Nettuno #WALSHglobal

Nettuno

Walsh Global 12

Noah Drlik 

Today I got the opportunity to experience the day in Nettuno touring the city and the American World War 2 cemetery.  Nettuno is a small coastal city and is about a 70-minute train ride from Rome.  The weather today was beautiful and gave me the chance to walk on the sand barefoot and even put my feet in the water of the Tyrrhenian Sea.  Being a coastal city means most of the cuisine is fish based. Being that I am allergic to fish so finding some food that I could eat was a challenge.  I found a place that made sandwiches and I was able to enjoy it outside with the view of the water.  It was much more peaceful than eating lunch in Rome, I was not harassed by a person trying to sell me something and there was less noise. Nettuno is a better vacation spot compared to Rome.  After lunch, the group and I walked inland to visit the American cemetery of World war 2. The official name is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and memorial, owned and operated by the United States of America.  There are over 7,000 men and women laid to rest in this cemetery, a majority of them are known and have names on their gravestones.  However, there are 490 unknown soldiers buried here, which is sad because we are not given the opportunity to pay respect to them directly.  Those soldiers died just as noble as the rest, it’s a shame they aren’t able to get the recognition they deserve. The Cemetery reminded me of a mini Arlington, the graves were all cemeterial and had white Latin crosses as gravestones.  However, some graves had the star of David instead of the cross honoring the Jewish soldiers who died fighting for our country.  Other than the graves themselves, the cemetery also had a visitor center that had a miniature museum, explaining the how the Americans captured Italy.  The museum also had artifacts from the war such as helmets, pistols, and landmines, a majority of them were replicas but it was still interesting to read about them. The cemetery also had a chapel where the names of over 3,000 missing soldiers were. The chapel was erected to remember those who were missing in action and have still yet to be discovered. The cemetery is a closed cemetery and is not open to any more burials, the last one taking place in 1946, it is truly remarkable of how well kept the property is.  The really interesting part of the cemetery is that it is owned and operated by the United States, an American organization hires all the grounds crew, guides, security and so on.  The perfect upkeep goes to show how much the American culture respects those who lost their lives fighting for our country.  I would defiantly like to visit the other cemetery in Italy designated for American soldiers as well as the others scattered across Europe. I felt a sense of pride walking through the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.  The pride came from being in an American owned place in the country of Italy, I’m not how to describe it any further.  With that being said, I really enjoyed the day trip to Nettuno and would go back if given the chance, not only for the beach but the cemetery as well.