Dead Soldiers

I've been trying to gauge popular support in Italy for the "Coalition of the Willing" fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Public sentiment is flagging here, just as in the U.S. Last week, the alliance was put to the test when six Italian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

I expected hostility, protests... something. A state funeral and day of mourning were scheduled. The opposition called for Italy's immediate withdrawal. Others countered with the "taking the fight to them there so they don't come here" line we've all heard.

Meantime, the papers filled with the heart-wrenching stories about the men's lives--their last letters home promising to return safely and "forever," pictures of a little boy touching a casket.

Sunday, the day before the funeral, we were invited to the dedication of a marker in the mountains to commemorate the U.S. Army 34th Infantry (the Red Bulls) taking Hill 810 in September 1944 during World War II. Brent (the resident World War II buff) tells me this was significant as the Allies' first break in the Gothic Line.

We met Sylvester Singlestad, a 92-year-old veteran of the battle, his hat jingling with medals — including a Purple Heart and a 24-carat Gold Cross from Pope Pius. The guy actually went behind enemy lines and posed with an Italian partisan as a married couple to spy on the Germans. The local press mobbed him.

Seems we're all nostalgic for a simpler war.

And the hats definitely were better....