"War Stories: The American People in World War II " Topic

"In April 1943, twenty-year-old Corado Ciarlo from Waterbury, Connecticut, known as "Babe" to his family and friends, was bogged down on the beaches at Anzio with the Fifth Allied Army. The supposedly surprise Allied attack on Italy had been anticipated by the Germans, who kept up a constant barrage of fire as Allied forces fought their way inland. By the time the Anzio campaign ended, seven thousand Americans were dead and another thirty-six thousand were wounded or missing. Babe was one of the lucky ones—he was still alive. But he was also about to embark, along with the rest of the Fifth Allied Army, on a bloody push toward Rome.

Babe wrote to his family back in Waterbury whenever he could. His mother, a widow, lived for his letters. Every day she would wait on the porch hoping the postman would bring another letter from her middle son. When the letters arrived, they said nothing of the horrors Babe had seen. Instead, he was brief and upbeat:…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I have hundreds of notes, newspapers, articles, photos, copies, v mail, of letters from numerous uncles home. Nine uncles served. Several killed and at least two more wounded. Precious memories talking to my family who would talk about it.

I hate to point this out, but if it was April of 1943 and he was at Anzio, he would have been a POW.