Alessandro Sabbadini was dishonorably discharged, his head shaved for extra humiliation, and jettisoned from the Italian army for being Jewish. It was 1939. Italy the year before had passed its racial law that stripped Jews of their citizenship, property, livelihoods and ultimately their lives. Sabbadini, using family connections and a knowledge of how to get around restrictive immigration laws, made his way to New York City.

It was only a matter of time until the U.S. would enter the war. Sabbadini planned to help the U.S. Army fight it. He enlisted and spent most of the war doing just that, fighting in some of the Italian campaign’s fiercest battles. He spent four months fighting against the German artillery bombardment at Anzio, on the beach where his family had owned a summer house, and where 7,000 British and American troops were killed in action.