Soldiers from U.S. Army Garrison Italy return a birthday cake to Meri Mion, center, in Vicenza, northern Italy, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in lieu of the cake soldiers wore. The United States ate as they entered her homeland in one of the last battles of World War II. Mion, who turned 90 on Friday, wiped away tears when presented with the cake.
Laura Krieder / AP
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Laura Krieder / AP
Soldiers from U.S. Army Garrison Italy return a birthday cake to Meri Mion, center, in Vicenza, northern Italy, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in lieu of the cake soldiers wore. The United States ate as they entered her homeland in one of the last battles of World War II. Mion, who turned 90 on Friday, wiped away tears when presented with the cake.
Laura Krieder / AP
ROME – With a flurry of “Happy Birthday” in Italian and English, the US Army baked an Italian woman’s birthday cake on Thursday to replace the cake US soldiers ate as they marched forward. into her homeland during one of the last battles of the Second World War. .
Meri Mion, who turned 90 on Friday, wiped away tears as she was presented with the cake during a ceremony in Vicenza, northwest of Venice. The event marked the anniversary of the 88th Infantry Division entering the city on April 28, 1945.
According to the U.S. Army, Mion hid with his mother that night in the attic of their ranch in the nearby village of San Pietro in the Hump. The retreating German soldiers opened fire on the house, but when Mion woke up on the morning of her 13th birthday, American soldiers were nearby.
In a statement, US military Garrison Italy said Mion’s mother baked her a birthday cake and left it on a windowsill to cool. But it was gone – apparently tricked by starving American soldiers, who were gratefully Italians carrying wine and bread as they entered Vicenza along its main road.
Mion seemed genuinely surprised to learn that 77 years later American soldiers had returned the cake. She surprised “Mama mia” and “Grazie” when a small crowd of American commanders and Italian officials sang “Happy Birthday”.
“Tomorrow, we will eat that dessert, with all my family remembering this wonderful day that I will never forget,” Mion said, according to the US Army.
