- Oct 9, 1999
- 46,043
- 8,741
- 136
From the NY Times:
There is a piece of land along the coast an hour south of Rome that is a shrine to America. It is a lovely piece of land, well designed and well maintained, that spreads out over nearly 80 acres. It is big enough so that the men who do such things need seven days to cut its grass.
It is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial. Buried here are 7,862 Americans who died in combat in this country during World War II. Each lies buried with a marble headstone that is cleaned twice a year, by hand, with pumice stone and soap. There is a man who trims the hedges every morning. Another roams the grounds to look for weeds.
Angelo Perna is the chief gardener. He is deeply tanned, with a face that is the color of a football. His hands are dark and rough, and he is missing an incisor from his bottom row of teeth.
Outside the office is a logbook in which visitors have praised the cemetery's beauty and the sacrifice for which it stands. It is only natural that visitors to such a place would say good things about America. Things like: "Thank you." "Thanks to the American people." "Thanks."
Back among the graves, Mr. Perna was spraying weed-killer on the grass behind the stone of Private Anthony De Cillis, 157th Infantry, 45th Division, killed on May 27, 1944. Down the aisle were other men and boys from Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Ohio. Mr. Perna stopped and said: "They have been buried here so long, they are Italians now."
Here's to Private Anthony De Cillis, who gave his "last full measure of devotion", may he never be forgotten!
There is a piece of land along the coast an hour south of Rome that is a shrine to America. It is a lovely piece of land, well designed and well maintained, that spreads out over nearly 80 acres. It is big enough so that the men who do such things need seven days to cut its grass.
It is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial. Buried here are 7,862 Americans who died in combat in this country during World War II. Each lies buried with a marble headstone that is cleaned twice a year, by hand, with pumice stone and soap. There is a man who trims the hedges every morning. Another roams the grounds to look for weeds.
Angelo Perna is the chief gardener. He is deeply tanned, with a face that is the color of a football. His hands are dark and rough, and he is missing an incisor from his bottom row of teeth.
Outside the office is a logbook in which visitors have praised the cemetery's beauty and the sacrifice for which it stands. It is only natural that visitors to such a place would say good things about America. Things like: "Thank you." "Thanks to the American people." "Thanks."
Back among the graves, Mr. Perna was spraying weed-killer on the grass behind the stone of Private Anthony De Cillis, 157th Infantry, 45th Division, killed on May 27, 1944. Down the aisle were other men and boys from Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Ohio. Mr. Perna stopped and said: "They have been buried here so long, they are Italians now."
Here's to Private Anthony De Cillis, who gave his "last full measure of devotion", may he never be forgotten!
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