The gathering wasn’t a holiday occasion but an event which foreshadowed the entry into the bitter Italian campaign of a new separate Infantry regiment - the 473rd United States Infantry.
Most of the men in the Montecatini gathering had fought as Ack-ack in the Tunisian campaign and others had landed at Salerno.There were many who had fought at Cassino. Others had endured the bloody crossing of the Rapido River and some had downed Luftwaffe planes at Anzio.
Victory in battle was a tradition which these veterans brought to the Fifth Army’s new battle-baby and the Regiment was officially activated on January 13, 1945. Training as Infantry began immediately.
Men of the 434th and 435th had fought as Infantry for several months along the Arno River and up to Strettoia and the 900th had a very brief taste of the front line. (According to the Battle History of The 532nd AAA-AWBn., that unit had been fighting as infantry since August of 1944) Now the men were to get their first real training with Infantry weapons.
Many of the 473rd’s officers were sent to battle-leadership school and the painful process of “teaching and old dog new tricks” got under way. These men, experts and seasoned veterans of AAA, were not enthusiastic about their new assignments as doughfeet. They went to work in earnest, however, because they were expected to learn in a matter of weeks the many things about Infantry warfare which usually are taught over many months training. Colonel Willis G. Cronk of Elberton, Washington, first Regimental Commander, began welding his men into a team which was to eventually mean trouble for the Wehrmacht.