Rangers - WW II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery
Rangers who rest in the soils they liberated,
photos courtesy Sicily - Rome American cemetery
The World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and
Memorial site in Italy covers 77 acres, rising in a gentle slope from a broad
pool with an island and cenotaph flanked by groups of Italian cypress trees.
Beyond the pool is the immense field of headstones of 7,861 of American military
war dead, arranged in gentle arcs on broad green lawns beneath rows of Roman
pines. The majority of these men died in the liberation of Sicily (July 10 to
August 17, 1943); in the landings in the Salerno Area (September 9, 1943) and
the heavy fighting northward; in the landings at Anzio Beach and expansion of
the beachhead (January 22, 1944 to May 1944); and in air and naval support in
the regions.
A wide central mall leads to the memorial, rich in works of art and
architecture, expressing America's remembrance of the dead. It consists of a
chapel to the south, a peristyle, and a map room to the north. On the white
marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,095 of the missing.
Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The map room
contains a bronze relief map and four fresco maps depicting the military
operations in Sicily and Italy. At each end of the memorial are ornamental
Italian gardens.
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Ranger Troy Allen