Memorial Day in Italia

Sicily - Rome American Cemetery
Nettuno, Italy

We had thought about it for quite some time—here we were in Italy, this country where so many of our American military had fought so nobly in World War II; and with the approach of Memorial Day, wouldn’t it be appropriate to visit one of the many American cemeteries in Italy and pay our respects to our brothers and sisters in arms! Usually, a chaplain from our base in Naples is asked to do the invocation and benediction at Memorial Day observances throughout Europe. And so it was in this year. As the Command Chaplain at NSA Naples, Papa made sure that all the “bases were covered” (so-to-speak), with other chaplains this time, which left us free to select which observance we would attend. We elected to be present at the Memorial Day observance taking place at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery that lies at the north edge of the town of Nettuno, Italy, which is immediately east of Anzio, 38 miles south of Rome.

The World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial site in Italy covers 77 acres, rising in a gentle slope from a broad pool with an island and war memorial flanked by groups of Italian cypress trees. Beyond the pool is the immense field of headstones of 7,861 of American military war dead, arranged in gentle arcs on broad green lawns beneath rows of Roman pines. It is an incredibly moving and even “heavenly” feeling being there among those resting in peace among such beauty. The majority of these men [and women] died in the liberation of Sicily (July 10 to August 17, 1943); in the landings in the Salerno Area (September 9, 1943) and the heavy fighting northward; in the landings at Anzio Beach and expansion of the beachhead (January 22, 1944 to May 1944); and in air and naval support in the regions.

A wide central mall leads to the memorial, rich in works of art and architecture, expressing America's remembrance of the dead. It consists of a chapel to the south, a peristyle, and a map room to the north. On the white marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,095 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The map room contains a bronze relief map and four fresco maps depicting the military operations in Sicily and Italy. At each end of the memorial are ornamental Italian gardens.

We rode the bus with the Navy 6th Fleet Band and had the honor of escorting Herman Chanowitz, a 96-year-old American veteran who fought during the war in Italy; beginning in February 1943, when Kasserine Pass became the focal point in the North African campaign - Herman was there! And then on to the landings at Sicily, Solerno and Anzio, then finally the liberation of Rome - Herman was in all of these battles!  After the D-Day invasion, he finally finished up in Munich at the end of the war assigned to the unit that liberated the infamous death camp at Dachau. The tragic irony for Herman, he himself being Jewish, is how this made his final operation of the war most profound - He was there!

Backing up a few hours on this Memorial Day morning, we met Herman in front of the NATO Base where he had arranged a ride from a friend to meet us, since we didn’t know where Herman and his wife live. We were bringing him by our car to the bus at the base because he lives fairly close to us in Pozzuoli. So there he was waiting for us at 0400 just as we’d planned, not looking his actual 96 years at all! We were amazed at his quick wit and how spry demeanor even at that time in the morning. After a few minutes and greetings with his friend and driver, we made the transfer and were on our way. And in perfect time, no less! We were due at the bus by 0445 and it was only 0410. We had plenty of time even to spare, just the way we like it!  We drove for about 5 minutes before reaching the entrance to the highway, then much to our consternation and shock, hit a very bad pothole and instantly knew that we had blown out a tire! Now mind you . . . it is pitch dark, Papa is in his summer white uniform, and we have very little time to spare!! Yikes! We had never changed a tire in this particular car before and suddenly we are faced with doing so on an on-ramp of a dark highway in what was practically the middle of the night! We both got out of the car and Papa actually said to me, “Well, I can’t exactly strip down and change the tire in my underwear! I’m gonna have to do this in my whites!” So it was hot and muggy, and away we went, as fast as we possibly could. He used his black light-weight military jacket as a place for his knee. Herman had a pocket flashlight – of course! I held the flashlight and Papa just kept praying that things would go smoothly. The first and only glitch we ran into was the car being too low to fit the jack underneath it, so we had to ask Herman to get out of the car for a minute to slide the car-jack underneath it. I could see the sweat-drips running down Papa's face! But, after that, it all went like clockwork! We got everything all put back together with the weird little temporary spare graciously prepared to take us where we needed to go. We all got in the car, turned the key . . . and guess what? The car didn’t start!!! Lord have mercy!

It seems that since we had left the headlights on the entire time, along with the air-conditioner to keep Herman cool, we had sucked up all the juice in the battery, and it was barely making a clickity-click sound! NOW WHAT!! Well, Papa and I both jumped out of the car, lickity-split, and hastily said to each other, “Let’s push and pray and try to pop the clutch.” He didn’t think I could push it with him since it was a little uphill and my arm is hurt, but somehow the whole thing worked! We jumped in the car as it was rolling; started it and we were on our way—time: 0430!!! We actually made it to the base and the met the bus “JUST as it was pulling up.” Now, is that a story or what?

Herman just couldn’t stop talking about “his” experience with us that morning – from his side of things. We are grateful for the outpouring of God’s Grace which kept us both exceptionally calm and trusting in Him that all would work out! Wow! We had made it, and the 3-hour bus ride was a rest well-deserved - for sure!!