Monument honors First Americans who helped liberate Italy

According to a release from the Chickasaw Nation, a new monument in Paestum, Italy, honors 50 First American tribes whose members served in the 45th Infantry Division during World War II.

The 10-foot-tall obelisk, marked with the division’s Thunderbird symbol, stands among other memorials to Allied units that landed in southern Italy in September 1943. The monument includes a map of the division’s route through Italy, France and Germany as part of the new Thunderbird Trail.

Oklahoma State University professor David D’Andrea, the trail’s historical adviser, said the project records where the 45th passed, from Sicily to Germany. Maj. Gen. Brad Bowlin of the 36th Infantry Division said in a message that the monument honors both Allied soldiers and the “resilience and spirit of the Italian people.”