The Purple Heart
82nd Airborne WW II Wall of the Missing
Florence
not available
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War Memorials
Florence Cemetery, Italy
Besides assisting those seeking information on any individual
interred or memorialized at one of the many sites around the world the
American Battle Monument Commission also provides a searchable
database for American Armed Services Personnel that are
interred or memorialized at one of these sites.
(Poster Source:
The Government Publications Department at Northwestern University Library).
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FLORENCE CEMETERY is located on the west side of Via Cassia, about seven and a half
miles south of Florence, Italy.
The site covers seventy acres, chiefly on the west side
of the Greve River. The wooded hills which frame its west limit rise several hundred
feet. Between the two entrance buildings a bridge leads to the burial area where the
headstones of 4,402 American military Dead, representing thirty-nine percent of the U.S.
Fifth Army burials originally made between Rome and the Alps. Most died in the
fighting which occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944. Included among them are
casualties of the heavy fighting in the Apennines shortly before the war's end. On
May 2, 1945, the enemy troops in northern Italy surrendered.At Florence, the headstones
are arrayed in symmetrical curved rows upon the hillside.
The tall memorial tower can be seen before reaching the site which covers 65 1/2
acres. From the cemetery entrance the visitor is led to the Court of Honor with its
pool reflecting the tower. To the right and left, respectively, are the visitors' building
and the museum containing three large engraved maps with texts depiciting the military
operations of the American Armed Forces.
Above the burial area on the topmost of three broad terraces stands the memorial marked
by a tall pylon surmounted by a large sculptured figure. The memorial has two open
atria or courts joined by the Tablets of the Missing upon which are inscribed the names of
1,409 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country and who rest in
unknown graves.
The atrium at the south end of the Tablets of the Missing serves as a forecourt to the
chapel which is decorated with marble and mosaic. The north atrium contains the
marble operations maps recording the achievements of the American Armed Forces in this
region during World War II.
The light fixture in the chapel, and the altar candelabra and flowerbowl were presented
by the Government of the Netherlands and by the local Provincial administration.
 (Source: American Battle Monuments Commission)
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books
R E L A T E D B O O K S
Annussek, Greg Hitler's Raid to Save Mussolini: The Most Infamous Commando Operation of World War II. Sept 1, 2005, Da Capo Press, 353 pp. ISBN: 0306813963
Astor, Gerald
A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It.
Mass Market Paperback, 1994 ISBN: 0440215749
Blumenson, Martin
United States Army in World War 2, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Salerno to Cassino
c1988 ISBN: 8029000261
Blumenson, Martin
Anzio: The Gamble That Failed
Greenwood Publishing Group,Inc. 1978. ISBN:03113200939
Blumenson, Martin & Sheehan Fred
Anzio: Epic of Bravery
239p 7/94. ISBN: 0 806 126787
Breuer, William B
Agony at Anzio: The Allies Most Controversial and Bizarre Operation of WW II
Jove Publishing, 1989 ISBN: 0515102113
Breuer, William B Geronimo! American
Paratroopers in WWII. New York: St. Martin Press, 1989 621 p. ISBN: 0-312-03350-8
Breuer, William B Drop Zone Sicily:
Allied Airborne Strike,July 1943. Novato, CA: Presidio, c1983. 212 p. ISBN: 089 141 1968
Breuer, William B
They Jumped at Midnight Jove Publishing, (P) c1990 ISBN: 0515104256
Broumley, Jim T The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII. Rocky Marsh Publishing,(Aug 29 2011) 336 p. ISBN: 0983963215
Burriss, T Moffatt
Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82nd Airborne in WW II Brasseys, Inc, 256 pp August,2000 ISBN: 1574882589
Carter, Ross S
Those Devils in Baggy Pants Buccaneer Books, Reprint,1996 ISBN: 0899666132
D'Este, Carlo
Patton: A Genius for War 1024 pp ISBN: 0060927623
Devlin, Gerard S
Paratrooper! St Martin's Press, (P) c1976 ISBN: 0312596529
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Keegan, John The Second World War Penguin
(P), 708 p. ISBN: 014011341X
Messina , Phillip Anzio: Song of
Destiny A.G.Halldin Publishing Company, 1992. ISBN: 0 935 64838 0
O'Donnell, Patrick K. Beyond Valor
Free Press, 2001, 384 p. ISBN: 0684873842
The Center of Military History
The War in the Mediterranean: A WWII Pictorial History Brasseys, Inc.,
465 p. ISBN:1574881302
Verier, Mike
82nd Airborne Division in
Colour Photographs (Europa Militaria, No 9) ISBN: 187 200 4857
Wildman, John B All Americans 82nd
Airborne. Meadowlands Militaria, 6/83 ISBN:091 208 1007
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