Press Release
☷U S Army Garrison Italy Soldiers return Italian woman s birthday cake 77 years later
U.S. Army ( By Press Release office)
Apr 29,2022
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VICENZA , Italy - Sgt . Peter Wallis , of Seabeck , Washington , who recently won Installation Management Command – Europe Best Warrior contest ( right ) , presents a cake to Meri Mion , ( center ) with Col . Matthew Gomlak , commander of U . S . Army Garrison Italy . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Hundreds of people , to include Italian soldiers , carabinieri , U . S . veterans , Italian veterans , plus many local residents watched on . The sun was shining in Giardini Salvi during the brief ceremony , where Gomlak spoke of the combat that occurred on nearby Corso SS . Felice e Fortunato . VICENZA , Italy – Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to Meri Mion Thursday – 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . VICENZA , Italy - Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to Meri Mion April 28 , 2022 – 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . Sgt . Peter Wallis , of Seabeck , Washington , who recently won Installation Management Command – Europe Best Warrior contest , presented the cake to Mion , with Col . Matthew Gomlak , commander of U . S . Army Garrison Italy . Sgt . Peter Wallis , a military police Soldier from Seabeck , Washington , presented the cake to Mion , with Col . Matthew Gomlak , commander of U . S . Army Garrison Italy . Hundreds of people – to include Italian soldiers , carabinieri , U . S . veterans and Italian veterans , plus many local residents , looked on . It was a little awkward , but it makes me feel great to give her the cake , said Wallis , who recently won the Installation Management Command – Europe Best Warrior contest in Baumholder , Germany . VICENZA , Italy - Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to Meri Mion April 28 , 2022 – 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . Sgt . Peter Wallis , of Seabeck , Washington , who recently won Installation Management Command – Europe Best Warrior contest , presented the cake to Mion , with Col . Matthew Gomlak , commander of U . S . Army Garrison Italy . Hundreds of people , to include Italian soldiers , carabinieri , U . S . veterans , Italian veterans , plus many local residents watched on . The sun was shining in Giardini Salvi during the brief ceremony , where Gomlak spoke of the combat that occurred on nearby Corso SS . Felice e Fortunato . The sun was shining in Giardini Salvi during the brief ceremony , where Gomlak spoke of the combat that occurred on nearby Corso San Felice e Fortunato . It was gray and stormy that morning when the 88th Infantry Division Soldiers battled German defenders . Several U . S . tanks were destroyed and at least 19 U . S . Soldiers were killed or wounded . Other Americans , from the 91st Infantry Division , drove north from the Riviera Berica into the city . Later , they paraded through Corso Palladio , Vicenza’s famous thoroughfare , where Italians offered them bread and wine . VICENZA , Italy - Col . Matthew Gomlak , commander of U . S . Army Garrison Italyspeaks of the combat that occurred on Corso SS . Felice e Fortunato during the event held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to Meri Mion April 28 , 2022 – 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the event where Sgt . Peter Wallis , of Seabeck , Washington , who recently won Installation Management Command – Europe Best Warrior contest , presented the cake to Mion , with Col . Matthew Gomlak . Hundreds of people , to include Italian soldiers , carabinieri , U . S . veterans , Italian veterans , plus many local residents watched on . “That warm welcome by the people of Vicenza continues to this day , ” Gomlak said . In recent months , garrison staff , worked with the U . S . National Archives to find vintage combat imagery and film and presented that during the ceremony . It shows the horror of the fighting that took place along the Corso San Felice and the genesis of the friendship between the people of Vicenza and the U . S . Army , once the fighting subsided . VICENZA , Italy - Detail of the cake presented to Meri Mion , 89 , the guest of honor at the event , held at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to her 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was a 13 - year - old when the fighting came to her nearby village , San Pietro in Gù . She spent the night hiding with her mother in the attic of their farm . Retreating Germans fired shots near her house , memories that haunted her for years afterward . She awoke the next morning , Americans were nearby . Her mother prepared a birthday cake for her . Fresh from the oven , the cake went to the window sill . “Her happiness turned into disappointment later when the resourceful American Soldiers made off with her birthday cake , ” Gomlak said . Mion thanked the Americans for remembering her and replacing her cake all these years later . She turns 90 on April 29 . This year , she will take the cake home to share with loved ones , she said . VICENZA , Italy - Meri Mion smiles after the ceremony held at Giardini Salvi April 28 , 2022 – 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 . “Tomorrow , we will eat that dessert with all my family remembering this wonderful day that I will never forget” Mion said . Soldiers from U . S . Army Garrison Italy returned a birthday cake to Meri Mion Thursday - 77 years after American troops fighting near Vicenza ate the cake made for her thirteenth birthday . Mion , 89 , of Vicenza , was the guest of honor at the midday event , held together with Vicenza officials at Giardini Salvi , very close to where the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28 , 1945 .
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