Happy V day to all the Vets... My father was in General Clarks 5 the Army in 1944 and a part of Allied Military Government . He was an AMC officer ,got married and the next day was on a boat to North Africa , Because he spoke Fluent Italian his company would re-establish Democracy and provide food and help to all the Italian cities as the Germans retreated Sicily and Southern Italy The Pulitzer prize book " a Bell for Adano" written by John Heresy is about someone similar to my father as a AMG officer serving in Italy. The book was made into a movie and my father knew John Hersey . My father entered Rome on June 4th with Gen Clarks 5th Army as the Germans evacuated the city He stayed at the Nord Roma Hotel and the next morning went down stairs to get a cappuccino and the D-day invasion was taking place. Studs Turkel the great writer who was a war correspondent wrote " front pages for a day and back pages for a lifetime". D-day made all the headlines in America, The capture of Rome by allied forces made the back pages. Clark was supposed to not take Rome but ignored Eisenhower and instead of capturing the German Army as they retreated. Patton who was already reprimanded for hitting someone wanted Clark fired as allied commander in Italy for allowing the entire German Army to escape from Rome. My father never left Rome and became a part of the Andreatine Caves massacre investigation .." also Pius 12th} if he collaborated with the Germans.
Later on after the war over was my father who was in the United Nations when he got back to NY established a UN base in Pisa Italy 1956 and was assigned to the US Army at Camp Darby in Livorno Italy where I grew up. The UN established an UNEF in Italy so troops could go to the Gaza strip or Congo. Sorry to bore you guys but I was in Italy from 1956 to 1966 and went to a US army dependent school at camp Darby . We were one game short of going to the Little League world series in Williamsport Pa. We beat Ramstien Air Force Base in France and lost to Weisbadin Germany was which was 20 times the size of camp Darby and lost .. We has 4 teams are Camp Darby Weusbadin had 25 teams . That's how big those US Army bases were in Germany.
Outside of camp Darby there is the American Cemetery in Florence and I someone can you tube it and post it here its pretty amazing. On Vets day or Memorial Day our school would drive the hour to Florence and all the school children would put red popies on their graves in remembrance/ Its a beautiful cemetery and thousands of white crosses Maybe someone can you tube it here and paste it Growing up being a 7-8-9 year old kid and still not really understanding what WW 2 was really about I loved my father war stories He was not in any action but stayed in Rome almost a year after the war was over doing the investigations . When he came home he got his teaching job back teaching Italian at Teddy Roosevelt HS on Fordhan Rd in the Bronx but something called the UN was moving from San Fran to NYC.. He worked for the UN for almost 40 years and when he retired wrote Albany NY and got his teaching certification . He worked in Oradell NJ as a permanent sub and at the age of 89 had a stroke and died a week later. Joe DiMarco I touch his Manhattan college ring and his Yankee Baseball hat everyday . I have 7 grand children now and I look at my life and his and its so hard to compare. We found some video of him and my mother talking and my nephew asking him questions about the war growing up in the Bronx serving in Italy etc On veterans day even though I honor you and think of you everyday we are all so proud of you and love you .
Later on after the war over was my father who was in the United Nations when he got back to NY established a UN base in Pisa Italy 1956 and was assigned to the US Army at Camp Darby in Livorno Italy where I grew up. The UN established an UNEF in Italy so troops could go to the Gaza strip or Congo. Sorry to bore you guys but I was in Italy from 1956 to 1966 and went to a US army dependent school at camp Darby . We were one game short of going to the Little League world series in Williamsport Pa. We beat Ramstien Air Force Base in France and lost to Weisbadin Germany was which was 20 times the size of camp Darby and lost .. We has 4 teams are Camp Darby Weusbadin had 25 teams . That's how big those US Army bases were in Germany.
Outside of camp Darby there is the American Cemetery in Florence and I someone can you tube it and post it here its pretty amazing. On Vets day or Memorial Day our school would drive the hour to Florence and all the school children would put red popies on their graves in remembrance/ Its a beautiful cemetery and thousands of white crosses Maybe someone can you tube it here and paste it Growing up being a 7-8-9 year old kid and still not really understanding what WW 2 was really about I loved my father war stories He was not in any action but stayed in Rome almost a year after the war was over doing the investigations . When he came home he got his teaching job back teaching Italian at Teddy Roosevelt HS on Fordhan Rd in the Bronx but something called the UN was moving from San Fran to NYC.. He worked for the UN for almost 40 years and when he retired wrote Albany NY and got his teaching certification . He worked in Oradell NJ as a permanent sub and at the age of 89 had a stroke and died a week later. Joe DiMarco I touch his Manhattan college ring and his Yankee Baseball hat everyday . I have 7 grand children now and I look at my life and his and its so hard to compare. We found some video of him and my mother talking and my nephew asking him questions about the war growing up in the Bronx serving in Italy etc On veterans day even though I honor you and think of you everyday we are all so proud of you and love you .
