601st Tank Destroyer Battalion The 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion was a battalion of the United States Army active during World War II . It was the first of the newly formed tank destroyer battalions to see combat , and the only one to fight as a " pure " tank destroyer force . It also has the unusual distinction of being one of the few American units to fight in all three major campaigns against Nazi Germany ( North Africa , Italy and Northern Europe ) and to have participated in four assault landings ( Torch , Avalanche , Shingle and Dragoon ) . Formation and North Africa . The battalion was formed in 1941 as the 1st Infantry Division Provisional Antitank Battalion , and on December 15 , was redesignated as the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion , in line with the renaming of the anti - tank force . It deployed to Europe with the 1st Division in 1942 , and landed in North Africa as part of Operation Torch . The battalion then saw service in the Tunisia Campaign as an independent unit , equipped with M6 Fargo tank destroyers . On March 23 , it was engaged at the Battle of El Guettar , where it broke up an attack by strong elements of the 10th Panzer Division , destroying 37 tanks and receiving the Presidential Unit Citation . This has the interesting distinction of being the only time a battalion would fight in the way envisaged by the original " tank destroyer " concept , as an organized independent unit opposing an armored force in open terrain . Italy . Following the North African campaign , it re - equipped with M10 Wolverine tank destroyers . It landed at Salerno with Operation Avalanche in September 1943 , attached to the 36th Infantry Division ; at the end of the month it was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division , with whom it would serve for the remainder of the war . With the 3rd , it landed at Anzio in Operation Shingle in January 1944 , crossing the beaches virtually unopposed and taking up positions on the right of the beachhead . It saw action during the push to expand the beachhead and then the bitter defence against a German counterattack ; on the February 29 , it was employed as part of an active defence by the 3rd Division , repulsing attacks by three separate divisions . It entered Rome in June 1944 . France and Germany . The battalion then landed in southern France as part of Operation Dragoon on 15 August , pushing up through France with the 3rd Division , where Staff Sergeant Clyde Choate of the battalion was awarded the Medal of Honor in October 1944 . During the move into southern Germany , on January 26 , 1945 , two tank destroyers of the battalion participated in the engagement for which Lieutenant Audie Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor . It saw heavy action at the Colmar Pocket , destroying 18 enemy tanks and receiving a second Presidential Unit Citation , and was re - equipped with the M36 Jackson tank destroyer after this . It crossed the Rhine in March , fought in the capture of Nuremberg in April , and finished the war in Bavaria . Demobilization . During demobilization , the tank destroyer battalions were deemed surplus to the requirements of the post - war Army , and the 601st was no exception ; it was inactivated on 18 October 1945 . It was reformed in the Army Reserve in 1949 and designated the 332d Heavy Tank Battalion , then the 601st Tank Battalion . The battalion was activated in 2004 and designated as the 61st Cavalry Regiment , part of the Regular Army , which now maintains the lineage of the 601st .