Photo By Michael Strasser | Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commanding...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Aug. 24, 2018) -- Every year, Fort Drum community members honor the prisoners of war who were held at Pine Camp during World War II and are buried at the POW Cemetery on Route 26, just outside the main cantonment.
John Morgia, a Watertown resident, had started a tradition in 1985 to lay a wreath at the grave site of Pvt. Rino Carlutti, the sole Italian POW buried there – dozens of feet apart from the six German POW graves.
That tradition, for reasons unknown, had discontinued, but members of the Alteri family renewed it Aug. 24 to coincide with the annual Bravo Italiano Festival.
They were joined by Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commanding general, and other guests at the wreath-laying ceremony. He spoke about Carlutti, who left his village in San Daniele del Friuli, Udine, to serve in the Italian Army, only to be captured in Tunisia. Piatt reflected on what a young man endured to fight in one foreign country and then to be a prisoner in another.
“As long as he rests here, we will honor his service,” Piatt said. “The service not only to his country, but also the United States, because today we are strong allies. The country of Italy and the country of the United States are strong allies and both of us together are keeping the world peaceful.”
Paul Alteri, president of the Italian-American Civic Association, said that it was an honor being able to have family and representatives from Fort Drum gather on this occasion, and thanked those who helped organize it. Morgia said that it takes him back 34 years ago when they first laid a wreath, but didn’t have a general officer present.
“It was nice back then, and it’s very nice coming back out,” he said. “(The cemetery) has changed a lot since then, but it looks very, very nice. I’m so happy to be here, because my nephew Paul has taken it over, and my brother-in-law and first cousin is placing the wreath. It’s an honor for me to be here to see this. I just hope it continues, and I’m sure it will.”
Piatt and Quirino Augusto “Augie” Alteri laid the wreath in front of the grave and rendered salutes during the playing of the U.S. and Italian national anthems. Alteri was born in Morolo, Frosinone, Italy in 1924, and arrived in the U.S. in 1927. His father was a U.S. Army Soldier who fought in World War II. At 19, Alteri denounced his Italian citizenship and enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during World War II and the Korean War.
Italian POWs were transported to Pine Camp from other camps throughout the country and were tasked to perform various services to support the war effort, according to a June 1944 newspaper article.
Carlutti, at the age of 22, died of injuries sustained from an automobile accident.
In 1974, the Italian ambassador had attempted to locate Carlutti’s relatives, in response to a request by Henry V. Cumoletti. Cumoletti served as an assistant clerk and stenographer at Pine Camp and was an interpreter for the Italian POWs.
After the war, Cumoletti served on a court reporter team at the first Nuremberg trials and later worked as a court reporter in the Watertown City Court. In his honor, Fort Drum official rededicated the post’s courtroom in his name in 2016.
A second Italian soldier, Renato Faccini was disinterred from the cemetery and shipped to Italy in August 1957.
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2018 14:24 |
| Story ID: | 290233 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 172 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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