June 6th 1944.. D-day

[Box and one]

1st of all its June 7th or 8th today so I missed the D-day invasion date of June 6th ,1944 which is now 78 years ago. The date is famous in our history especially June 6th 1944 . But I remember my father telling me about June 5th 1944 the day before the D-day invasion . My father was in General Clarks 5th Army in the Italian Campaign. He was a lieutenant assigned to AMG. That was allied military government . Because he spoke fluent Italian being a Italian and Spanish teacher at Teddy Roosevelt HS in the Bronx he was sent of officers training school . He was a part of Clarks 5th Army that landed in North Africa and then on to Sicily and the Italian invasion . As the Germans were retreating from town to town the AMG would take over Italian villages and create a new government and arrest all fascist leaders. They would get everyone food and medical attention. The book " A bell for Adano" by John Hersey won the Pulitzer prize was about my father even though it was about another officer in the AMG. Hersey followed this AMG officer and made a romantic novel and then a movie.
Anyway lets get to June 5th the day before D-day. On June 5th General Clark enters Rome as the invading allies enter Rome with crowds and 1,000 of people welcoming the allied forces . The Germans had retreated without a fight two nights before. Clark disobeyed orders from Eisenhower to skip Rome and capture the German army retreating. But Clark ego's and pompous attitude wanted to be the 1st conquer since Attila the Hun to capture Rome. My father was in a small village south of Rome when he was notified that they wanted him and his driver in a jeep to be a part of the invasion parade that Clark had organized. Now remember this is the day before D-day. will come back and finish this.. my bad

 

[Box and one]

1st of all its June 7th or 8th today so I missed the D-day invasion date of June 6th ,1944 which is now 78 years ago. The date is famous in our history especially June 6th 1944 . But I remember my father telling me about June 5th 1944 the day before the D-day invasion . My father was in General Clarks 5th Army in the Italian Campaign. He was a lieutenant assigned to AMG. That was allied military government . Because he spoke fluent Italian being a Italian and Spanish teacher at Teddy Roosevelt HS in the Bronx he was sent of officers training school . He was a part of Clarks 5th Army that landed in North Africa and then on to Sicily and the Italian invasion . As the Germans were retreating from town to town the AMG would take over Italian villages and create a new government and arrest all fascist leaders. They would get everyone food and medical attention. The book " A bell for Adano" by John Hersey won the Pulitzer prize was about my father even though it was about another officer in the AMG. Hersey followed this AMG officer and made a romantic novel and then a movie.
Anyway lets get to June 5th the day before D-day. On June 5th General Clark enters Rome as the invading allies enter Rome with crowds and 1,000 of people welcoming the allied forces . The Germans had retreated without a fight two nights before. Clark disobeyed orders from Eisenhower to skip Rome and capture the German army retreating. But Clark ego's and pompous attitude wanted to be the 1st conquer since Attila the Hun to capture Rome. My father was in a small village south of Rome when he was notified that they wanted him and his driver in a jeep to be a part of the invasion parade that Clark had organized. Now remember this is the day before D-day. will come back and finish this.. my bad

 

[Box and one]

My father spent the night at a 4 star hotel Nord Roma that night. But during the parade thru Rome, Clark had a group of partisan Italians lead the parade into Rome. The streets were lined up with 1,000 of Italians cheering on the 5th Army as they entered Rome But there was a problem Clark put a bunch of Italian dignitaries in the lead car. None of them were from Rome and the parade went the wrong way. Finally someone got to Clark in the 2nd jeep and explained to him the parade was going the wrong way . They stopped and asked a bystander on a bike how to get to the Victor Emanuel piazza. He corrected them and then told them to follow him and he would lead the invading American 5th Army to the piazza where all the Rome leaders were waiting for Clark. lol Can't make this stuff up. At the time no one knew that in England the next day the biggest invasion ever was about to take place. My father sent the Night at the Nord Roma which is still a hotel in Rome and years later would revisit it . Anyway the next morning when he woke up and had breakfast they had heard the D-day had started. Studs Turkel the great american writer wrote about Clarks capture of Rome " Front pages for a day back pages for a lifetime." Clarks timing was off because no newspapers or radio really cared about Rome's capture . D-day was the big news .. and the entire German escaped and would fight the next year causing many American lives.
My father never left Rome and became part of an AMG investigated team about the Andreantine Caves massacre. A few months before Rome was captured the Italian partisans set a few bombs up on Via Del Rasillo . Ten German soldiers were killed .Hitler then ordered for every German killed he wanted 10 Romans to be executed. The Fascist leaders of Rome gathered 300 Italians all innocent and were taking to caves 10 miles north of rome. All 300 were shot in the back of the head and put in these caves. The Germans with huge rocks and boulders and cement closed up the caves . US intelligence knew about the massacre prior to entering Rome . My father became the lead officer in the investigation and although the German soldiers had left there were many Italians that aided the Germans. I could write a book about just the Andreatine caves. Many were arrested and some shot by firing squads When the war was over my father became part of an educational AMG group to take all the Fascist text books and re write them for the future Italian educational system He stayed at the Nord Roma for akmost 6 months after the war. When he got back to the Bronx in early 46' something called the UN United Nations was forming in NY. Although he got his teaching position back he joined the UN and served there for over 40 years. Then after a stay in Cuba for 6 months he became an administrator and 2nd in command for the UNEF United Nations emergency force. They opened up an air force base in Pisa, Italy and he was assigned to the US Army . It's were I grew up at Camp Darby. And when we visited Rome we always stayed at the Nord Roma hotel and the owner loved my father. anyway its fathers day coming up . So a big shout out to all your fathers. I was so lucky to have him who steered me into education and administration. I touch his Manhattan College ring and NY Yankee baseball cap everyday. Happy fathers day to all