After learning that more than half of the veterans interviewed during the rifle project had never returned to the battlefields they fought on, a strategic fundraiser was started to return seventeen WWII veterans back to Belgium. A GoFundMe account reached 70k in order to pay for the veterans and one family member to return to the "Battle of the Bulge." It was therapeutic for many of the veterans who had never returned. They made peace with their former German enemies and visited their fallen comrades in the cemeteries. The trip closed a final chapter in many of their lives.
75th Anniversary of the Ardennes Offensive and the men who fought there .
3rd Infantry Divsion Veteran Albert Bucharelli and 85th Division Rocco Telese sit in front of the Coliseum in Italy
Albert visits his squad leaders grave at Rome National American Cemetary.
Anzio-Rome-Monte Cassino
Francis Murphy, 95, returned for the first time in seventy-five years.
Francis landed on Omaha beach, however a full tour was given to him of the allied landings.
99-year-old Ed Cottrell served as a P-47 pilot with the 48th Fighter Group, 493rd Squadron during the Second World War. His roommate, Ted Smith, was shot down by flak in Jan 1st, 1945. This was the first time he saw Ted’s grave in Holland, seventy-seven years later.
Bob White, 507 PIR, 17th Airborne Division is returned to his drop zone 77 years later.
Bob was a veteran of Operation Varsity, the largest airborne operation of WWII.
Your contribution will enable us to bring WWII veterans back to Normandy, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Funds directly support flights, hotels, and ground transportation.
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