US WWII veteran reunites with Italians he saved as children

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By CHARLENE PELE

BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

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.

Adler held out his hand to grasp those of Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana Naldi for the joyful reunion at Bologna’s airport after a 20-hour journey from Boca Raton, Florida. Then, just as he did as a 20-year-old soldier in their village of Monterenzio, he handed out bars of American chocolate.

“Look at my smile,” Adler said of the long-awaited in-person reunion, made possible by the reach of social media.



A 97 year old retired American soldier Martin Adler, center, receives a kiss by Mafalda, right, and Giuliana Naldi that he saved during a WWII, at Bologna's airport, Italy, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944. The 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings -- now octogenarians themselves -- in person for the first time on Monday, eight months after a video reunion. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-europe-veterans-542c9655225d0dc846a3386ddf9c7487

[cinematicdiversions]

1. You know if you do an article about a picture....

Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

Maybe include the picture in the article??????

[Omaha Steve]

2. This is the best shot of the photo on his chest

A 97 year old retired American soldier Martin Adler speaks with journalists at Bologna's airport, Italy, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944. The 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings -- now octogenarians themselves -- in person for the first time on Monday, eight months after a video reunion. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. The orginal photo is there (on the tee-shirts) if you click thru the photos linked.

Great story of war, a mother's fierce defiance, serendipity...and of a reporter's sleuthing to reunite those involved.

[appalachiablue]

9. Childrens' photo, Dec. 2020 news story of how

Martin Adler and the children first connected by video chat last year.

- US World War II Soldier Meets 3 Italian Children He Almost Shot in 1944.

A 96-year-old retired American soldier has been reunited with three children he almost accidentally shot in 1944 while liberating an Italian mountain village from the Nazis.

Martin Adler fought along the Gothic Line, and in October 1944 was among the US troops liberating the area surrounding Monterenzio, a village in the Apennines mountains close to Bologna. He entered a cottage in Monterenzio with a fellow soldier called John Bronsky, thinking it was empty. When they heard a noise coming from a large wicker basket, they thought German soldiers might be hiding inside and so prepared to shoot. At that moment, a panicked mother entered the room shouting: “Don’t shoot … children, children!” Three siblings, aged between three and six, then jumped out of the basket.

Relieved, Adler asked if he could have a photo taken with the children – Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana – using a camera he had with him. Their mother agreed, but on condition she could dress them in their best clothes. Seventy-six years later, and now living in Florida, Adler asked his daughter, Rachelle, to try to track down the siblings to see if any were still alive. On 12 December, she posted a message alongside the original photo on a Facebook page for veteran soldiers from the US and Canada who had been stationed in Italy.

The message was seen by Matteo Incerti, an author and journalist from the Emilia-Romagna region who has written a book about the second world war. Incerti shared the photo on his own Facebook page before locating the area where Adler’s 339thth Regiment of the US 85th Division was based. He contacted a local newspaper, which published the photo, and the story was also carried by the TV channel TG1 and the national press. As the story was being shared in Italy, Rachelle wrote on her Facebook page: “My dad Martin Adler is being featured in an article in Italy. We are hoping for a holiday miracle to reunite him with these three children he could have mistakenly killed. Thank God he and Bronsky kept their cool.”

On 13 December – the day many Italians mark the feast day of Santa Lucia, or “the festival of light” – Incerti received a message from the care worker of a friend of Bruno. The care worker said she had met Bruno in a park and he had told her he recognised himself from the photo in the newspaper and wanted to contact the journalist but did not know how to. “Straightaway she found me on Facebook and wrote me a message,” Incerti said. Mafalda also recognised herself in the photo. Incerti swiftly set up a video call between Adler and the three siblings, now aged between 79 and 83, which took place on Monday. The first thing Adler said to them was: “Would you like some chocolate?” “They remembered playing in the basket, Americans being in the house and him giving them sweets and chocolate,” Incerti said. In an emotional reunion, Adler said he would like to live until he’s 100 and come to Italy to meet Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana..

[3auld6phart]

4. Awesome.

Truly pleased and happy they could meet again. And at 97 .
I remember US service men from that time period . They
were a great bunch. They treated us kids with great kindness.

[paleotn]

5. Brightened my day. Wonderful!

[Evolve Dammit]

6. They were a special generation of real patriots who defeated authoritarian global threats.

I pray we have some of that today. Or at least enough to put down the uprising that is brewing. Saving life is as good as it gets. And re-uniting is even better. Nice post. Thanks

[TheRickles]

7. Great story - the original antifa.

As an aside, it's pathetic how that term has been corrupted.

[ShazamIam]

8. And one of the, "girls," wore her pearl necklace for the meeting.

[erronis]

10. My Italian teacher was a boy in Palermo when the GI's pulled through

The GI's were throwing candy to everyone and my teacher remembered one flavor.

Many years later (1970s) he went to a drugstore in the US and sat at the counter and ordered a root beer.

All of a sudden all of those memories from his childhood flooded through him because of the flavor that he hadn't experienced for 30 years.

Memories!

[aggiesal]

11. There has to be onions around here somewhere. n/t

[chia]

12. Beautiful story

[MustLoveBeagles]

13. Seeing this made my night

Thanks for posting.

[keithbvadu2]

14. Damned onions!

[white cloud]

15. Wow

That is special. Dang Cedars!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Antifa lives and loves. . . . nt