My name is Angelo DeCecco and I am retired US Army living in Italy. I work with the US Non-profit American War Memorials Overseas (https://www.uswarmemorials.org).
During the course of my work, I was documenting a WW2 P-47 Crash marker near Boffalora, Italy when I learned of the existence of a monument to Emilio Rollo (Rolla). He is actually remembered on the town war memorial and in the town cemetery – at the family plot.
You can see these the cemetery site location here:
https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=1439&MemID=1900
Emilio is also remembered in France at a 26th Infantry Division Memorial at this location:
https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=235&MemID=360
And as you know he is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American cemetery.
The town of Boffalora is currently refurbishing their town war monument, which is quite beautiful, and they are also refurbishing the Rolla family grave site. During their research, the team in Boffalora learned on the Gold Star mother program through your American Legion Post (Rollo-Calcaterra Post #15 “The Hill”) and the monument you restored remembering the Gold Star mothers.
As they are planning a ceremony in November to inaugurate the refurbished town war monument and Rollo Family grave which includes both Rollo’s parents, they were wondering if they could add a gold star emblem for Rollo to the grave site here in Italy. Would this be a possibility? Is there someone they can formally ask? Even a plaster cast of the existing gold star would work as they then could create their own.
The leaders of this effort recently held a press conference to discuss these projects (See attachments and film below). The one headline reads: “ The Paradox of Emilio Rolla: A Hero in the US; Unknown at Home”. So they are really trying to make the connection and appropriately honor a fallen son.
Please let me know how to best proceed, and thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Saluti!
Angelo DeCecco
