Whereas the Allied invasion of Sicily began on July 9, 1943, with the first-ever large scale assault in the history of the United States Army;

Whereas, between July 9 and 10, 1943, the Allies executed the single largest amphibious landing of troops to that point in World War II, bringing more than 180,000 soldiers ashore on Sicily as part of Operation Husky;

Whereas the Cassibile Armistice was signed on September 3, 1943, and publicly announced on September 8, 1943, marking the surrender of Italy to the Allies and the withdrawal of Italy from the Axis powers;

Whereas September 9, 1943, marks the beginning of the liberation of mainland Italy from German occupation, with American forces landing at Salerno and along the Amalfi Coast for the launch of Operation Avalanche;

Whereas the campaign to reach Rome included many hard-fought engagements, including the months-long struggle at Monte Cassino and the Battle of Anzio;

Whereas, on June 4, 1944, the Fifth Army of the United States entered Rome, becoming the first Allied force to liberate a European capital from German occupation;

Whereas the United States Office of Strategic Services worked with Italian partisan networks to support the April 1945 uprising and to lay the groundwork for post-war democratic reconstruction in Italy;

Whereas, on April 29, 1945, the surrender at Caserta resulted in the capitulation of nearly 1,000,000 Axis troops in the Italian theater, the largest surrender of German forces at that point in the war;

Whereas, on April 30, 1945, the death of Adolf Hitler signaled the collapse of Nazi leadership, occurring just 1 day after the German surrender in Italy;

Whereas, on May 2, 1945, the unconditional surrender of German forces in Italy took effect, liberating the Italian peninsula;

Whereas, on May 7, 1945, the overall German surrender in Europe took place;

Whereas the Italian campaign was a joint-forces effort by the United States Army, the United States Army Air Forces, and the United States Navy;

Whereas the Italian campaign was one of the longest continual combat campaigns undertaken by the Allies during World War II, lasting 602 days;

Whereas the Italian campaign was supported by one of the longest sustainment operations conducted by American and Allied maintenance forces, exemplified by the Ordnance Corps of the United States Army, which were comprised of approximately 24,000 officers, 325,000 enlisted individuals, and 262,000 civilians stationed in the United States and overseas;

Whereas, for the majority of the Italian campaign, despite being on the offensive, the Allies were outnumbered by the Germans;

Whereas the Italian campaign involved the participation of several Allied states, with troops from the present-day countries of Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom fighting alongside troops from the United States;

Whereas Allied troops persevered through harsh terrain, severe weather, and limited resources to achieve important and hard-fought victories throughout the Italian campaign;

Whereas victory in the Italian campaign was achieved at great human cost, with approximately 350,000 Allied casualties, including 150,000 American casualties, of which more than 60,000 individuals were killed or missing and 92,000 individuals were wounded, and over 426,000 Axis causalities;

Whereas more than 15,000 American servicemembers are commemorated in American cemeteries in Italy, including 7,845 laid to rest and 3,095 commemorated in the wall of remembrance at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, and 4,392 laid to rest and 1,409 commemorated in the wall of remembrance at the Florence American Cemetery in Tavarnuzze;

Whereas the advanced age of the few remaining veterans of the Italian Campaign, the fact that less than 1 percent of American veterans of the Second World War are still living, and the gradual fading of living memory make it increasingly urgent to preserve and share the stories and sacrifices of those veterans with future generations; and

Whereas the world owes a debt of gratitude to the members of the Greatest Generation who assumed the task of freeing and restoring peace and democracy to Italy: Now, therefore, be it