Casino

The road to Rome was guarded by the town of Cassino and the heavily-fortified mountains behind it. From these peaks, the Germans had a clear view of everything below. It took the Allies four months, under the worst weather conditions, to dislodge the enemy. Even the bombing of the famed Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino was futile. The monastery had been founded in 529 and rebuilt in the Fourteenth Century. Monte Cassino was pulverized by 500 tons of Allied bombs on February 14, 1944.

I flew on this mission in a B-17, along with John Egan from Eau Claire. I was the ball turret gunner, and John was the radio operator. We anticipated heavy opposition from the Germans because, on the day before the bomb run, an American plane had dropped pamphlets telling the civilians to get out. It turned out to be a real "milk run," an easy and fairly safe mission.

Finally, after four long, hard months, the Polish and British troops captured what had become a symbol for German invulnerability. We now were on our way to Rome.