MAN: Luverne, Minnesota.
'Rock County Star-Herald.'
"The four grim lead lines of the newspaper seemed
"so tragically cold and bare.
"Staff Sergeant Richard E. Mueller is reported missing
"with seven others following the crash of a medium bomber
"in the Atlantic near Columbia, South Carolina Saturday.
"All are believed dead.
"Four grim lines of newspaper type
"that tell so much and yet so little.
"For us and thousands of other friends,
"none of the usual information, or even a picture, is needed
"to help us remember Red of the A&P,
"because that is the way he will be remembered here,
"not as Staff Sergeant Richard E. Mueller.
"With hair as vivid as a June carrot
"and a grin that had the power of a locomotive headlight,
"this boy never walked down the street
"or round the aisles of the store.
"He fairly danced or ran
"and you knew that here was a chap
"that was going places."
Al Mclntosh.
NARRATOR: By January of 1944, Americans all over the country
had already become accustomed
to scanning their newspaper every morning...
...hoping not to see the names of young men they knew
listed as missing or wounded or dead.
Men and materiel were streaming into England
in preparation for the invasion of France.
US forces were about the assault the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific.
American and British troops in Italy
remained mired behind the German Gustav Line at Cassino,
unable to batter their way through to Rome.
It was clear to everyone
that the newspaper casualty lists would soon be growing longer.
SHERMAN: I delivered papers.
And all of the mothers who had somebody in the army
would have a blue star in the window on the little flag.
And then if the son or husband or whatever died
they'd change that to a gold star.
The gold star mothers were those
who had lost a family member in the war.
And it was the fact that the star had changed.
But I was too young
to really understand the consequences of death.
NEWSREEL: Now, taking the Nazis completely by surprise,
the Allies hurl their fleet upon Nettuno and Anzio,
points behind the German line south of Rome.
At dawn, landing ships and barges stand offshore.
Small boats begin to pour in.
The initial landing meets with no opposition.
NARRATOR: On January 22, Allied forces landed behind the German lines
at Anzio, hoping to break the stalemate in Italy.
Babe Ciarlo, of Waterbury, was with them,
part of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The Allies had caught the enemy totally unprepared.
But the Allied commander, General John P. Lucas,
was a cautious man.
His orders were to move inland 20 miles,
seize the Alban hills that overlooked Rome
and cut off the railroad line and two roads that supplied the enemy.
Lucas wanted to be certain he had enough men and enough firepower
to be successful.
He took nine days to consolidate his position,
more than enough time for the Germans to build up their defences.
By the time the Allies began to move forward toward the Alban Hills,
the better part of eight enemy divisions - 100,000 men -
held the high ground along the Allied perimeter,
ready for any attack.
Fire!
(GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS)
Babe Ciarlo's division tried to fight its way through the German lines
near the town of Cisterno...
...only to be hurled back toward the beach.
Unable to advance, Americans and Britons dug in as best they could
on the Anzio plain.
15 miles long, 10 miles deep,
and totally exposed to enemy fire.
They would remain pinned down there for four miserable months.
The secret landing meant to stun the enemy had stalled,
just as the assault on the Gustav Line it had been meant to aid had also stalled.
As Churchill said about that Anzio thing,
he said, "I thought I was putting a wildcat ashore.
"It turned out to be a bloated whale."
Because we just sat there.
Meanwhile, the Allied armies back at Monte Cassino were faring no better.
In February, New Zealand and Indian troops
were ordered to take Cassino.
They failed.
Their commander insisted the Germans were using the abbey
as an observation post to direct fire on the huddled men below.
Waves of American warplanes
dropped 586 tons of bombs, turning the abbey into rubble.
The men below stood and cheered.
Some wept with joy.
But German resistance was actually strengthened.
Having promised the church not to disturb the sanctuary,
the Nazis had never actually used the abbey
as an observation post.
But they quickly turned its ruins into a new stronghold
from which they directed fire to destroy the men
that were again sent against them.
In March, the Indians and New Zealanders attacked once more.
The battle seesawed back and forth for two days and two nights
before the Allies fell back to where they'd started.
4,000 men were lost.
The Germans held.
In the mud and snow and bitter cold, the killing went on.
(GUNFIRE)
CHAMBERLIN: You'd get a guy in and he looked OK,
but a little further on, there'd be a medical guy
and he'd say, you know, "This guy's going."
And I said, "Should I stop?"
He said, "Yeah, why don't you stop for a minute?"
So I went back and held his hand and...
...you know, he just looked up and kind of gave a sign of recognition
and then he was gone.
It was quick, quick.
It's hard to describe what it's really like.
You can remember the moments, but...
You see some guy leaving this world, it's not a lot of fun.
NEWSREEL: At Fort Bragg, North Carolina,
in the largest training camp of its kind in the world,
800 coloured rookies get their basic physical build-up
for eventful days to come.
Ten weeks ago they were coalminers, steel workers,
mechanics, professional boxers -
in fact, most everything from college teachers
to Pullman porters.
A few weeks more of this intensive drill
and they'll become
the field artillery replacements of the famed 16th Battalion,
a compact fighting force
of cannoneers, radio and signal men,
an all-Negro group assembled from all over the nation -
a well-trained unit ready and eager to join the fight
for survival of the great democracy that gave them birth.
Man: Alright, men.
On behalf of the United States Army,
and the reception centre here at this camp,
we're glad to welcome you here to today,
and into the United States Army.
We're glad to see all of your happy, smiling faces.
You'll be converted from a civilian
into a full-fledged soldier.
GRAY: When I went in they, uh, had a pad.
And "Eyes - negro.
"Hair - negro.
"Colour - negro.
"Complexion - negro.
"Race - negro."
Everything was "negro" except height and weight.
NARRATOR: Despite the bravery
of African-Americans in all of America's previous wars,
despite the argument made by the NAACP and others
that "a Jim Crow army cannot fight for a free world,"
the armed forces of the United States
remained strictly segregated.
Growing protest by African-Americans
would force the military to make a few changes.
An Army Air Corps training camp
was set up at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
A single ship, the USS 'Mason', was manned entirely by blacks -
except for her commander.
The 761 st Tank Battalion
would eventually fight in Europe,
sent to the front by George Patton
with the admonition - "I don't care what colour you are,
"so long as you go up there and kill
"those Kraut sons of bitches."
The Marine Corps had refused to accept any blacks at all,
but after 1942, as casualties in the Pacific mounted,
and pressure from civil rights groups intensified,
John Gray and others were finally allowed
to sign on and serve...
...in segregated units.
GRAY: They did not intend
to have blacks as fighting units.
They intended to have them,
if at all, as support units.
Look like you ought to appreciate the fact
that you're not up front.
But they didn't want you to get that kind of a glory.
NARRATOR: John Gray was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,
where he joined the 51 st Defense Battalion,
one of only two black units
being trained for combat in the Marine Corps.
Its commander was Lt. Colonel Floyd Stephenson,
a veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor
who won his men's loyalty by declaring,
"There is nothing that black troops cannot be taught."
He was a far cry from the officers
John Gray was used to.
GRAY: And that was different from Major Larsen
who said he had been out in the jungles
and he had fought this and he had done that
and he came back to find women Marines
and dog Marines and then "you people."
We didn't like for people to say "you people."
So instead of referring to troops as "troops,"
they would always refer to black troops as "you people."
And we resented that.
NARRATOR: John Gray and his unit were eventually
sent to the South Pacific.
They had been trained as expert gunners
on 90mm and 150mm guns,
and were so skilled, Gray remembered,
"We could shoot the sting off a bee."
But their white commanders
did not see fit to send them into battle.
The men took to calling themselves "the lost battalion"
because they had so little to do,
and white Marines resented their presence -
especially when Samoan women were involved.
GRAY: And when they got a chance to dance or something...
...and those girls were told that we had tails.
So when a girl would dance with you,
she would reach down and try to see if you had a tail.
But those girls would be so glad to have the treatment.
So they extended, uh,
"separate, but equal," so to speak,
into the armed services.
(EDGAR MEYER'S 'CONCERT DUO MOVEMENT ONE' PLAYS)
AANENSON: I wanted to fly fighters.
And by the luck of the draw, I was sent to Harding Field
at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
That's where they had the P-47 Thunderbolt.
And that was the plane I wanted to fly.
NARRATOR: The war offered Quentin Aanenson, of Luverne, Minnesota,
a chance to realise his boyhood dream of flying.
Colour blindness had kept him out of the Army Air Corps
until he took the test enough times to memorise it.
In early 1944, he was one of hundreds of thousands of men
being trained to play their part in the coming invasion of France.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was
a powerful airplane.
We could carry two 500-pound bombs under the wings
or we could carry two 1,000-pound bombs under the wings.
We carried up to ten rockets.
We had eight.50 calibre machine-guns
mounted in the wings that had a rate of fire
of 600 rounds a minute per gun.
So we, in a second,
we could throw a hundred shells on a target
and just devastate anything that was in front of us.
(RAPID GUNFIRE)
NARRATOR: Fighter training in Baton Rouge was exhilarating,
but dangerous.
(EXPLOSION)
Five members of Aanenson's group of 40 trainees
died before they got a chance to go overseas.
(MILLS BROTHERS' 'PAPER DOLL' PLAYS)
SONG: # I'm gonna buy a paper doll
# That I can call my own... #
AANENSON: And I had been there only about ten days or two weeks
when I met Jackie.
I went to a dance that was put on
by a girls' club that she belonged to.
And this absolutely darling girl came up.
JACKIE GREER: And that particular night,
I had a darling Valentine dress,
you know, the red and the white stripes and all.
There was a song called 'Paper Doll'
that was so famous at that time.
And as I took her to dance with her, I said,
"Hello, paper doll."
GREER: We did have our dance,
and we danced for about five minutes,
the music stopped to let the band rest, and I went home.
And when I got home that night,
my sister was already in bed asleep.
We slept together, and I woke her up
and I said, "Nelwin,
"tonight I met the man I'm going to marry."
AANENSON: Well, we had 90 days to work with from the time I met her
until the time I shipped out to go overseas.
We would go to parties,
and we saw each other almost every night.
And we knew within a matter of just a short time
that this was something serious and everything was...
...it's sort of like on fast forward.
You live your life realising that, uh,
you don't have a lot of time.
NARRATOR: Before he left for England,
Aanenson laid down some ground rules for Jackie.
AANENSON: So I said that
"I'd like to make a deal with you.
"I will come back and survive this war
"if you will agree that while I'm gone
"that you will not date any one guy
"more than three times."
I don't know where in the world he came up with that.
I never did understand it.
But the rule was,
I couldn't have over three dates
with any one fella.
And he explained it that I wouldn't get
too familiar with them in three dates,
and if I couldn't have any more, it couldn't go any further.
And it surely worked.
(COUNT BASIE PLAYING 'FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY')
TOM CIARLO: Waterbury at that time, during the war,
was like, uh, you could almost compare it to a miniature Times Square.
It was never quiet
because there were so many factories
and each factory had three shifts
so they're going around the clock.
So we had buses running up and down from the centre of town
to different streets all over the city going constantly.
NARRATOR: Like Mobile and countless other American towns,
Babe Ciarlo's hometown
of Waterbury, Connecticut was booming.
Its peace-time industries had all switched over to defence
and were working 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Workers came to Waterbury from everywhere.
LEO GOLDBERG: While looking for work, there was one memorable morning
when I got on a bus,
sat down next to a stra... somebody
who turned to me and said, "Good morning."
And I looked at him as if to say,
"Who are you to say good morning to me?"
After all, I'm from Brooklyn, New York.
But any rate, the impact was very great.
The friendliness that I found in Waterbury
was something I was not accustomed to.
NARRATOR: 23-year-old Leo Goldberg quickly got a job as a saw sharpener
at the Scovill Manufacturing Company.
Scovill produced so many different military items,
the 'Waterbury Republican' reported,
"That there wasn't an American or British fighting man
"who wasn't dependent on the company
"for some part of the food, clothing,
"shelter and equipment
"that sustained him through the struggle."
GOLDBERG: Having a job and no attachments, it gives you a freedom.
You don't have to answer to anybody.
"Hey, Mom, I'm gonna stay out until 10:00,"
or "You gotta to be home by noon,"
or whatever it was.
So, it was a burst of freedom.
So couple that with the friendliness.
I got to know people.
I went horseback riding for the first time in my life.
I never knew what a horse looked like.
And uh... it was just great.
NARRATOR: Waterbury also sent group after group of draftees to the war,
12,000 of them.
The mayor saw them all off at the railroad station.
Each man received a prayer book and a carton of cigarettes,
courtesy of the Shriners.
Meanwhile, young Waterbury women did their best
to keep in touch with the men overseas.
ANNE DEVICO: We wrote letters to all the boys we knew.
And they loved getting the letters
because they said at roll call
they wanted their name to be called over and over
because they said it was so wonderful.
They loved these letters because we told them
where we went last night.
We went for a hot dog or something.
You know, it wasn't anything big,
or we went to the USO dance and we saw so-and-so there.
And at Christmastime, they got boxes galore.
My whole kitchen table,
my mother used to help, everybody helped.
And we sent boxes to all of them.
(CREAKING)
NARRATOR: From guns hidden in the Alban Hills...
...the Germans continued
to hurl artillery shells at the Allied troops
pinned down at Anzio.
For more than eight weeks,
since the end of January, 1944,
they had been stuck there.
With the American forces
was Private Bill Mauldin, a cartoonist
for 'Stars and Stripes'.
MAN: "There wasn't any rear.
"There was no place in the entire beachhead where enemy shells
"couldn't seek you out.
"Wounded men got oak leaf clusters on their Purple Hearts
"when shell fragments riddled them as they lay on hospital beds."
(EXPLOSION)
"Nurses died.
"Planes crash-landed on the single airstrip.
"You couldn't stand up in the swamps
"without being cut down,
"and you couldn't sleep if you sat down."
(EXPLOSION)
"Guys stayed in those swamps for days and weeks."
(MEN SHOUT)
(EXPLOSIONS)
NARRATOR: After one massive shelling,
a mess sergeant fell to his knees and began loudly to pray.
"God, help us," he said.
"You come yourself.
"Don't send Jesus.
"This is no place for children."
Some 7,000 Allied personnel were killed
during the Anzio campaign.
36,000 more were wounded or missing.
And another 44,000
were classified as "non-battle casualties",
victims of frostbite and trench foot,
shell shock and madness.
Axis Sally, the Nazi radio propagandist,
began calling Anzio "the largest self-supporting
"prisoner of war camp in the world."
And German aircraft littered the beach with leaflets,
urging Allied solders to surrender.
"The beachhead," they said, "has become a death's head."
On the front line with the 3rd Infantry Division,
Babe Ciarlo saw all of it, took part in some of it,
but never said a word about any of it in his letters home.
MAN: "March 27, 1944.
"I just got through with chow.
"We are having beautiful weather here,
"and I hope it's the same way there,
"so you could take the babies out every afternoon."
TOM CIARLO: He never mentioned a word
about what he was doing, where he was.
You couldn't say much about where you were anyway,
but it was always the upside.
"I could only write a few lines right now because I'm...
'... l'm going to chow, and I don't have time."
This is in the heat of the battle,
and he's going to chow line.
I mean, there's no such thing as a chow line when you're in...
But you don't realise it at the time, until years later,
you get a little smarter and you go, geez, you know,
uh, how could he be going to a chow line when you're in
the middle of a battle or you're in a foxhole or someplace?
But he always had that upbeat outlook about him.
MAN: "April 14, 1944.
"I am in the very best of health, and I hope to hear
"the same from all of you always.
"Well, things here are moving pretty smooth
"and the only thing I do is eat and sleep.
"And if I keep it up much longer, I'll be like a barrel.
"Well, take care of yourselves and keep those stoves roaring,
"because I'll be doing a lot of eating when I get home."
NARRATOR: By the end of April,
the Allied command was determined
to break the stalemate
and resume its drive toward Rome.
Babe's division had finally been pulled back to rest,
and to get ready for the big battle to come.
MAN: "April 30, 1944.
"Dear Mom and family,
"This afternoon, I might go swimming in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
"The salt water will do me good.
"Well, I had my dinner and guess what I had -
"pork chops, about a dozen of them.
"I'm getting to be a chow hound.
"Love, Babe."
NEWSREEL: The Allies are stalled at Anzio,
but patrol clashes are frequent.
Here's a German outpost.
(GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS)
TOM CIARLO: You see, probably, on the newsreel
or you read about it
in the paper about different battles.
But you don't actually put Babe in that position,
because he's always telling you
how everything is fine, everything is no problem.
At one point, as a matter of fact, my mother had my aunt
write a letter in Italian
that she had sent to Babe.
"When you get to Rome, when you get to Italy,
"we have relatives over there.
"When you get there,
"show them these letters and they'll treat you well,"
and everything else, you know.
And at the time, you think, well, yeah, he's going to Italy.
He's going to go to Rome and he's going to see his relatives.
Can you imagine that?
It's so unreal.
MAN: "May 9, 1944.
"I'm glad that you're going down to the beach with the babies,
"and I hope Mom goes down with you,
"because it'll do all of you good.
"I won't be with you this year,
"but I'll guarantee you I'll be there next summer.
"That's a date.
"I'm alright.
"Nothing ever happens here.
"I guess it's like Waterbury - dead.
"Love, Babe."
(BENNY GOODMAN'S 'MEMORIES OF YOU' PLAYS)
(CANNON FIRE)
NARRATOR: By the middle of May,
American artillery had managed to target German guns,
and things at Anzio had calmed down a good deal.
The rain of shells that had once fallen day and night
was reduced to sporadic, harassing fire.
(LAUGHTER)
In one sector, German gunners held their fire each afternoon
while Gls played a game of baseball.
In a ceremony on the beach,
37 foreign-born members of Babe's division were sworn in
as American citizens.
300 men from his outfit attended a wedding
between a first lieutenant and an army nurse.
The bride cut the cake with a trench knife.
(RAPID GUNFIRE)
MAN: "I figured out just what
"I'm going to do after the war when I get home.
"I'm going to loaf for a while, and then I'm going to work,
"and the next spring,
"I'm going to get a car.
"Not bad, huh?
"May 19.
"I am in the very best of health,
"and I hope to hear the same from all of you always.
"Today we had a little rain, but it wasn't bad at all,
"'cause it cooled us off.
"We had beer again today,
"and I gave my share to the fellas.
"Mom, how are you getting along?
"Fine, I hope, and keeping happy always.
"I'm doing good,
"and always happy, 'cause I know you're OK.
"Love, Babe."
(MAN SCREAMS)
NEWSREEL: The heaviest Allied barrage of the war
precedes a dawn attack in the final battle for Cassino.
(DISTANT GUNFIRE)
(PLANES HUM)
(WEAPONS FIRE, RUMBLING)
(EXPLOSIONS)
NARRATOR: On May 11, Allied troops had begun still another assault
on Monte Cassino.
(GUNFIRE, DISTANT SHOUTING)
French forces from North Africa battled their way behind Cassino
and began to choke off German supplies.
(DISTANT SHOUTING)
(GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING)
(GRUNTS)
(EXPLOSION)
(GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING)
(RAPID GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS)
(DISTANT RAPID GUNFIRE)
Polish troops,
eager to avenge the Nazi invasion of their country,
finally took the ruined monastery
and the positions around it.
(EXPLOSION)
The Gustav Line had broken.
The Germans began falling back.
Monte Cassino was in Allied hands.
Meanwhile, at Anzio,
General Mark Clark ordered his forces there
to begin their own offensive on May 23.
He was determined to break out of the beachhead
and link up with the Allied armies
coming up from Cassino to trap the enemy
now retreating northward.
Babe's regiment helped lead the way,
finally taking the fiercely defended village of Cisterna
they had tried to take months earlier.
(DISTANT GUNFIRE)
(EXPLOSION, MAN SHOUTS)
But when his men broke through,
General Clark astonished his own staff
and his British Allies by racing toward Rome
rather than trapping and destroying
the retreating German army,
which had been the original plan.
CHAMBERLIN: And when we finally did break through there,
we didn't even beat the German army then.
So there wasn't a lot to show for all that.
All those casualties, all those terrible things.
The only thing we did from a larger perspective
was to keep a number of German divisions occupied there
that otherwise could have gone to France,
or could have gone to Russia or somewhere else.
But there wasn't a lot to show for it.
It was horrible.
(RADIO STATIC, RADIO CHANGING STATIONS QUICKLY)
RADIO: This is Douglas Edwards reporting
that the 5th Army, tanks and motorised infantry has roared on
through Rome today in relentless pursuit
of two battered German armies.
That's the picture in Italy as Allied planes continue
hammering German-held Europe from the west.
Now, General Electric takes you direct to Rome,
Winston Burdett reporting.
BURDETT: The people of this ancient and still splendid capital
have seldom celebrated such a riotous holiday
as they did today...
NARRATOR: On June 4, 1944,
units of the 5th Army marched into Rome.
BURDETT: A tremendous shout went up in the square...
NARRATOR: It was Babe Ciarlo's 21 st birthday.
BURDETT: We are bringing some 3,000 carabiniere into the city.
NARRATOR: Back in Waterbury,
his sister Olga sat down to write him a letter.
OLGA: "Dearest Babe..."
('THE AMERICAN ANTHEM' PLAYS)
"It is now about 3:15 in the afternoon,
"and it's a beautiful day.
"We are all in the best of health
"and always hope to hear the same from you.
"We just had news a little while ago,
"and our American forces are in Rome.
"The Allies have passed the city limits in Rome,
"but they're not doing any fighting.
"Gee, I don't have to tell you anything.
"You know everything from beginning to end.
"Babe, try to tell us a little more about you.
"Where you are and what you are doing.
"We do hope everything is alright with you.
"Remember always to take good care of yourself.
"Well, Babe, today is your birthday,
"and we do wish you a happy one.
"May all your wishes and dreams come true.
(Voice breaks) "Let's hope that you'll be home for your next birthday.
"I'm sure you will be.
"It won't be long now.
"We'll have the biggest party you've ever seen.
"Just keep your chin up.
"You're 21 years old, and what a man.
"We're all so proud of you,
"especially Mom.
"There's not a minute that goes by
"that she doesn't think of you.
"We all miss you and pray so hard
"for this war to end so you can come home.
"You said you sent home $30.00.
"We didn't receive it yet, but it will get here soon.
"Mom is going to put it in the bank for you, Babe,
"so that when you come home..."
(Sobs) "...you can have everything you want.
"You can buy your car and all your new clothes.
"Well, Babe, I guess I've said enough for now.
"Love from all.
"Take good care of yourself
"and write as often as you can.
"May God bless you and keep you safe.
"Our thoughts are always with you.
"Your loving sister, Olga."
NARRATOR: 22 days later,
on June 26, 1944,
a telegram arrived at the Ciarlo home.
Babe was dead.
He may have been wounded as early as May 23,
as his battalion struggled to take Cisterna
during the first few hours of the Anzio breakout.
995 men from his division were lost that day,
perhaps the largest number suffered in a single day
by any American army division during the entire war.
Hundreds more were killed or wounded
during the next few days,
some of them hit by American fighter planes
whose pilots mistook their advancing countrymen
for retreating Germans.
Whenever Babe was hit, however he was wounded,
he died on May 27,
eight days before his birthday.
Among the belongings in his pockets were two rosaries,
his driver's licence,
a wallet with 16 photographs of family and friends,
a blood-stained letter, and $1.61.
OLGA CIARLO: Well, I was out that night with the girls.
We had a sewing club.
I came home and after I got off the bus,
I see all these lights lit, which is very unusual
that my mother would have all these lights lit,
and the closer I got to my house,
lights were all over the place and I can hear people talking,
and as I went up the front stairs,
I can hear my mother screaming, crying.
My aunts, uncles, everybody was there,
and I didn't know what had happened,
so my aunt called me aside and told me what had happened.
Well, it was a terrible night.
When I got upstairs and found out what happened,
of course... a complete shock to all of us
because we thought everything was fine.
Babe said everything was fine.
He's coming home soon and it would be great...
So to tell you the truth, I just went to my room,
I closed the door, and that's where I stayed.
('EXILES' BY AMY BEACH PLAYS)
NARRATOR: The news of Babe's death spread throughout the neighbourhood.
ANNE DEVICO: And my girlfriend called me up.
She's crying.
I said, "What happened?"
"Babe Ciarlo was killed."
You know, we couldn't do a thing for days after that.
We didn't because all we could think of was him.
He was always so happy and jolly and always so fun-loving,
and then I'm thinking, "He's not coming back."
And it was terrible 'cause you started to realise
that this isn't just going over there and...
They're not coming back.
Some of them aren't.
NARRATOR: Babe's mother refused to believe her son was gone.
There had been some mistake, she was sure of it.
OLGA CIARLO: My mother, of course, was... well, how can I explain it?
She was a disaster.
We would be getting the newspaper
and my mother would look at pictures
and she'd say to me, "There's Babe. That's Babe."
And I'd say, "Gee, no, Mom."
"No! You have to write. You have to write."
I don't know how many newspaper offices I would write to,
magazine places I would write to,
questioning the name of that boy that was in that picture
because my mother always thought it was Babe.
But it never came to be.
It was so bad in our house that nobody ever knows.
I used to play the piano ever since I was a young girl.
When my father passed away and my brother Babe died,
my mother had no music in the house.
I never played the piano again.
('TWO PIECES FOR STRINGS' BY WILLIAM WALTON PLAYS)
NARRATOR: By the late spring of 1944,
events were accelerating at last.
In the Pacific, the Americans were on the move
and a large force was steaming toward the Marianas -
the islands of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.
(BOMB EXPLODES)
On the Eastern front,
the Soviets had triumphed at Leningrad,
then destroyed or captured some 250,000 German troops
in the Crimea.
But the basic fact remained, that until the Nazi grip
on Western Europe was broken, Allied victory was impossible.
The German army had taken up new positions
on the Adolf Hitler Line north of Rome
and the greatest test for the Western Allies -
the long-delayed invasion of France -
was now just days away.
Back in Baton Rouge, Quentin Aanenson from Luverne
had to say goodbye to Jackie and prepare for war.
AANENSON: We were very much aware of the fact that it was a...
...deadly calling.
And we knew that the loss rates were extremely high,
and so it was the, uh, Judge Advocate General's Office
that put this program in place
that all of us should have our wills drawn up.
And, of course, we knew the reality of our situation,
and so we tried to make light of it,
but, nevertheless, we...
...we all signed our wills, drew up our wills -
they were standard-type wills -
and there had to be three pilots
that would witness the other pilot's will.
The three pilots that witnessed my will...
...were all dead in six months.
('UNTIL I'M IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN' PLAYS)