US WWII veteran reunites with Italians he saved as children

On Monday, the 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings — now octogenarians themselves — in person for the first time since the war.

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[Jigsawg]

The amount of stories like this hidden within this period of time is unimaginable. And the sad part is, there are only so many WW2 vets left.

[bakabaka]

Now he has unfortunately passed away. In Italy we love him. Great memories for this fantastic heroe that came to save us from the darkness

[lgarcia]

My dad was friends with an Italian WWII veteran. He fought the Nazis alongside American troops in the front. He and his wife were nothing but class and he was a very hard working man. He unfortunately was heavily traumatized and would go into this rage and would spend time in his house I guess waiting for it to pass. His wife would tell my mom of his horrible nightmares and how he would start screaming, hiding and throwing stuff in the middle of the night. In his nightmares he was still fighting the Nazis. RIP Pepe, a kind man with all the mental scars of that conflict

[darthslackus]

Let's not forget the courage of the Momma that placed herself in his line of fire. Even though he was an ally, you never know how a soldier will behave while under the guise of war.

[yorkiepit]

My dear, departed grandfather fought in Europe during WWII, was in the Ardennes and was with one of the first units that went into Germany.

What he found there was destroyed cities and starving people. In one of them, he was approached by a nearly dead young boy named Hans.

My grandfather got him medical care and made sure that he and his mother got food regularly.

For the rest of his life, my grandfather and Hans remained close, Hans never forgot what he had done for him and his mother.

[MrSlanderer]

This gentleman is 97? He has a surprisingly clear mind for his age.

[MrPickledede]

My grandfather served in Italy with the British Army....what an amazing story!

[crazytrain]

I was at work one day, and seen this older man come in with a WW2 veteran hat on, full of pins and ribbons. A few of them stuck out to me as a veteran...his double purple hearts and his airborne wings and the 82nd Airborne patch. I Introduced myself and thanked him for his service...then a bit of chatting. I try to talk as much as I can with anyone from WW2 that's still alive...there's so few left. By the end of that conversation, I shook that man's hand and thanked him again. He was on the beaches of Normandy before any allied forces landed. They parachuted in at night, behind the German lines, as landing scouts for the invasion and calling in fire support to the hilltops. Once the beach was secured and forces pushed in, they linked up with the main force, and pushed in to liberate Europe. That generation of men and women, is truly America's greatest generation and true heroes of the world

[Russianbro]

All of these US veterans should be respected and given attention instead of celebrities.

[iamaaronisaiah]

"God looked down on me and God looked down on Italia." ❤

[muffsmercury]

Italy was a bloodbath in 1944 as the Nazis were very desperate by then and stopped at nothing to hold on (which they lost) At Anzio very few walked away without a scratch in the end (just one example)
The picture of him and the kids at 1:00 just tears me up. So beautiful.

[pokemonfan]

THESE soldiers fought for us, not the government, not for corporations, for us!

[vincebelmonte]

My mom was born during the war and food was scares they were hiding in a cave down a ravine she told told me American solders would always bring them food god bless them.Monte Casino

[Bigskyguy]

"THE GREATEST GENERATION" may God Bless you & protect you.

[teresalegler]

Wowza, what a beautiful story! Their mother was so smart and brave at the same time. Glad they all were able to meet again.

[Mark-mh]

My daddy didn't serve during ww2, he was born in 1933 and he told me stories when he was a kid they heard the news on the radio every day, he was 5 when the war started and he still remembered the fear, that was a deep wound in the world that we should never repeat

[brittanycrow]

Saved by love and courage it transcends all things ♡

[mcfcguvnors]

Thompson MG always use that in COD - what a legend this man was during all that chaos

[michaelagnew]

God bless them all :)
Gives meaning to "Why We Fight"

[Mav_F]

My grandfather saved 2 Americans hiding from the Germans for a week or so in Italy. The Americans didn't listen to him (not sure if they understood it was too dangerous to leave) and took off in the wrong direction and about 20 minutes later he heard machine gunning and knew it must have been the Americans getting gunned down. It upset my grandfather a lot. Maybe it wasn't them but who knows to this day. That was during WWII, of course.