eight still standing

Had the privilege these past few days

of visiting

with these eight soldiers...

veterans of the

Tenth Mountain Division ~ World War II

who fought

 in the hills of northern Italy.

They are delightful!

They are our heros!

Their tales are many and varied.

They speak of the battles at Riva Ridge and Bellvedere,

but they also speak of the people of Italy

who opened

their hearts and homes

 to these brave young boys

willing to fight and die for freedom.

They speak of what might have been...

a shell

that hit the exact place

 that one of them had just vacated....

decimating everything around.

Four mules that died in the night right by where they were sleeping.

A "duck" boat

 that went down on a lake

with 27 men

into the deep cold waters....

and the one called back from boarding at the very last minute. 

(That would be my dad)

They speak the big old feather mattress in an abandoned farmhouse,

the scarcity of food,

and the little children

with buckets

begging for one last crumb.

They speak of friends

that were there by their side one minute

 and gone the next.

They tell of taking a helmet

from a dead German,

and of finding a picture

of a beautiful girl

in a dead soldier's pocket.

What an honor to spend time with these men and their wives,

just listening,

and thanking them for risking their lives 

for what we have today.