Italy and the United States signed a new memorandum to further improve recovery efforts for American servicemen who disappeared during World War II on the Italian peninsula, officials said on Tuesday.
The pact, inked by Italy’s Ministry of Culture and the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), aims to enhance search and recovery operations for US troops who remained unaccounted for following fierce combat in Italy during 1943-1945. The operations will now also have measures to safeguard archaeological sites that could be harmed in the course of excavation operations.
Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli highlighted the double significance of remembrance and preservation of heritage. “The right to study and recall those who perished in the war is now added to the preservation of the archaeological heritage that the Ministry of Culture is tasked with,” Giuli said.
He also pointed out that the agreement demonstrates the ongoing cooperation between the United States and Italy in commemorating those who had died in the fight for freedom, terming the agreement as “a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to contribute to our freedom.”
There are almost 72,000 American missing persons from World War II around the world, the DPAA says. Since recovery operations began again in the 1970s, the remains of some 1,000 have been located and identified, with work continuing.
The new memorandum should allow for recovery efforts to be more respectful and efficient in Italy by incorporating archaeological knowledge into the search process, so that both cultural and human legacies of the war are preserved.
The Italian campaign in WWII is one of the most brutal chapters in the war, with brutal combat after the Allied invasion of Sicily and the advance to free Italy from Nazi and Fascist rule.
