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HEADCANON : early deployment .

Late 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bucky voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army, driven by a sense of duty responsibility. He completed basic training at Camp Lehigh, where his natural athleticism and sharpshooting abilities quickly gained recognition. After completing advanced infantry and marksman training, Bucky was promoted to Sergeant due to his leadership skills.

In early 1943, the 107th Infantry Regiment was reorganized and reassigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, deploying to North Africa as part of the Tunisian Campaign. After landing in Algeria, the regiment was attached to U.S. II Corps and pushed eastward into Tunisia, engaging German forces in the Kasserine Pass and El Guettar. As a marksman and reconnaissance specialist, Bucky was frequently tasked with scouting enemy positions, providing overwatch for advancing infantry, and neutralizing high-value targets.

After North Africa, the 107th participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky, July 1943), landing with the U.S. Seventh Army at Gela. Bucky and his unit took up defensive positions to support the landings, providing long-range fire and helping repel the Hermann Göring Panzer Division's counterattacks. Throughout the Sicilian campaign, he refined his mountain warfare, urban sniping, and small-unit tactics, often working alongside British Commandos, Free French Forces, and Italian partisans.

Following the capture of Sicily, the 107th joined the invasion of mainland Italy in September 1943, landing at Salerno. The fighting was brutal as German forces launched counterattacks to push the Allies back into the sea. During one engagement, Bucky’s unit was sent ahead to secure a strategic pass in the mountains, only to find themselves cut off and forced into a guerrilla-style fight, linking up with Italian resistance fighters to sabotage enemy supply lines.

By October 1943, the 107th was assigned a high-priority operation near Azzano, unaware of the Hydra experiments on Allied POWs in the area. While securing a strategic position, they were ambushed by Hydra forces wielding experimental weapons, leading to their capture and imprisonment in a Hydra weapons facility.