Taps at memorial service, Castelfiorentino, Italy
70 Years Ago Today: Remembering the Fallen of the 10th Mountain Division
On this day in 1945, the 10th Mountain Division (the U.S. Army’s mountain warfare unit during World War II), remembered the lives of their fallen in a memorial service held at the U.S. Military Cemetery in Castelfiorentino, Italy.
The service included music by the Army Band; prayers by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish chaplains; a memorial address by Major General George P. Hays; the placing of a wreath; and the firing of volleys. It concluded with a bugler playing “Taps.”
10th Mountain Division memorial service program, TMD40
In 1949, those interred at Castelfiorentino and other temporary cemeteries were relocated to the Florence American Cemetery, a 70-acre cemetery situated alongside the Greve River. New York architects McKim, Mead and White, along with landscape architects Clarke and Rapuano, designed the cemetery and memorial, which was completed in 1959.
Of the 4,402 servicemen and women interred at the Florence American Cemetery, 355 were part of the 10th Mountain Division. At last year’s Memorial Day service held at the cemetery, Boy Scouts placed carnations on the graves of the 10th Mountain Division’s fallen.
To learn more about the 10th Mountain Division and its ties to Colorado, check out DPL’s 10th Mountain Division Resource Center—the official repository for all records and artifacts related to the World War II 10th Mountain Division.
Stage and soldiers at memorial services, Castelfiorentino, Italy
Decorating graves, Castelfiorentino, Italy
View of cemetery in Castelfiorentino, Italy
Wreath at memorial service, Castelfiorentino, Italy
Comments
freedom isn't free
we live in the land of the free because of the brave
we owe our freedom to them
the only way to repay a life is with a life devoted to liberty and justice for all
Thank you for reading and commenting, Stan!
My Uncle, Sgt Ralph Brainard, attended this memorial service and I have a pamphlet like the one above. He was in the 85th company L
A nice keepsake to have. Thanks for sharing and reading, Gordon!
I donated mine do the Denver Library to keep it safe and to share with everyone . Ralph was a 30 cal machine gunner and told some really scary stories about combat , but on a lighter note , heres one he shared. He was sunning himself on a German bunker after they had taken Mount Belevedere when he heard Germans talking. 8 Germans were in the bunker below him , but were glad to surrender to him
Thanks for your donation, Gordon! And thank you for reading and commenting.
My dad PFC Willie Calvin Anderson Sr. was buried at U S Military Cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy Plat 0, Row 46, Grave 1984. His remains were brought home and buried in Blackwood Springs Baptist Church Cemetery when I was a younh boy. I remember the 21 gun Salute and Taps.
Thanks for reading and sharing, Willie!
My Mom’s cousin Sal was part of a large Sicilian family from the Carrollton section of New Orleans. My entire life I heard about Sal and the love everyone had for him including my grandpa whose eyes “lit up” when he would see his nephew, the son he never had. Cousin Rosemary recalled the sadness in the house the evening everyone gathered. Sal was a Private with the 363rd Infantry, company C, and died September 26, 1944 around Luca, not far from Lajatico, Italy. I wish to thank him for the freedoms we have enjoyed since WW II and while I have taught my own children the cost and value of freedom, I am so sorry to see that a truly uninformed half of our country today has no idea of what they are asking for as they lean towards Democratic candidates espousing the myths of Socialism. Thanks Sal for your life. Thank you Rosemae and Rochelle for sharing, your cousin Paul Abadie, USN-R
My grandfather Sam Gallegos was kia April 16 1945 buried in Florence Italy... His daughter Loretta passed 1 21 20 we will never forget either.
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