Sicily-Rome American Cemetery will hosts its annual ceremony to commemorate Operation Shingle, codename for the Allied landings at Anzio and Nettuno, on Monday, January 22, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
Antonio Taurelli, a local Italian man who fought as a volunteer with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II, organizes the event. He became lifelong friends with an American lieutenant after saving his life, and to this day, Taurelli works to honor the men of the 82nd.
Local students will participate in the ceremony by reading poems, sharing drawings, and singing songs of remembrance. They then place a single red rose at the headstone of each member of the 82nd buried at the cemetery. Taurelli purchases these 242 red roses as a sign of thanks to his fallen comrades.