A Moving Experience

About 10 miles south of Florence, Italy is holy ground - the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial at which 4,400 American military dead from the Allied invasion of Italy are buried and memorialized. The site covers 70 acres in the serene green rolling hills of the Lombardy Region that were gifted to the US by Italy. Graves are arranged in symmetrical curved rows that rises from a tranquil stream to the memorial structure. The invasion of Italy began in 1943. Most of the dead buried there were members of the US Fifth Army who died during the capture of the area of Italy north of Rome across 1944 and 1945. Sue’s Uncle Bill Urie was a member of the Fifth Army and probably had comrades who lie in the cemetery. The memorial includes tables on which are inscribed the names of another 1,400 missing during the campaign. Walking the site was a very moving experience.