On the peak (Monte Folgorito- 911m) near the cross, a few meters to the side, 1 meter lower.

A white marble plaque with the symbol of the 442^nd Infantry Regiment (Regimental Combat Team) on the front; the plaque is about 18”x18”.

The local town placed the plaque remembering the heroic efforts of the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team’s 100^th Battalion to break the Gothic Line on Monte Folgorito on April 5, 1945.  

From the 442^nd “Go for Broke Website:  

NORTH APENNINES (September 10, 1944 - April 4, 1945) AND PO VALLEY (April 5 - May 8, 1945) CAMPAIGNS

The 100th/442nd at The Gothic Line, March 25 - May 1945

On March 25, 1945, when the 442nd Regimental Combat Team arrived in Pisa, Italy, some of the soldiers thought, "Here we go again." 

Last summer, the 442nd had liberated Pisa. Now, eight months later, the Nisei were back. But during the Nisei's absence the Allies had not budged in the Apennine Mountains.

The saw-toothed Apennines rose up from the Ligurian Sea. Starting from the northeast, the peaks hugged the east coast of Italy and stretched diagonally southward across the Italian boot. To the west, on the other side of the mountains, was the wide, flat Po River Valley that led up to the Austrian Alps-the last barrier to Germany.

The Allies faced steep marble mountains, some rising 3,000 feet high, bare of vegetation save for scanty scrub growth. Starting from the southwest and zigzagging northeast, the hills were known as Georgia; Florida; Ohio 1, 2, 3; Cerreto; Folgorito; Carchio; and Belvedere. Allied planes air-bombed it and Allied artillery blasted it, but they could not crack the Gothic Line.

Now, the 442nd, under General Mark Clark's Fifth Army, 92nd Infantry Division, was ordered to do it. But how? The Germans, safe and snug in their mountaintop observation posts, could see troops coming from miles away.

The 442nd Regiment's Commander, Colonel Virgil Miller, and the battalion commanders and their staff went over possible plans. Miller, Lieutenant Colonel James Conley (100th Battalion Commander) and Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Pursall (3rd Battalion Commander) made their decision. The plan was to conceal the Nisei approach by moving at night, and then make a surprise pincers attack at dawn.

On the night of April 3, the 100th Battalion moved west of Cerreto. Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion hiked eastward all night to the village of Azzano, southeast of Folgorito. The Italian partisans guided them through the mountainous terrain. The next day, the battalions hid.

When darkness fell, the 100th moved toward Florida hill undetected. Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion climbed toward the saddle between Folgorito and Carchio. For eight hours, I and L Company men plus M Company machine-gunners scaled the 60-degree incline. Laden with packs and ammunition, they crawled up the steep, slippery, shale-encrusted slopes. One man fell 300 feet, but didn't utter a sound. The success of the entire operation hinged on silence and secrecy.

By dawn on April 5, they reached the top, and were looking into the backs of the German emplacements. Suddenly, bam! The Germans were surprised with a wake-up call. The Nisei killed and captured enemy soldiers and quickly seized gun positions.

The 3rd Battalion attacked across the mountaintops, moving westward. L Company drove off a sharp counterattack and reached the base of Folgorito. I Company drove the enemy into the recesses of Carchio.

Private First Class Sadao Munemori, A Company, made a frontal, one-man attack through heavy fire and took out two machine gun nests. As Munemori returned to take cover in a crater with two squad members, a grenade bounced off his helmet. The live grenade rolled toward his helpless squad members. Without hesitation, he dove on the grenade and smothered the blast with his own body. By his swift and supremely heroic actions, he saved the lives of two men at the cost of his own. He was four months away from his 23rd birthday.

In 32 minutes, the Nisei had driven the Germans from their entrenchments. But now they were awake. They pounded K Company and the mortar platoon of M Company with heavy mortar fire, killing three Nisei and wounding 40 more.

The battle for the ridges raged on. Allied mortar and artillery fire failed to dent the well-constructed emplacements. The 442nd had to filter through heavy fire to hand-grenade range and destroy the fiercely defended bunkers one by one. The Nisei also faced a new threat: German Schu-mines. These hard-to-detect mines caused more than half of the 100th's casualties.

By the night of April 6, the 100th and 3rd Battalions had closed in from opposite directions and seized Cerreto. The 2nd Battalion's F Company took Carchio. The Nisei had also seized hills Georgia, Ohio 1, 2, 3 and Folgorito.

The 442^nd Infantry Regiment - The Most Decorated Unit:

The 442nd Regiment of Japanese-Americans would go on to be one the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare.   The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 2.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations (5 earned in one month).¹ Twenty-one of its members were awarded Medals of Honor. Its motto was "Go for Broke".  They proved their loyalty to the United States of American in its greatest time of need like no other.

"Americanism is not and has never been a matter of race or color. 
Americanism is a matter of mind and heart."

- FDR 

SEE THIS WEBSITE FOR OTHER SITES RELATED TO THE 100^TH BATTALION AND 442^ND COMBAT REGIMENTAL TEAM

ITALY: San Angelo Theodice; Filignano; Pietrasanta; Camp Darby (Private Masato “Curley” Nakae Memorial and Square); Tendola

FRANCE:  Biffontaine; Biffontaine Town Hall; Laval Woods; Bruyeres

The text on the plaque reads:

442^nd RCT

5.4.1945