I posted the picture below Monday October 29, 2012. Today I received this wonderful email with video. I couldn't be more pleased and I thank you once again Massimo. If you ever come across the pond, please let me know!
Hello Brock,
I saw the picture you posted on http://freenorthcarolina.
I hope you'll like it.... good luck
I hope you'll like it.... good luck
Massimo
WOW! That is Fantastic! A supremely nice gesture on the gentleman's part. I really enjoy seeing how these villages, towns, and cities rebuilt after the close of WW II. The destruction was so complete, that I'm sure ruins such as this church pictured bring rebuit and restored were rare...
ReplyDeleteVery nice to see, thank you for posting this gentleman's reply Brock!
Thank you for the kind words and I certainly hope to meet him one day.
DeleteThanks for the link. I told Dixie previously that if we went, we would have to lose about 20 pounds first.:)
ReplyDeleteBrock,
ReplyDeleteThat movie took some work. Thank you for sharing it.
David D
Beautifully done, true art. So wonderful to see that there are still kind people in this world.
ReplyDeleteT
Heart warming.
DeleteAbsolutely wonderful! Since my uncle fought and died in Capalbio Italy in June of 1944 it always pains me that the Italian Campaign gets so little coverage and/or recognition when it was the longest campaign of WWII. What those men endured up in those mountains was unimaginable. The Germans has blasted their fighting positions in the granite mountainside however the Allied soldiers had no cover. When artillery impacted not only did they have to worry about the usual shrapnel but also the myriad shards of granite which also became deadly projectiles. Add to that the steepness of the mountains where some units were located, so steep in fact that not even mules could make the ascent and an entire battalion was used to bring up supplies and bring down casualties (1 battalion on the line, 1 in reserve and 1 on supply duty) coupled with the jagged rocks and a pair of boots was worn out after a few trips up and down the mountain on these supply runs. Then throw in the exposure to the elements in winter at these high elevations with substandard gear and you have a recipe for hell on earth...yet hardly anyone know of our mens' suffering at the Winter or Gothic Lines, the Rapido River crossing, Monte Sammucro, Monte Maggiore, Monte La Difensa, Monte Lungo, San Pietro, the Anzio Beachhead, Riva Ridge, Mount Belvedere and so, so many other places that only the descendants of the veterans who were there and WWII Geeks remember these days.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely love to see more of these before and after pictures of Italy.
Thank you Massimo!!!
Heck, I'll even carry your bags for you! My uncle is buried at the Florence American Military Cemetery and I would love to go and pay my respects to him again. It saddens me that he has been there since 1944 and the family has only been able to visit a couple of times in the past half century, and his mother never got the chance to go before she died of a broken heart.
ReplyDeleteWow, I thought Livorno sounded very familiar. It is only about 150 Km North of where my uncle was killed and where his unit was finally relieved from the line. They were pulled out of Italy for good a little over a week after his death in Livorno.
ReplyDeleteI passed through there on my way south but never stopped as I was in a rush to get down to Salerno and start my battlefield trip of following in my uncle's footsteps. I wish I would have stopped to look around. Hopefully I can return again someday.
P.S. Thanks to you too Brock for posting this! You always amaze me with all of your great finds and interesting stories, I don't know how you do it. I guess your Google-Fu is strong.
ReplyDelete:)
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They were pulled out of Italy for good a little over a week after his death in Livorno.
A week away. Too bad. I just remembered that I have a picture of your uncle, so I'll make another post.
Here is a link to Redleg's uncle and more.
DeleteA comment on An Especially Sad Memorial Day
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/05/comment-on-especially-sad-memorial-day.html
:) I have never been there, but have crossed the Pacific over 10 times.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago there was an email circulating of 'before and after' or 'then and now' black and white pictures of places in Europe. That is, how they looked during or after WWII and how they look today. It was really very amazing how well everything had been repaired and restored. I will have to forward this to my son-in-law. He is all Italian. His father was born in Italy and immigrated to the U.S. as a young man. His mother was the first American born member of her family that had also immigrated from Italy. All I know about them is that they were from Northern Italy and some of them or their ancestors were from Turin. I will have to ask my daughter. She is working on her husbands genealogy. She has taught herself Italian so she can read the records and in fact is now doing volunteer work of translating Italian records for the Family History Library in Utah.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte
Hallo Brock, I'm Massimo : I'm working on a big rephotographic project that cover the pictures taken in my city from the beginning of 1900 since the years after the WWII. I've finished the period 1940-1945, where we can see a lots of pictures of the ruins caused by the american-english bombing on Livorno (Leghorn). I'll publishing this work in August-September (I hope) and I'll let you know the link where you all can see my work.
ReplyDelete@ SFMEDIC - I know the work of Jo Teeuwisse; she was very lucky to find these pictures, because is not easy to find so sharpen pictures...
Massimo
Please do and thank you very much. If you have a tidbit to share every now and then, we'd love to see more. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
DeleteI know the work of Jo Teeuwisse; she was very lucky to find these pictures, because is not easy to find so sharpen pictures...
ReplyDeleteYes, those are remarkable also. Did she come to Italy?
ReplyDeleteGood Job! I'm from Livorno, thank you
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting and the best of luck.
DeleteHello Brock...
ReplyDeleteI'm Massimo (remember the "re-photography" movie of Livorno ruins in WWII"? )
I've finished the movie entirely (63 images) and would like to let you see it (You'll be the first on the web).
The movie is about 265 Mb and I don't know how ti sent it to you.
I'll let you know the way in the next mail, if you are interested.
See you
Max
I would love to view it, in fact I just ran across the post last week and viewed it again. Thank you.
DeleteSeveral of my best holidays were spent in the Apennine mountains west of Bologna. The buildings were awesome and the locals super friendly. I got to know one gentleman who told me the German occupation troops were constantly being attacked by the partisans and many soldiers were killed. Finally the Germans had had enough and retaliated harshly. They came into the small village I happened to be staying in, rounded up a dozen or so villagers and hung them from the trees lining the main street. He pointed out the trees that still grew there. He went on to say the American OSS and the British SAS dropped supplies and men into the area to help the partisans and therefore American visitors were very welcome. I got to be known as "The Alto Americano" because of my 6 foot 1 inch height. One locals recommended a book about the fighting and allied participation in the area during the war. I found it on-line and it's fascinating. The title is: "Operation Tombola". It was first published in 1960 in the U.K. Author: Roy Farran.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and thanks.
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