“The Germans had started another attack and were not far behind. They shot up flares to illuminate the battlefield. As the flares were going up, Corporal Flox and I hit the muddy ground facedown to keep from being seen and waited until the flames burned out, then we started out again. This happened about every twenty yards, which greatly slowed our pace. Artillery and mortar shells were impacting all around us. My arm felt numb, and I was weak from loss of blood. We had all been through a grueling physical ordeal and had been without rations for several days. I most likely would not have made it had it not been for the medic who stayed with me all the way. If I had died on the battlefield that day, anyone – however well intentioned – who said that I gave my life for my country would have dishonored my memory. Although I accepted the dangers and risks of losing my life in combat, I would never have given it. The Germans would have to snuff it out.”

But the life of James “Maggie” Megellas was not snuffed out. Maggie would survive Anzio - and later in the War the crossing of the Waal River, and the Battle of the Bulge, and become the most decorated officer in the history of the 82^nd Airborne Division. He would write All the Way to Berlin, from which the above quote has been taken. And in June, with his wife Carol, he will join us, and lead us, on our tour of The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944.

The Italian Campaign’s outcome was never certain. Roosevelt, Churchill and their military advisors engaged in heated debate about whether an invasion of the underbelly of Europe was even a good idea. But once under way, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizingly high price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino were particularly difficult and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to drive the Germans up the Italian peninsula. Led by Lieutenant General Mark Clark, one of the war’s most complex and controversial commanders, American officers and soldiers became increasingly determined and proficient. And with the liberation of Rome in June, 1944 ultimate victory at least began to seem inevitable.

Our tour will follow the American, British and Canadian armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and then, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north toward Rome. This exciting adventure in World War II history will begin in Rome with a welcome reception and dinner on Wednesday evening, June 11. The next morning, our jet-lag having subsided, we’ll enjoy a guided tour of The Eternal City. On Friday morning, we’ll shuttle to the airport and board a 75-minute charter flight to Catania, Sicily which will serve as our base for the next three days. In Sicily, we will visit:

·          Siracusa, the ancient city once the most important Greek settlement in the region

·        Gela, on the southwest coast of Sicily where the Allies landed on the beaches as a part of Operation Husky to begin the liberation of Europe – on July 9, 1943

·        Enna, Sicily’s highest town which sits atop a crag overlooking a magnificent valley, and the nearby battlefields of Leonforte, Assoro and Agira

·        Mount Etna, Europe’s largest, highest, accessible volcano

·        Messina, the gateway to the narrow body of water between Sicily and Italy, and the enemy’s escape route to the Italian mainland

On Monday morning, we’ll fly back to Rome, board a charter bus, and head south to the sites of the most storied beach landings and inland fighting in Italy, and to several sites of mythical lore, including

·        Salerno – where the Allies landed on September 9, 1943

·        Pompeii – the city completed buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD

·        Paestum – where the first wave of the U. S. 36^th Infantry Division came ashore

·        The Abbey of Monte Cassino and the Polish and German cemeteries at Cassino

·        Anzio and Nettuno – where American troops landed in January, 1944, the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and the Museum of the Allied Landing

During our tour, we’ll also visit Ortona, on the eastern shore of Italy along the Adriatic Sea where raged what has been described as the deadliest close quarter combat of the entire war as German paratroopers were ousted from the town by forces of the 1^st Canadian Infantry.

We will also take a scenic drive into the Apennine Mountains to visit the Villetta Inn where Benito Mussolini was imprisoned for a time in September, 1943. And we’ll ride the cable car to Camp Imperatore, where Mussolini was rescued by Otto Skorzeny’s commandos in one of the most daring exploits of the war.

Our grand adventure across Sicily and Italy will conclude with a farewell dinner in Rome on Saturday evening, June 21. You will be free to fly home, following breakfast, on Sunday morning, June 22.

Joining Maggie as a tour leader will be Colonel Robert J. Dalessandro, Director of the U. S. Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Also aboard will be Father Joseph Orlandi, Chaplain of the 77^th Readiness Command, whose talents include being fluent in Italian. Through the combined efforts of our tour leaders, we will gain a comprehensive understanding of the landings, battles, soldiers and commanders that were a part of the Italian Campaign.

Throughout our tour, we will enjoy delicious Sicilian and Italian cuisine, have time for shopping, and meet friendly local people. We will visit beautiful beaches, famous sites of the Ancient World, informative museums, mountain hamlets and quiet cemeteries that belie the ghastly combat that raged across Sicily and Italy 60 years ago. Most importantly, we will come to more fully appreciate the heroism and sacrifices of the thousands of men who liberated Sicily and Italy - men such as Maggie Megellas, back again at Anzio, honoring and remembering those who fought and died by his side.

This tour presents the rarest of opportunities - to visit World War II battlefields with an American war hero who fought and bled on them and lived to tell of it. As the years pass the opportunity to visit these places with such a man will pass too. So we encourage you to sign on now. This tour is limited to 35 registrants and it will fill up fast. We hope you’ll join us!

ABOUT OUR TOUR LEADERS

LTC JAMES “MAGGIE” MEGELLAS, USA (Ret) was awarded more than 10 medals including The Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts for his WWII service. He was selected by General “Jumpin Jim” Gavin to receive the “Military Order of Willhelm Orange Lanyard” from the Dutch Minister of War.

In mid-1943, Maggie joined the 82nd Airborne Division. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples where he was wounded. In October 1943, when most of the 82nd departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, requested that the division’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Maggie’s outfit, stay behind for a daring new operation that would outflank the Nazis’ stubborn defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On 22 January 1944, Megellas and the rest of the 504th landed across the beach at Anzio.

Following initial success, Fifth Army’s amphibious assault, Operation Shingle, bogged down in the face of heavy German counterattacks that threatened to drive the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a fiasco, one of the bloodiest Allied operations of the war. Not until April were the remnants of the regiment withdrawn and shipped to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and train for their next mission.

Among Maggie’s other notable battles were the jump into Holland (Operation Market Garden), the famous crossing of the Waal River under heavy German machine gun fire in broad daylight (subject of the movie, A Bridge Too Far) and the Battle of the Bulge.

For his leadership and heroic actions in capturing the town of Herresbach, Belgium, Maggie has been recommended to receive the Medal of Honor. On January 31, 2007 Congressman Thomas Petri of Wisconsin introduced a bill (H.R. 795) in the United States House of Representatives to authorize and request the President to award the Medal of Honor to James Megellas of Colleyville, Texas, for acts of valor on January 28, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The bill was referred to the Committee on Armed Services. Maggie’s book, All the Way to Berlin, released in 2003, provides a vivid and most interesting chronicle of his heroic experiences.

COL. ROBERT J. DALESSANDRO, USA is Director of the United States Army Heritage and Education Center, United States Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania and an experienced tour leader of World War II battlefields in the European Theater. He is the author of The Organization and Insignia of the American Expeditionary Force, 1917-1923 and serves as an advisor to the American Battle Monuments Commission for the Normandy America n Cemetery Interpretive Center at Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

FATHER JOSEPH ORLANDI is the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Paterson, New Jersey and the chaplain of the Army National Guard’s 77^th Readiness Command. A retired colonel, he recently returned from service in the Command Chaplain Section of the Combined Joint Task Force 76 at Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan and Camp Victory, Iraq. For his efforts on behalf of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraq Freedom in Iraq, Father Orlandi was awarded two Defense Meritorious Service Medals by the U.S. Department of Defense.

RECOMMENDED READING

·        All the Way to Berlin, by James Megellas

·        The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, by Rick Atkinson

·        Bitter Victory: The Battle of Sicily, July-August 1943, by Carlo D’Este

·        Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle of Rome, by Carlo D’Este

REGISTRATION FEES

q Double: $3,975 per person ($7,950 per Couple)

Send a deposit of $600 per couple and your balance of $7,350 will be due by May 1, 2008

q Single: $4,795  

Send a deposit of $300 and your balance of $4,495 will be due by May 1, 2008

Refund Policy for this Tour

If You Must Cancel we will refund 100% of your fees paid except that cancellations received after August 1 may necessitate a cancellation fee of $300 per person. However, if we can substitute someone in your place, or otherwise fully recover our pre-paid fees, we will waive such cancellation fee. In all cases, you must allow 30 days from the date of our receipt of your notice of cancellation for remittance of refund.

Your Registration Includes:

·        the services of expert historians including a war hero who fought at Naples and Anzio

·        the services of professional tour managers

·        deluxe transportation from site to site

·        11 nights’ lodging

·        all taxes and gratuities on included features

·        round-trip airfare between Rome and Catania

·        11 breakfasts

·        several lunches

·        4 dinners.

·        all admissions to group site visits

·        a set of maps, orders of battle and other useful materials