WEBVTT

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yeah . Uh huh .

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Like many a town or village along the

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coast of Italy . This small fishing

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town and vacation spot has an ancient

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heritage . Mm

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Its

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roots reach back into the worldly glory

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of the roman empire . It was then as it

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is now a minor port facing out onto the

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Tyrrhenian Sea

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in ancient times . Its name was anti um

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and it was not without a degree of

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dubious distinction . Nero was born

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here and caligula , one of them , okay ,

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there is little today to recall the

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days of the roman legions and very few

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of the thousands of americans who knew

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it during World War two would recognize

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its ancient name or its rebuilt

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unscarred face .

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Time and peace . I have had nearly two

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decades to do their healing work .

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There has been peace and much that his

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past has been mercifully lost to memory .

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But a great many americans will never

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forget this town's modern day name The

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name they knew it by in 1944

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Anzio . Mhm ,

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mhm , mhm Yeah .

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Mhm A force of 767 American

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Rangers trying to infiltrate and

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capture nearby sister Anna was amber .

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Most were taken prisoner . Mhm

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mm hmm . Yeah , yeah .

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Mhm ,

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mhm 1943 it was one of our

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strategic games to draw as many german

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forces as possible away from the

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Russian front and french coastal areas

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and to contain them on the italian

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peninsula . While liberating as much of

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Italy as might be possible were the

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means at our disposal . As

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general clark was well aware our

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objectives were one thing be achieving

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of them another . In late 1943 . Our

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lack of progress in the south of Italy

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was leading to the necessity of a

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landing in the enemy's rear . At Anzio .

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Our problems in Italy had been many .

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For example , there was the terrain .

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It was ideal for the defending enemy

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forces , cruelly difficult for allied

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troops .

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Oh boy , you talk about your bad

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country . I mean they didn't have but

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two directions over there up the hill

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and down the hill . Yeah . Mhm .

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Here methods of transport , long

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obsolete became operational necessities .

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It was this kind of hostile

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perpendicular country which led one

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allied officer to comment what you need

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to fight a war over this ground is an

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army of bulletproof kangaroos .

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The kangaroos to be effective would

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have had to be amphibious as well as

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bulletproof for uncross herbal rivers

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and blown bridges were prime facts of

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life . Ah , the enemy really knew his

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job and those people blew a bridge . We

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had to start over from scratch . Some

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of our guys stayed wet so long , their

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skin puckered up like a prune . We

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didn't get a lot of help from the

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weather either . As I remember . Yeah ,

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yeah . By mid winter the allies

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advanced toward Rome had bogged down .

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Do you want ? Mhm . Just south of

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Casino . A stalemate had developed and

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it was the deadlock here at the Gustav

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line , which germinated the seeds of

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the Anzio operation ,

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Naples Mid January 1944 . The build up

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for a landing at Anzio was underway .

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This would be an amphibious and run

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which would put a force on the beach to

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the enemy's rear and much too close to

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Rome for his comfort . Maybe we could

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break the casino deadlock this way .

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But from the start there were serious

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problems . It had the looks of a very

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chancy operation . For one thing , when

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all the begging , borrowing and

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scrounging were done , there were only

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38 L . Sts for the ceiling . What that

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meant was the initial landing force was

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going to have to be dangerously small .

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Two divisions , two more to come in the

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second trip sixth corps that was us

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under General john p Lucas drew the

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honor . It was a gamble for everybody

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concerned , but it had to be taken uh

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huh . By

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21 January 1944 , the task force was

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moving toward Anzio . The two divisions

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were well chosen . The British 1st

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Infantry had been through Dunkirk . The

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American 3rd had fought through Tunisia

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and Sicily . But at this point . Always

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doubt speculation .

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Yeah . What lay ahead .

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No man at whatever level could know for

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certain .

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By the time it got light on the 22nd ,

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we're already putting people on the

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beach . I made the Selena landing

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before . And I was all set in my mind

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for this to be just as bad . I kept

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waiting for them to open up with the

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heavy stuff . What didn't happen . I

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didn't get it , but I sure wasn't

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complaining .

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Unbelievably the landing was almost

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completely unopposed . The enemy's

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reserve divisions near Rome had been

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drawn south by an allied attack on the

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Casino front . Designed to do just that .

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By an ironic bit of timing , the

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Germans had called off their 24-hour

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coast watch on the very night when the

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task force was approaching Anzio .

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Equally ironic was this , we had

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achieved complete surprise and we

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didn't know it . The only real trouble

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we got that day was from the

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air .

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They did some damage , but they only

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had something like 350 planes in the

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whole area . We had about 2000 , that's

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all . They couldn't do too much still

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at the time , it seemed like enough

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Despite harassment from the air losses

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were like the first day , saw 90% of

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the landing forces ashore . Immediately

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they began consolidating the beachhead

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against the enemy counterattack

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expected at any moment

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with his reserve divisions pulled south

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by the casino attack . The enemy had

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only ragtag fragments of units at his

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disposal , but he moved them up

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with

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prisoners taken in the first days were

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universally smiling and confident .

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Once they discovered they were not

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going to be mistreated , they were

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certain that in a matter of days they

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would see the allied landing force

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pushed into the sea . Mm . The sixth

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corps had already faced . The swift and

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professional reaction of the german

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commander Kesselring at Salerno and

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expected no less of him in this new

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meeting . He lost

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no time in eliminating the advantage of

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surprise which the allies had

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unknowingly gained . At kessel rings

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command , General von Mackinson assumed

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responsibility for Anzio and by evening

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of the second day of the landing ,

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parts of eight divisions were in

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position and more . We're moving up .

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Mhm mhm .

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Beginning at dawn , four days after the

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first landing , the allied force set

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out to push farther inland , enlarging

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the beachhead . The

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golden moment of surprise was gone .

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They came against rigid opposition .

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Yeah , right . It was a foretaste of

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things to come . In three days of

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fighting . The perimeter was extended

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someone but the cost was high .

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A force of 767

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American Rangers trying to infiltrate

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and capture nearby sister Anna was

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ambushed , most were taken prisoner

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By now the other two divisions of the

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Sixth Corps had arrived , but so had

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the enemy . It was one of my duties as

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a medical officer to keep a listing of

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casualties for corps headquarters . By

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the end of January , we had taken a

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total of 3000 casualties as a statistic .

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That's a straightforward figure . The

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mind may accept it without distress .

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The thing that must be remembered as

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this . The statistic refers to 30 times

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100 human beings hurt or killed .

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Mhm . Mhm Yeah ,

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the allied offensive ground to a stop

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and the Anzio forces went on . The

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defensive . Bad weather came . This

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meant no air cover . This meant enemy

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forces building up without hindrance .

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A counterattack was inevitable and we

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got ready for but barbed wire and mine

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so helpful to a force on the defensive .

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We're in somewhat short supply .

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The enemy

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intended now to make another Dunkirk of

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Anzio uh

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huh swiftly . He shifted forces from

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northern Italy southern France and even

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the Balkans daily . His fighting

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machine was growing stronger on the

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ground as casualties drew the allied

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forces thinner . By mid february ,

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the enemy had pushed the allies back in

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the center of the grimly held beachhead

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almost to the last ditch lines of

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defense . The outlook , depending on

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which side you were looking from was

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excitingly bright or very dark . Mhm .

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Mhm . Now once again an allied attempt

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in the south to breach the Gustav line

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and failed . The men on the ground

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didn't know that the breakthrough

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attempt was also intended to ease the

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pressure on the Anzio perimeter . They

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only knew that enemy guns still look

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down their necks from the fortified

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heights and that advance became

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impossible . With the repulse of the

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second casino offensive , It became

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clear Anzio was on its own . The crisis

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was here , every resource was marshall

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to meet it . The old

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man called it a battle sled and that

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was pretty accurate . All it was , you

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had a bunch of foxholes only they were

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still and rigged up for going behind

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the tank . Mhm Yeah that way

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a squad of guys to stay in their holes

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for cover and move over at the same

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time . It's pretty neat .

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Yeah .

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Now came a strange three month period

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which no one who was there will forget

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the static war at Anzio or as some

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called it . The sits Krieg by now .

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Everybody was used to living in holes

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anyway , is used to it as you can get

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when we could we put in the time on

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improvements . We used to say we had

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all the comforts of home provided you

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lived in a muddy hole in the ground

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back home within the

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reduced area of the beachhead , there

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was now no corner which was out of

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range of enemy artillery , like

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industrious moles . The Anzio forces in

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the field , move themselves underground .

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We struck it lucky , cozy bit of a cave .

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It was no digging necessary . It was

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already occupied as you might say . But

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we can't find with a former tenants

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because they were very quiet . I wrote

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them , this is not to worry about me

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spending all my spare moments in a

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ruddy museum . Mhm . Still we want all

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the cooks to her . It was always work

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to be done . There were no rear

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areas at Anzio wherever you were . If

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you were above ground , you could be

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reached by artillery , that's why you

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can find a strange pipes sticking up

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out of the driveway of an italian villa ,

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a breather pipe on air factor and with

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the aid of the Corps of Engineers are

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headquarters at Anzio went underground .

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Mhm

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The main corridor gave you an idea of

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how big this specialized foxhole was .

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It ran just about a quarter of a mile

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in a straight line branching off from

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it . All the elements of an operating

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headquarters , everything needed

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underground

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railway tunnels , natural

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caves all were put to use and glad to

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get them . What with bad weather ,

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shellings and air raids . There was a

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lot to be said for underground living

15:57.111 --> 15:58.111
at Anzio .

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Another constant reality of the

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beachhead was the endless patrolling

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probing rating .

16:10.040 --> 16:11.040
Mhm .

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Mostly we went at night , but sometimes

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it be a daylight raid . Maybe some

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enemy people would sneak in and set up

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observation in some house , then a

16:22.761 --> 16:24.983
raiding party would go in and take them

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out . Uh

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huh . Yeah , it was a

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regular thing . You didn't get used to

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it , but at least you got where you

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understood what you were doing .

16:44.500 --> 16:46.556
If you were lucky you came back with

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everybody on their feet . If there was

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a good part , that was it when

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everybody came back standing up .

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There was a right funny side to it .

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Although these propaganda sheets we

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used to get were always good for a

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chuckle . I don't know yet what they

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hope to accomplish

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as time went on . There were days when

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it seemed like it was my dad's war all

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over again trenches , no man's land and

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all that quite often in the day ,

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Things would be so quiet , You could

17:22.050 --> 17:24.217
hear small , distant sounds across the

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field . Yeah , yeah .

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Mind you though , Nighttime was

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something else again ?

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Yeah ,

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yeah .

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One night in the bay and ammunition

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ship , was it ?

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It's like a great big fireworks display .

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It wasn't good to think of the people

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who've been honored . Yeah , yeah .

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After our field hospital had been

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bombed and shelled a few times , we

18:15.309 --> 18:17.900
decided to take steps . We couldn't go

18:17.900 --> 18:20.010
entirely underground . So we did the

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next best thing and built strong

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revetments into which the tents could

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be put Uh huh . We nurses helped .

18:27.730 --> 18:30.210
Where we could . It was a huge job ,

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but it was necessary . We've been

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shelled so often , we came to be called

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Hell's half acre . In fact , some line

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soldiers would actually hide small

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wounds rather than risk being sent over

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here . I'm not making this up . It

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actually happens , Yeah . Oh ,

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Uh huh . Strange things happened on

18:52.600 --> 18:55.000
occasion . There was the teenage german

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lad we found trying to get among the

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ships with a one man submarine device .

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He seemed much too young to be off on

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such business . Mhm .

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They sent some men right where the

19:07.484 --> 19:09.484
finger was beached to bring it in .

19:09.484 --> 19:11.651
Funny looking things really , not much

19:11.651 --> 19:13.707
more than one torpedo to ride on and

19:13.707 --> 19:16.860
another one underneath to shoot Roddy

19:16.860 --> 19:19.082
propellers started up when they started

19:19.082 --> 19:21.416
to tell it , locking up their afternoon .

19:21.416 --> 19:23.582
All right , we'll have some jolly good

19:23.582 --> 19:25.027
sprinters among them lads

19:30.240 --> 19:32.407
in the end , nothing happened at all .

19:32.407 --> 19:34.980
The things simply stopped again . Sorry

19:34.980 --> 19:37.036
to present you with an anti climax .

19:37.036 --> 19:39.202
But you know what ? It happened in the

19:39.202 --> 19:41.369
middle of a time , which was very much

19:41.369 --> 19:43.890
like that as spring approached , dan

19:43.890 --> 19:46.001
Ceo was the scene of massive build up

19:46.001 --> 19:48.057
for the breakout which would have to

19:48.057 --> 19:50.040
come despite harassing fire . The

19:50.040 --> 19:52.650
unloading of ships went on . There was

19:52.650 --> 19:54.483
a moment when there were so many

19:54.483 --> 19:56.650
supplies on the beach that this little

19:56.650 --> 19:58.706
Italian fishing port rated 7th among

19:58.706 --> 20:01.150
the great ports of the world . Now ,

20:01.150 --> 20:03.372
the static war at Anzio was approaching

20:03.372 --> 20:05.483
its end , commanders were formulating

20:05.483 --> 20:07.594
the plans which would break the Anzio

20:07.594 --> 20:09.761
forces out and set them on the road to

20:09.761 --> 20:13.670
Rome as spring came

20:13.670 --> 20:15.837
on . There were special classes in the

20:15.837 --> 20:17.892
care and use of specialized items of

20:17.892 --> 20:21.560
destruction . Mhm Right , yeah ,

20:23.640 --> 20:27.610
yeah , rehearsal for the

20:27.610 --> 20:29.670
real thing .

20:32.430 --> 20:34.263
Near Anzio , a group of american

20:34.263 --> 20:36.097
commanders gathered to witness a

20:36.097 --> 20:38.041
demonstration . The third Division

20:38.041 --> 20:40.374
commander , General Iron Michael Daniel ,

20:40.374 --> 20:42.486
gave a graphic description to General

20:42.486 --> 20:44.708
Clark as well . He might since it was a

20:44.708 --> 20:46.819
device of his own inventing which the

20:46.819 --> 20:49.250
officers had come to see the old man

20:49.250 --> 20:51.700
called it a battle sled and that was

20:51.710 --> 20:54.340
pretty accurate . All it was , you had

20:54.340 --> 20:56.284
a bunch of foxholes only they were

20:56.284 --> 20:58.396
still and rigged up for towing behind

20:58.396 --> 21:02.390
the tank . Yeah . That way a

21:02.390 --> 21:04.612
squad of guys could stay in their holes

21:04.612 --> 21:06.612
for cover and move over at the same

21:06.612 --> 21:10.390
time . It's pretty neat . Oh , it never

21:10.390 --> 21:12.750
caught on , but in my book , it was a

21:12.750 --> 21:14.950
good idea . Mhm . Mhm .

21:18.240 --> 21:20.360
In the south the lied strength had

21:20.360 --> 21:22.582
grown . It was now possible to mount an

21:22.582 --> 21:24.770
all out push against the Gustav line .

21:25.740 --> 21:28.780
Mm It came pretty early . A feeling

21:28.780 --> 21:31.113
that this time we were going to make it ,

21:33.540 --> 21:35.500
don't ask me where we got the idea

21:35.510 --> 21:37.454
because it was still us on the low

21:37.454 --> 21:39.630
ground of them on the high terrain

21:39.630 --> 21:41.686
hadn't gotten any better . Their aim

21:41.686 --> 21:44.260
hadn't gotten any worse . Just the same .

21:44.390 --> 21:47.260
The feeling was there this time we were

21:47.260 --> 21:48.316
going to make it .

21:58.840 --> 22:02.580
Yeah , after a week of heavy fighting ,

22:02.580 --> 22:04.580
it was clear that the forces in the

22:04.580 --> 22:06.802
south were in fact breaking through the

22:06.802 --> 22:08.969
unbreakable Gustav line . The time for

22:08.969 --> 22:11.080
a coordinated breakout from Anzio was

22:11.080 --> 22:14.100
here . Sure , May

22:14.100 --> 22:17.960
23 , The Anzio breakout begins

22:18.350 --> 22:20.572
the days of the sits creek at Anzio are

22:20.572 --> 22:22.794
at an end and the days of the beachhead

22:22.794 --> 22:24.050
itself nearly so

22:42.140 --> 22:46.100
I think coming out over

22:46.100 --> 22:47.989
grounds where both sides had been

22:47.989 --> 22:50.156
planning all sorts of little surprises

22:50.156 --> 22:52.156
for each other . You had to take it

22:52.156 --> 22:55.050
slow and watch your step . So it

22:55.050 --> 22:57.230
started slow . But at least we were

22:57.230 --> 22:59.560
moving at last . Mhm .

23:05.340 --> 23:08.940
Now after everything here was the road

23:08.940 --> 23:09.940
to Rome .

23:12.640 --> 23:13.640
Yeah ,

23:24.440 --> 23:25.440
mm .

23:28.120 --> 23:30.860
By

23:30.870 --> 23:34.640
June 4 , 1944 . American troops were

23:34.640 --> 23:35.640
entering Rome .

23:43.540 --> 23:44.540
Yeah ,

23:55.540 --> 23:59.390
mm . Behind lay in action , over which

23:59.390 --> 24:01.650
historians could and would widely

24:01.650 --> 24:04.420
disagree in years to come on the

24:04.420 --> 24:06.253
battered beachhead . Our men had

24:06.253 --> 24:08.420
learned much and perhaps the enemy had

24:08.420 --> 24:10.642
learned something too . He had done his

24:10.642 --> 24:13.110
best and his worst against the

24:13.110 --> 24:17.070
americans and british at Anzio and

24:17.080 --> 24:18.469
it had not been enough .

24:59.240 --> 25:02.320
Mhm . Yeah .

25:03.340 --> 25:06.840
Mhm . Yeah .

25:09.140 --> 25:10.440
Mhm . Yeah .