{"id":427803,"date":"2025-04-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=427803"},"modified":"2025-04-27T18:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T18:25:20","slug":"paratroopers-honor-80th-anniversary-of-wwii-liberation-of-montecchio-maggiore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=427803","title":{"rendered":"Paratroopers honor 80th anniversary of WWII liberation of Montecchio Maggiore"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sgt. William Cantrell dances during the April 27, 2025, event in Montecchio Maggiore, that commemorated the liberation of the area between April 27-28, 1945. The commemorative event began with a formal portion followed by a celebration with people dancing in 1940\u2019s garb.
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MONTECCHIO MAGGIORE, Italy \u2013 Sgt. William Cantrell stood beside Italians dancing in Piazza Marconi to celebrate the 80th anniversary of their town being liberated.<\/p>\n

And then, he was part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on the side and this little old lady just took my hand,\u201d said Cantrell, a Tennessee-born paratrooper from the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion. \u201cI couldn\u2019t say no.\u201d<\/p>\n

His command team, Lt. Col. Ryan Hulse and Command Sgt. Maj. Gerardo Moran, already had Italian dance partners. And soon, a dozen paratroopers were folk dancing in jump boots throughout the cobblestone square, just below the famous Romeo and Juliet castles.<\/p>\n

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\n Lt. Col. Ryan Hulse and Command Sgt. Maj. Gerardo Moran dance with local Italians during the April 27, 2025, event in Montecchio Maggiore. The 173rd BSB has a longstanding partnership with Montecchio Maggiore under U.S. Army Garrison Italy\u2019s Community Alliance Program.
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Traditional Italian music played. Hundreds of townspeople clapped and watched.<\/p>\n

Cantrell knows a few country line dances from back home \u2013 but the Italians have their own way of traditional dancing. He smiled and laughed as a teenage girl showed him the back-and-forth patterns of their folk dance.<\/p>\n

Most Italians celebrate their Liberation Day on April 25. U.S. Soldiers liberated Montecchio Maggiore, just a few miles west of Vicenza, and the surrounding areas between April 27-28, 1945. The April 27 commemorative event began with a formal portion followed by a celebration with people dancing in 1940\u2019s garb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect it to be this spectacular, the magnitude of what it is,\u201d Cantrell said. \u201cI\u2019ve never experienced anything like this, it\u2019s phenomenal. I\u2019m proud to show the people that we support them, and they support us and we\u2019re just having a great time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 173rd BSB has a longstanding partnership with Montecchio Maggiore under U.S. Army Garrison Italy\u2019s Community Alliance Program.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the 173rd paratroopers stood in formation as Moran called them to attention. Children sang the Italian national anthem. Church bells from the nearby Duomo di Santa Maria e San Vitale rang out as the local Italian band struck up their rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. The U.S. Soldiers again snapped to attention and saluted. Then, a convoy of World War II-era U.S. Army vehicles from the local museum \u201cMuseo delle Forze Armate 1914-1945,\u201d rolled into town.<\/p>\n

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\n The 173rd paratroopers stood in formation April 27, 2025, as local children sang the Italian national anthem. Church bells from the nearby Duomo di Santa Maria e San Vitale rang out as the Italian band struck up their rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. The U.S. Soldiers again snapped to attention and saluted.
\n (Photo Credit: Rick Scavetta, U. S. Army Garrison Italy )<\/span>
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Less than two miles away, in the early hours of April 28, 1945, a task force made up of Soldiers from the 88th Infantry Division paused near Montecchio Maggiore before launching their assault down highway 11 into Vicenza. Many of the Italian war reenactors driving the tanks wore 88th ID uniforms.<\/p>\n

One reenactor, Enrico Ricci, 32, came from Alfonsine, a small town near Ravenna about 100 miles south of Vicenza. A collector, Ricci\u2019s grandfather fought in the war. He now has World War II uniforms from the Italian, German and British forces. For this occasion, he wore his American uniform complete with a unit patch from the U.S. Army\u2019s tank destroyer battalion. Women kissed Ricci and his friends, so they had lipstick marks on their cheeks, as did some GIs upon liberating towns. They posed for endless photos with townspeople.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important because, it\u2019s been a long time since the war, \u201cRicci said. \u201cWe can\u2019t lose the stories.<\/p>\n

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\n A convoy of World War II-era U.S. Army vehicles from the local museum \u201cMuseo delle Forze Armate 1914-1945,\u201d rolled into town. Sgt. William Cantrell talks with a Carabinieri near an M-4 Sherman tank. Less than two miles away, in the early hours of April 28, 1945, a task force made up of Soldiers from the 88th Infantry Division paused near Montecchio Maggiore before launching their assault down highway 11 into Vicenza. Many of the Italian war reenactors driving the tanks wore 88th ID uniforms.
(Photo Credit: Rick Scavetta, U. S. Army Garrison Italy )<\/span>
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Afterward, the paratroopers were treated to refreshments at a nearby hall. There they shared how they felt about participating. Pfc. Gavin Smith was grateful for the opportunity and said he\u2019d return to Montecchio \u201c100 percent, in a heartbeat.\u201d Spc. Moya Norton was glad to volunteer for the assignment. Spc. Michael Andress reflected what he called a \u201chistoric moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpending time celebrating our relationship with the local people is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life,\u201d Andress said.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO<\/p>\n

Anna Ciccotti contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sgt. William Cantrell dances during the April 27, 2025, event in Montecchio Maggiore, that commemorated the liberation of the area between April 27-28, 1945. The commemorative event began with a formal portion followed by a celebration with people dancing in 1940\u2019s garb. (Photo Credit: Rick Scavetta, U. S. Army Garrison Italy ) VIEW ORIGINAL MONTECCHIO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427805,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=427803"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427809,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427803\/revisions\/427809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/427805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=427803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=427803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=427803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}