We republish an article that came out in the online magazine Ok!Mugello:
https://www.okmugello.it/articolo/monte-altuzzo-14-settembre-1944-1988-una-data-da-ricordare_14926.
Aldo Giovannini
It seems like yesterday, almost 25 years have passed, when on Saturday, September 20, 1988, a group of “real” soldiers, veterans of the legendary “338th Regiment” of the 85th Infantry Division of the Fifth Army Corps , they came from the United States to return to the hairpin bends of the Giogo Pass to remember, commemorate and relive those terrible days where they saw so many of their fellow soldiers die mowed down by Nazi machine guns, resisting, however, the German paratroopers hiding in the ravines of Monte Altuzzo, leaving on the soil just plowed by the farmers for the September sowing a trail of blood with which it remained impregnated in the ground for a long time; more than three hundred American soldiers died between Ponzalla and Monte Altuzzo, many of whom were of Italian origin; just read the names on the mausoleum vilely smashed in 1964 (later restored twice by the Mugello Lions Club), at the time of the Vietnam War by unknown hands.
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- Sept. 14, 1988. The Memorial Stone in memory of the dead soldiers of the 338th Regiment of the (85th Infantry Division of the 5th U.S. Army Corps) is unveiled on the Giogo Pass in the presence of some veterans.
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- A group of veterans from the Battle of Mount Altuzzo; in the center Colonel Willys Jackson, then a lieutenant, of the Fourth Battalion of 338 Regiment.
Photos are by Aldo Giovannini
Scarperia relives those days, as we read in so many newspaper reports, in full harmony, leaving behind stupid and useless polemics, as occurred in 1988, even against us, when we honestly wrote in a local newspaper the account of that day of historical remembrance (it was forbidden to remember American soldiers, a real taboo), with so many people next to us, who came from far away, who in the name of freedom fought and died.
A small stone memorial with a bronze slab was unveiled where these words are carved: ”In memory of the men of the 338th Infantry Regiment who gave their lives for freedom. Erected by their faithful comrades and dedicated to the Glory of God. September 20, 1988.” In the end of our article (how many insults came to our table!) we wrote:
“Now in a tight curve remembered as the Malaguardia Rock, here stands this simple and austere stone stele with a bronze plaque commemorating the sacrifice of the soldiers of the “338th Infantry Regiment”, right in front of, and it is said to be fate, a very small tabernacle and a worn marble plaque where a famous phrase from Gabriele D'Annunzio's ’Alcione“ is inscribed, placed in the 1930s after a visit by the poet to Villa Gordigiani in Striano di Ronta di Mugello. Si legge: “io so dove fiorisce l’asfodelo là nel chiaro Mugello al Giogo sopra Scarperia, lo vidi fiorir di bianco”.
Asphodel in Greek mythology is the sacred flower of the dead. We want to hope that the boys of the “338th” who never returned to their homes can rest in peace, up there where the asphodel blossoms white again every year in front of Mount Altuzzo where today there are paths of remembrance through which to visit the battlefield and honor valiant soldiers here. May this reenactment finally be a joyous celebration in remembrance and concord.