The 371st Infantry Regiment (Colored) was activated at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, on October 15, 1942, and assigned to the 92nd Infantry Division. After training at Fort Huachuca, it staged at Camp Patrick Henry on September 12, 1944, departed Hampton Roads on September 22, and reached Italy on October 18. It entered the line in late October as the division expanded from the coast into the Serchio Valley.
Its early service came during the winter stabilization of the 92nd Division front. The regiment helped hold the division sector through the December German counterattack and the January return to Serchio Valley responsibility. In February it was committed on the right of the division's coastal attack toward the Strettoia Hills, while the 370th attacked in the center and the 3rd Battalion, 366th Infantry, operated as Task Force 1 near the Cinquale Canal. On February 8 the 371st advanced about 800 yards before entering a minefield and halting, exposing the 370th's right flank and contributing to the collapse of the offensive. When the division abandoned the Cinquale bridgehead and broke off the operation on February 11, the regiment returned to defensive duties.
During the March-April reorganization, the 371st was withdrawn from the 92nd's main assault grouping as the 442nd and 473rd joined the division and the 370th was rebuilt. In the April offensive the 371st was attached in place to IV Corps. On April 9 it took over the left sector of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force on Monte Belvedere, allowing the Brazilians to shift northeast and reduce the 10th Mountain Division's sector. Later it was pinched out on the corps left and passed to army control.
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