The venereal rate had increased and the hospitals had their own method of tracking down the spreaders of this disease. When a new case arrived in the hospital, the patient was questioned as to the source of contact, a general description of the girl, and the methods of prophylaxis used. This information was turned over to the Military Police and they investigated. If they found the girl, she was examined and treated if found to have a venereal disease. This was one of the main problems of the Medical Corps in Italy. It seems that the germ which spread venereal disease in Italy was resistant to most of the drugs now used to combat the disease, especially sulfa drugs. However, in 99 cased out of 100, penicillin cured the disease in 24 hours. However, it did not prevent the disease from recurring very often, especially after a strain related to hard work. Many combat units lost the services of many of its men through this disease. In fact, two complete divisions were at one time or another hospitalized for venereal disease during the North Africa campaign. There is no doubt that the high rate of venereal disease and prostitution is a direct result of war. Married women whose husbands have been in the army for several years, mother of babies whose husbands either can't support them or who must support themselves, single girls who must contribute to the family's support, have been forced to sell their bodies in order to live. Previous to the war, the Italians held their women in high regard. The conditions associated with five years of war, where armies lived with the civilians and were the only source of income, have no doubt brought about these present conditions. The ease with which any soldier could pick up a girl in Italy made many of them wonder whether these same conditions might also be prevalent in the states.
The Ninth Evacuation Hospital received a commendation from The Surgeon, P.B.S. on the excellent venereal record of the organization during the first six months of 1944. It had the lowest rate of any in the army in Italy. There could be no probable explanation for the low rate in the unit. It was generally agreed that the men were the luckiest of any unit in Italy.
The unit also was officially commended by Special Service Officer, P.B.S. for having one of the most interesting and well-planned unit newspaper published.
The stories of the various actions in Italy were quite revealing and interesting. Late in the year, Bari was attacked by German bombers and eighteen ships in the harbor were sunk. It seems that American planes were returning to the Bari airport after a bombing mission and following them were a group of German planes. After the allied planes came in to land, the Germans swerved toward the harbor and let loose. The anti-aircraft boys were caught off base. Thereafter, for that reason, all planes were forbidden to land in Italy during certain hours of the day. All planes, regardless of their identification, were ordered fired upon if they came near the airports during those hours. As a result, many allied planes were fired upon in the Naples area during and after the hours of dusk.
The real Anzio story was that the beachhead invasion, although it might have tied up several German divisions, was a military failure. After the front line had been determined, replacements came directly from the states. The casualties on the beachhead were extremely heavy. Deaths from the Third Division alone amounted to thousands. Their dead were buried in temporary plots and very often the shoes of the dead soldiers stuck up above the ground and a detail had to go out daily to stamp them down so that the Italians wouldn't steal them. The total amount of soldiers on the beachhead were far less than the enemy presumed. In fact, American soldiers were urged, for the first time since the war started, to state that they were at Anzio in their letters so as to make it seem that there were more soldiers on the beachhead than there actually were.
The stories coming back from Cassino intimated that the Germans had excellent defensive positions ever after the bombing it had received at the hands of the Allied bombers. During the main bombing attack, the American Air Forces mistook Venafro for Cassino and leveled it to the ground, killing at the same time many American troops who were bivouacked there. A visit to the front lines at Cassino during a lull in the fighting revealed the fact that the monastery still remained standing despite the previous bombings and shellings. Most of the Americans had left and a Polish division and several English divisions were facing the Germans who had retaken Cassino. Morale was good in spite of the lack of action. However, there was an unusual amount of expectation in the air and it was the general impression of the boys at the front that something would happen soon. This was late in April.
Things were quiet during April and the early part of May, but during the second week in Many, we began receiving hundreds of patients from the front line hospitals. This was an indication that an offensive was in the making. On the afternoon of May 12th, our commanding officer, as well as every commanding officer in Italy, called together his outfit and told us that an offensive was to begin that night, outlining the planned attacks and giving us the objectives and the time table. The objective was Rome with the Americans moving up the west coast, the French and Poles in the middle and the British and Canadians on the east coast. No one was to wait for the other but was to push up through Italy until stopped. Never before was Rome captured from the south, but since we had superiority in manpower and material, the success of the attack was certain. At Cassino, nine allied divisions faced six German divisions, while on the beachhead, seven American divisions faced five German divisions.
On May 12th at 2300 hours, the French and Poles began an offensive up Monte Cassino, the British Eighth Army attacked from the Adriatic to Cassino, the American Fifth Army attacked from Cassino to the Tyrrhenean and the beachhead forces began shelling the enemy positions. Casualties were extremely heavy, especially among the French, and it was explained to us by higher echelons that the plan was to drive all along the front regardless of casualties until Rome was reached by all forces.
Rome was captured on June 5th, the exact date set for its fall. During the offensive, all the allies gave a good account of themselves and proved that teamwork and material could overcome all obstacles.
While the liberation of Rome was being celebrated by the Italian people, elsewhere on the continent, thousands of American and British boys were landing off the shores of the Normandy coast of France between LeHavre and Cherbourg. When the news of the invasion of Europe was flashed across the radio, we held a special service of prayer for the boys who were participating in the invasion attack.
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