758th Tank Battalion

"We Pierce":

The 758th was the only African American light tank battalion in Italy. Being trained at Fort Knox Kentucky, the 758th was shipped overseas in late 1944 as the war came to its destructive conclusion. Among them was Captain William Cline, a young man from North Carolina, father of MHCC member Bill Cline. The 758th fought in heavy combat against diehard German and Italian soldiers who would rather die than surrender to their enemies. While attached to the 473rd Infantry Regiment, along with the Nisei 442nd Infantry Regiment (the most decorated infantry regiment during World War II), the 758th broke through the Gothic line in Northern Italy fighting Field Marshal Albert Kesselring’s well emplaced defenses and engaging in fierce fighting against the 14th Panzer Corps.