June 4, 2014

                     The Liberation of Rome
                                             June 4, 1944

On this day 70 years ago, after finally breaking out of the Anzio Beachhead, Allied forces liberated Rome, the first Axis capital to be captured.  The 751st Tank Battalion played an integral role in this event.  This was a tremendous achievement for the Allies, but it was overshadowed two days later by the cross-channel invasion at Normandy, “D-Day.”  And while the fighting raged on in France and Germany, Allied units in Italy, including the 751st, would continue fighting and dying for the next year with little of the media attention given those armies to the north. 

Those who participated in the Normandy landing deserve all the praise they’ve received for their role in defeating Nazi Germany.  But we should never forget that while the historic events of Normandy unfolded, the fighting continued unabated in other theaters around the globe.