian manages to get it canceled by moving the red satin ribbon on the easel map in the intelligence tent. This ribbon is the bomb line, indicating the farthest advance of Allied troops; no bombs are to be dropped south of it, so Yossarian simply moves the line north of Bologna, confusing the commanding officers. The ploy eventually is discovered and the Bologna mission rescheduled. By now, Yossarian is braver than he was at Ferrara. He is so brave, the narrator tells us, that he avoids the raid altogether. Yossarian convinces his pilot, Kid Sampson, that they must turn back because of a faulty intercom. Surprisingly, the squadron meets little resistance over Bologna that day; however, the mission must by repeated because they miss the targets. On the second Bologna raid, Yossarian is rewarded for his cowardice by flying lead bombardier. The flak is merciless, and his plane is hit but not knocked down. Yossarian is even more certain that he wants no more of war. During the Avignon mission, Snowden is mortally wounded. This event haunts Yossarian even more than young Kraft's death because the Captain attempts to tend Snowden's wounds in flight. He thinks he has performed adequately until he discovers that Snowden's worst wound has not even been addressed.
When Yossarian is not hiding in the hospital, he seeks refuge in Rome, the Eternal City. Much of his time in Rome is spent seeking women. Yossarian's relationships with women are assuredly less than heroic. He claims to fall in love with every bed partner, but his devotion is short-lived. Luciana, the girl with the invisible scar whom he meets at a club in Rome, is the most romanticized of his lovers. She is an earthy, exuberant, delightfully cryptic young woman with a sense of humor and some class. Naturally, Yossarian rejects her soon after they make love; they part, and he tears up her address with false bravado. Yossarian regrets it but not enough to keep him from rutting with someone else within twenty-four hours. His fidelity to Nurse Duckett is no more devout. On one trip to Rome, he misses her so much that he goes searching through the streets for other women and has meaningless sex with "a thin streetwalker with a wet cough" and a chubby stranger he finds in his apartment.
