Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial

Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
The Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, near Anzio, Lazio, Italy (2006).
Details
Established 24 January 1944 (1944-01-24)
Location Piazzale Kennedy, 1 - 00048 Nettuno (RM), Lazio
Country Italy
Coordinates 41°27′55″N 12°39′30″E / 41.46528°N 12.65833°E / 41.46528; 12.65833 (Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial)Coordinates: 41°27′55″N 12°39′30″E / 41.46528°N 12.65833°E / 41.46528; 12.65833 (Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial)
Size 77 acres (31 hectares)
No. of graves 7,861
Find a Grave Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial

The Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial is a cemetery in Italy for American military personnel who were killed in World War II.

History and design

Established in Nettuno, Lazio, as a temporary wartime cemetery on 24 January 1944, two days after the landing at Anzio and Nettuno – codenamed Operation Shingle[1] – the site covers 77 acres (31 hectares), rising in a gentle slope from a broad pool with an island and cenotaph flanked by groups of Italian cypress trees. Beyond the pool is the immense field of headstones of 7,861 of American military war dead, arranged in gentle arcs on broad green lawns beneath rows of Roman pines. The majority of these men died in the liberation of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky (10 July to 17 August 1943); in the landings in the Salerno Area, codenamed Operation Avalanche (9 September 1943) and the heavy fighting northward; in the landings, codenamed Operation Shingle, at Anzio and Nettuno and expansion of the beachhead (22 January 1944 to May 1944); and in air and naval support in the regions.

A wide central mall leads to the memorial, rich in works of art and architecture, expressing America's and Italy's remembrance of the dead. It consists of a chapel to the south, a peristyle, and a map room to the north. On the white marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,095 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The map room contains a bronze relief map and four fresco maps depicting the military operations in Sicily and Italy. At each end of the memorial are ornamental Italian gardens.

Pope Francis visited the cemetery on All Soul's Day, Thursday, November 2, 2017, in a brief papal visit to the area for the commemoration, where he toured the cemetery grounds and placed flowers on some grave headstones, including an unknown soldier, and Italian-American soldier, and a Jewish soldier. Afterwards, in purple, as is custom for the day, he celebrated Mass and preached a homily at the cemetery. Following the visit there, he moved on to the site of the Ardeatine massacre, named for the forested area in which it took place.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brownfeld, Allan C. (7 May 2009). "Reflections on Visiting a U.S. Military Cemetery Abroad: The Conservative". newsblaze.com. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  2. ↑ vatican.va: Celebrazione della Santa Messa al Cimitero Americano di Nettuno, 02.11.2017
  3. ↑ washingtonpost.com: Pope Francis’s ominous, emotional message about a world preparing to go ‘forcefully into war’

Further reading

  • Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 208, 210. ISBN 9780231509374. OCLC 60527603.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, "American Battle Monuments Commission"".

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.