In the winter of 1943-44, after a bloody mauling at Salerno, the men of the 36th Division went back into the line. A few weeks later, at the Rapido River, the Fifth Army's Lieut. General Mark Clark committed them to one of the bloodiest engagements of the Italian campaign.
German artillery, high in the hills, were zeroed in on the river banks. German mines were thickly sown along its shores. Major General Fred Walker, the division's commander, thought (and told General Clark) that an attempt to cross the river at that point would...
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