Wreath-laying ceremony honors WWII Italian prisoner of war buried near Fort Drum

Every year, Fort Drum community members honor the prisoners of war who were held at Pine Camp during World War II and are buried at the POW Cemetery on Route 26, just outside the main cantonment. John Morgia, a Watertown resident, had started a tradition in 1985 to lay a wreath at the grave site of Pvt. Rino Carlutti, the sole Italian POW buried there – dozens of feet apart from the six German POW graves. 

That tradition, for reasons unknown, had discontinued, but members of the Alteri family renewed it Aug. 24 to coincide with the annual Bravo Italiano Festival. They were joined by Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commanding general, and other guests at the wreath-laying ceremony.