As we all know, Armand was a gregarious guy. He made many friends during the war, and some of them gave him photo mementos so that he would remember them. The first three photos are of Armand and his best friend Anthony Panzo. The slideshow below features many of Armand's friends (and some girl friends - ooh la la), some with captions written to him. Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories!
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Here we have Armand with the 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon at Anzio Beachhead. A great photo of him and his buds at their foxhole, which he refers to on the back of the photographs as "My Home". A little bit about the Battle of Anzio; "The location of the Allied landings, thirty miles south of Rome and fifty-five miles northwest of the main line of resistance running from Minturno on the Tyrrhenian Sea to Ortona on the Adriatic, surprised local German commanders, who had been assured by their superiors that an amphibious assault would not take place during January or February. Thus when the landing occurred the Germans were unprepared to react offensively. Within a week, however, as Allied troops consolidated their positions and prepared to break out of the beachhead, the Germans gathered troops to eliminate what Adolf Hitler called the "Anzio abscess." The next four months would see some of the most savage fighting of World War II." If you'd like to read more, click here. Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories! Here are some photos of Armand near the Arno, as he writes on the back of these four photographs. I don't know exactly where he was, but it is safe to say he was somewhere in Tuscany. He mentions on one of the photos that they "couldn't get a pass". Can anyone enlighten us as to what he meant by that (perhaps Bob, John)? Did that mean that the troops couldn't clear out? They couldn't move on from that camp? Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories! While the Santomasso men were away fighting, the women were busy taking care of the family at home.
Here's Rose and some of the ladies of the Southern New England Telephone (SNET) in New Haven. Not only did the women help to support the family financially during the war, they were able to help returning soldiers to connect with their loved ones. As we know, Ida was able to help a soldier on furlough with only a small window of time to locate his family. If you haven't already, you can read that blog post by clicking here. Rose did the same when she could, I have no doubt. Thanks ladies for your work on the home front! Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories! |
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May 2016
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