I was here on April 1st together with the historical writer Vincenzo Di Michele at the very well curated Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, welcomed by the superintendent, Mrs Eryth Z. Zecher, for an event organized by RS Travel Development and Group Travel Planners; the visit and music performance (choir and band) of an American High School, Port Washington, Wisconsin, conducted by the directors Dennis Gephart and Chris Clouthier.

Being here inevitably brought my mind to a famous war movie of 1998, Saving Private Ryan, which begins right this way among the tombs in a cemetery of the fallen during World War II, and ends still in the same cemetery, with the former soldier who got moved and cried on the grave of his captain who saved his life.

In the middle of the movie we are confronted with just all the cruelty of war.

It was nice to see these young boys and girls wandering among the tombs honoring the fallen and singing and performing the American Anthem and other moving tunes representing a message of peace in a period where unfortunately there is a lot of useless war.

Ruggero Scoma