E5' I 1 I I 1 I E l i I I 2 J '1 4 AIIIHILIHIIIOH Sh1p Explodes Disaster
”
Page 41 text:
“
'? -I, t I n V t U 'F 51.1, On September 9, l9l1f3, we on the Lizzie got our first look at Italy when day broke on the invasion beaches of Salerno. It looked like any other stretch. of Mediterranean coastline we had seen. But it was to stand out with its own distinctiveness when later we got a closer look. The fall of 1943 brought another first for the Lizzie. She was part of the first Allied convoy to enter a continental port since the British evacuated Dunkirk. The port was Naples, the same Naples the Germans had said we would never be able to use. And there the Lizzie was using it a week after it fell into Allied hands. Naples later saw a lot of us, and we of it. We came to know the tortuous maze of its waterfront streets, its steep hills, its thick busy downtown center which at one time was the heart beat of the Mediterranean war campaign. Travel jaded though we were, we soon tired of Naples and sought new diversions. We had liberty parties to Capri and jeep trips to Pompeii and Sorrento. A kind of gruesome fascination drew us to Cassino's ruins. And Rome had barely fallen when we began planning trips there. Eventually, every man aboard had the opportunity of going. Some of us Hew up, getting a bird's eye view of the devastated land and cities between Naples and Rome where two great armies had been locked so many months in bitter stale- mate. , There was poverty in Rome of the most urgent kind, but otherwise war had scarcely touched the city. Nothing was destroyed of its sprawling beauty. It was all as we had sup- posed: The Coliseum was as much intact as it has been for several centuries. The sandbags were being taken down from the Arch of Constantine. The Pope held daily audiences at serene and majestic Vatican City. The monks rattled on their same old tale of the early Christians as they guided us through the Catacombs with their string-candlesticks. When the Lizzie first entered the Naples area the front lines were only a dozen miles away. When we left, Naples had already become the so-called Ice Cream Front. For war moves quickly, and what is today No lVlan's Land may tomorrow be, by the Grace of God, a peaceful vineyard. 39
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
