The US Army gave an Italian woman a birthday cake replacing one that US soldiers stole from her while she was chilling in a window 77 years ago.
Meri Mion, who turns 90 this Friday (April 29), was 13 when her village of San Pietro, near Vicenza in the Veneto region, witnessed fighting between American troops and German soldiers.
1 of 3 Meri Mion was 13 when US soldiers stole the cake from a window in Italy fighting nearby Germans — Photo: US Army via BBC
Meri Mion was 13 when US soldiers fighting Germans nearby stole the cake from a window in Italy Photo: US Army via BBC
Meri’s mother baked her a birthday cake, but it was taken away from her by the opportunistic and presumably hungry Americans.
Mion said she would share the spare cake with her relatives.
“Let’s eat this dessert with my whole family and remember this wonderful day that I will never forget,” she said.
2 of 3 cake with Happy Birthday message — Photo: US Army
Cake with Happy Birthday Message — Photo: US Army
The US Army presented the cake at a ceremony Thursday (April 28) in Giardini Salvi, Vicenza, along with military personnel, local officials and residents.
Sergeant Peter Wallis, who delivered the cake, said it was “a little strange” replacing the stolen goods, “but it gives me a good feeling.”
At the ceremony, Colonel Matthew Gomlak, Commander of the US Army Garrison in Italy, spoke about the fighting between US and German forces in 1945 on Corso San Felice and Fortunato in Vicenza.
At least 19 American soldiers were killed or wounded and several American tanks were destroyed.
Local Italians offered bread and wine to the American troops.
“This warm welcome from the people of Vicenza continues to this day,” says Colonel Gomlak.
3 of 3 Sergeant Wallis (right) and Colonel Gomlak (left) deliver cakes to Meri Mion — Photo: US Army via BBC
Sergeant Wallis (right) and Colonel Gomlak (left) deliver cakes to Meri Mion — Photo: US Army via BBC
The night before her birthday, all those years ago, Mion hid in the attic of their farm with her mother while fighting raged nearby.
The next morning her mother baked the cake. But “his joy later turned to disappointment when the resourceful American soldiers fled with him [ele]’ said Colonel Gomlak.
A video on the US Army website shows Mion wiping away her tears as she accepts the cake while “Happy Birthday” is sung in Italian and English.