Patrick, what a fantastic post, thank you for taking the time to write it up. Very clear, great narrative and amazing photos. I was searching on the Garigliano to understand more about a commando raid that preceded the crossings, 81 tears ago tonight as it happens. But I was drawn into your story and, faced with the same problem, I would have made all the assumptions you did! I would have gone to Google Earth earlier but as I would have been looking in the wrong place, it would not have profited me. I'm delighted you found the bridge site.
Oh my. I don’t know where to begin. You’ve found what I’ve been looking for thirty years. In my good fortune, I feel slightly lightheaded.
The bridge your father built remains a critical part of my family history. My father, an American combat engineer of World War II, spoke to me of that bridge only once. What he said frightened and fascinated me, in equal parts.
After decades of needing to locate this bridge myself – to seek the same answers about my father as you have yours – my wife and I decided recently to hire a historian in Italy to assist in locating the bridge area. With your fascinating journey beautifully chronicled, I'm entirely confident we will visit in May of 2025 the correct place on the Garigliano where pivotal military events occurred in 1944.
At the same moment your father began constructing the bridge, my father was attempting to cross the Rapido River (upper Garigliano) with his unit supporting the American 36th Infantry Division. Needless to say, it was a slaughter of breathtaking proportion. There were as many American casualties at the Rapido – more than 2,000 – as Omaha Beach on June 6 of that year.
On 5 March, 1944, my father’s unit, the 19th Combat Engineer Regiment, learned the new American 88th Infantry Division was to relieve the battered British 46th Infantry Division along the Garigliano River in the Minturno area. On 28 March, the US II Corps would relieve the British X Corps in offensive operations on the west coast of Italy. Dad’s unit would maintain roads and bridges beginning 30 March, with his company taking over the 24-hour maintenance of the bridge your father built.
On the night of 28-29 April, a dozen men – my father among them – held the bridge through an extraordinary German artillery pounding, keeping it operational at a critical juncture of the battle. On this bridge, my father’s best fried died in Dad’s arms, mortally wounded from an artillery burst. As a young boy, my father mentioned this night only once, and in shorthand terms. “I was covered in blood, and wasn’t sure if I’d been hit”, he said to me. This 24-hour effort resulted in these dozen men being awarded the Silver Star Medal for battlefield gallantry – the most decorations for any battlefield event in the 19th Engineers regimental history. I have the official citation of this if you’d like a copy. After years of research, I produced a documentary about my father’s outfit, found at YouTube when searching, “Wiped Out: Hard Luck WW2 Outfit”. This film features first-hand accounts of men who were on your father’s bridge.
My father, Clayton H. Nelson, died when I was young, too. So many veterans of the war came home, went back to work, started families, enjoyed what the post-war years could deliver, then they were gone. What remains is our undying respect for what they were able to accomplish under dreadful conditions.
Thank you, Patrick, for sharing your absolutely marvelous journey. Superb detective work! It’s wild to consider your father and mine occupied the same foxholes and trenches reserved for the soldiers maintaining the bridge. The timing of your brilliant article couldn’t be more perfect. Thank you, a million times.
Thank you, Tim - so glad you found this story. I viewed your film. What a labor of love that was. So beautifully made, such moving testimony. The witnesses are, well, real people talking about real stuff that happened, to them. I shouldn't have been, but I was sort of surprised how powerful that is. Patrick :)
While there's much to be mentioned about your father's bridge, Patrick, from a military history perspective, there are equally resonating anecdotes that come to mind. One such instance comes from a now-gone uncle, who shared with me a story some 20-years ago that I still find fascinating. Allow me to share this with you.
Location: Los Angeles CA
Year: 1960
Mother and Dad, then parents of 4 young children, were visiting relatives somewhere in the L.A. area for a few nights. On the Saturday night, my uncle's neighbors -- a large and incandescent Italian family -- invited everyone over to their home for a traditional Italian feast. As the story was told, my father -- a dazzlingly skilled conversationalist --
immediately engaged an older couple at the party who were then visiting from Italy. The chatter became animated when my uncle noticed the mature Italian couple stated to my father they lived on the outskirts of Minturno, and had direct knowledge of the Garigliano floating bridge east of Minturno. This old couple knew of the bridge, and spoke to an American who was assigned to it. What are the odds of that? Everyone stood stiff, mouths agape. I suspect my father drank a half-gallon of wine that night, as this encounter must have shook him up.
Patrick! After years of working toward this moment, earlier TODAY my wife and I visited the site of your father’s bridge! It was remarkably important moment for me given my father’s history there. I wish to share with you video and still images of the visit upon our return home in mid-June. Please drop me an email with your digital contact info to: timbo(dot)nelson@gmail(dot)com
Patrick, what a fantastic post, thank you for taking the time to write it up. Very clear, great narrative and amazing photos. I was searching on the Garigliano to understand more about a commando raid that preceded the crossings, 81 tears ago tonight as it happens. But I was drawn into your story and, faced with the same problem, I would have made all the assumptions you did! I would have gone to Google Earth earlier but as I would have been looking in the wrong place, it would not have profited me. I'm delighted you found the bridge site.
Best wishes, Andrew (www.beardenwm.blogspot.com)
Oh my. I don’t know where to begin. You’ve found what I’ve been looking for thirty years. In my good fortune, I feel slightly lightheaded.
The bridge your father built remains a critical part of my family history. My father, an American combat engineer of World War II, spoke to me of that bridge only once. What he said frightened and fascinated me, in equal parts.
After decades of needing to locate this bridge myself – to seek the same answers about my father as you have yours – my wife and I decided recently to hire a historian in Italy to assist in locating the bridge area. With your fascinating journey beautifully chronicled, I'm entirely confident we will visit in May of 2025 the correct place on the Garigliano where pivotal military events occurred in 1944.
At the same moment your father began constructing the bridge, my father was attempting to cross the Rapido River (upper Garigliano) with his unit supporting the American 36th Infantry Division. Needless to say, it was a slaughter of breathtaking proportion. There were as many American casualties at the Rapido – more than 2,000 – as Omaha Beach on June 6 of that year.
On 5 March, 1944, my father’s unit, the 19th Combat Engineer Regiment, learned the new American 88th Infantry Division was to relieve the battered British 46th Infantry Division along the Garigliano River in the Minturno area. On 28 March, the US II Corps would relieve the British X Corps in offensive operations on the west coast of Italy. Dad’s unit would maintain roads and bridges beginning 30 March, with his company taking over the 24-hour maintenance of the bridge your father built.
On the night of 28-29 April, a dozen men – my father among them – held the bridge through an extraordinary German artillery pounding, keeping it operational at a critical juncture of the battle. On this bridge, my father’s best fried died in Dad’s arms, mortally wounded from an artillery burst. As a young boy, my father mentioned this night only once, and in shorthand terms. “I was covered in blood, and wasn’t sure if I’d been hit”, he said to me. This 24-hour effort resulted in these dozen men being awarded the Silver Star Medal for battlefield gallantry – the most decorations for any battlefield event in the 19th Engineers regimental history. I have the official citation of this if you’d like a copy. After years of research, I produced a documentary about my father’s outfit, found at YouTube when searching, “Wiped Out: Hard Luck WW2 Outfit”. This film features first-hand accounts of men who were on your father’s bridge.
My father, Clayton H. Nelson, died when I was young, too. So many veterans of the war came home, went back to work, started families, enjoyed what the post-war years could deliver, then they were gone. What remains is our undying respect for what they were able to accomplish under dreadful conditions.
Thank you, Patrick, for sharing your absolutely marvelous journey. Superb detective work! It’s wild to consider your father and mine occupied the same foxholes and trenches reserved for the soldiers maintaining the bridge. The timing of your brilliant article couldn’t be more perfect. Thank you, a million times.
Timothy Nelson
Nevada, USA
Thank you, Tim - so glad you found this story. I viewed your film. What a labor of love that was. So beautifully made, such moving testimony. The witnesses are, well, real people talking about real stuff that happened, to them. I shouldn't have been, but I was sort of surprised how powerful that is. Patrick :)
While there's much to be mentioned about your father's bridge, Patrick, from a military history perspective, there are equally resonating anecdotes that come to mind. One such instance comes from a now-gone uncle, who shared with me a story some 20-years ago that I still find fascinating. Allow me to share this with you.
Location: Los Angeles CA
Year: 1960
Mother and Dad, then parents of 4 young children, were visiting relatives somewhere in the L.A. area for a few nights. On the Saturday night, my uncle's neighbors -- a large and incandescent Italian family -- invited everyone over to their home for a traditional Italian feast. As the story was told, my father -- a dazzlingly skilled conversationalist --
immediately engaged an older couple at the party who were then visiting from Italy. The chatter became animated when my uncle noticed the mature Italian couple stated to my father they lived on the outskirts of Minturno, and had direct knowledge of the Garigliano floating bridge east of Minturno. This old couple knew of the bridge, and spoke to an American who was assigned to it. What are the odds of that? Everyone stood stiff, mouths agape. I suspect my father drank a half-gallon of wine that night, as this encounter must have shook him up.
Amazing, Tim. Thanks for sharing that!
Patrick! After years of working toward this moment, earlier TODAY my wife and I visited the site of your father’s bridge! It was remarkably important moment for me given my father’s history there. I wish to share with you video and still images of the visit upon our return home in mid-June. Please drop me an email with your digital contact info to: timbo(dot)nelson@gmail(dot)com
Cheers,
-Tim Nelson
Nevada, USA