he served in the 180th infantry in G company from 8/43 to 10/45
If he was with the 45th Infantry Division all that time, then that meant he may have landed at Salerno on 10 September, 1943 and fought all the way up to Cassino. Then a few days after the landing on Anzio beach on 22 Jan 1944, his unit would have gone in as support and a long struggle. After the fall of Rome, on June 4th, he would have been pulled back for preparation for another amphibious assault.
The 45th Division, along with the 36th Division and Marion's Engineers were part of the VI Corps that landed in Southern France on 25 August 1944.
Sorry, I don't have any good reference material on the 180 Regiment. I have the History of the 157th Infantry Regiment, its sister unit.
I also have a DUI pin for the 180 Regiment. The motto is not in Latin but Cherokee. I'll try to post an image of it, later. It's not working at the moment.
It would be good to know the dates he was overseas. Aug 43 might have been his enlistment date.
Here are two sites:
Great museum. Might contact them for help.
An Re-enactor's site with photos and documents, etc.
Steve
:edited:
Finally. I got my image to work. I uploaded it with one missing letter.
DUIs: Units that fought in Italy [infty Reg (Division)]
135IR (34ID)_________157IR_______180IR______ 371IR(92ID)___362IR (91ID)___85MR(10Mtn)
The pin worn by the 180th Infantry Regiment is the one in the center with the 3 arrows. Sorry, you can't read the motto: "TANAP NANAIYAKIA ALTHAIYANA ". The red one next to it is the DUI for the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division. All DUIs for the 45th Division has the Indian head on top of the pin but the one exception is the 157 Regiment.