The 369th Infantry, later known as the āHarlem Hellfightersā heroically fought on the front lines and received the French Croix de Guerre.
The Harlem Hellfighters spent 191 days in front line trenches, more than any other American unit. They were the first unit to cross the Rhine into Germany.
The whole regiment was awarded the French military honor, the Croix de Guerre, and 171 of the officers and troops received individual citations for bravery, more than any other American unit in WW1.
And they came back to a country that gave them zero honor and treated them like they were worthless.Ā Sickening.
Forgot to add when I answered the related question: I love it that Robert has performed quite a bit over the years in the towns near where he grew up. Itās awesome that he lends his talent for charity purposes. And I love it that he really will perform anywhere.
This performance was so much fun to watch!Ā I couldnāt stop grinning when he sort of let go at the end during Rock and Roll.Ā Look at his shimmy and the silly face he makes.
It was a great song to end the set with.Ā The band was clearly having a blast and Iām sure didnāt want Rob to go, but he had to say goodbye and take his leave.
Off into the adoring crowd.
Wait, whatās this?Ā Slow it down …
One more time bc itās so damn funny.Ā
Those girls are gazing up at him like he is an absolute GOD.Ā Thatās some worship right there – pure and utter reverence.
All three surviving members of Led Zeppelin returned to Italy, though. Jimmy was the first in July 1984, at the Piotoria Blues Festival (via another Dave Lewis must-read, Led Zeppelin: A Celebration).Ā
Setlist.fm is a terrific resource, and has Page & Plant playing 3 times in Italy, including Milan in 1995, and a couple of shows in 1998. John Paul Jones only played Italy once as a solo artist, in 2000.
Robert Plant solo is another story altogether. Heās played 43 solo shows in Italy to date. In fact, he kicked off my favorite solo tour of his, for Fate of Nations, with a live broadcast in Rome, in 1993. This to me, marks the first full flowering of Daddy Lion.Ā
Your mileage may vary of course, and the band certainly got much tighter very quickly, but this whole era deserves a lot more attentionā¦although Iām sorry to be the one to bring up his exuberantly off-the-cuff Italian exclamation again.
The melee in Milan was on July 5, 1971, and it happens that Robertās most recent trip to Milan was July 27, 2018, with a typically tasty setlist from the current tour. Robert has clearly made his peace with the concert scene in Italy, but I have no doubt that the proximity of this date to the anniversary of the 1971 visit crossed his mind.
So, as often as the bandās individual members visited Italy, itās understandable that some folks might conflate a number of them into a return visit from the band, but no.Ā
It was certainly never going to happen while Peter Grant was alive, who placed the blame not with fans or even the promoter, but squarely at the feet of the one element that not even he could control, the Italian police. (An amusing tale on the subject recounted by Dave Lewis ā seriously, read all his books ā in Led Zeppelin: The Tight But Loose File, here,Ā the third of the four links there.
(And I havenāt mentioned this in a while, but Dave started chronicling Led Zeppelin with a UK fanzine in 1978, and has been at it ever since. His website Tight But Loose is one of the best journalistic resources on the web for any fandom.)
As usual, this is more of an answer than anyone was probably looking for, but as a geezerly Led Zeppelin fan of Italian extraction, this is a story Iāve been following for nearly 50 years. LOL Hopefully some documentation has shed a little light on this, as well as added a few worthy entries to your shopping list for hype-free, fact-based Led Zeppelin books.
Thank you, Tim!Ā Your research and knowledge is unparalleled.Ā I definitely learned a few things.Ā So grateful for you! <333
Fire That Grew So Low 