Evening star., 1945-08-12
Mass Grave Reveals
Kazi Execution OF IS
Americdn Raiders
By NELSON SHEPARD.

Victims of a mass execution by
the Germans in March, 1914, the
bodies of Is captured American
raiders for whom a years search
had been made, were found in a
common grave in Northern Italy,
the War Department said yester-
day in reporting the latest revealed
Nazi atrocity.
Investigation revealed the men
had been taken prisoners and exc
cuted in fragrant violation of pro-
visions of the Geneva Convention
The bodies of the two officers and
13 enlisted men were found still
dressed in uniform, each with hands
tied behind his back. Their shoes
had been removed.
Several of the Germans RESPONSE
Bile for the execution are in custody
and will be brought to trial soon,
the War Department said. Mean
while, every effort is being made
to apprehend others suspected of
the atrocity.
The victims were members of
company of the 267l Special Recon-
naissance Battalion, an operational
group of the Office of Strategic Ser
vices. Practically all were Ameri-
cans of Italian descent.
Found Soon Before We Day.
Discovery of the execution was
made shortly before We Day, when
American troops advanced along
the Italian coast last April and cap
tured La Spezia and Genoa. Two
officers, assigned to obtain informa-
ton on the men shortly after they
were reported missing in action
year earlier, found the bodies and
ferreted out the details.
Early in 1914, the Mediterranean
Air Forces was attempting to cut
all German lines of communication
preparatory to the advance on
Rome. One main objective of the
bombers was the coastal railroad
running from Genoa through La
Spezia. They were foiled by the |
closeness of mountains and num-
erous tunnels which could not be
bombed successfully. The group of
raiders was called on to block or
DlaSJ Une tunnels.
The raiders left Bastia in Navy |
PIT boats March o. The party made |
shore but before they reached their |
objective one of the boats encoun-
tered a German convoy protected !
by "E" boats. A running battle en-
sued One of the American boats |
was disabled and the second stood |
by to help.
1t was too light for the PIT boats
to go inshore and pick up the raid
ing party and the boats returned to
Bastia. Later attempts to rescue
the stranded patrol were unsuccess-
full. Air reconnaissance planes re-
ported no signs of it and saw the
tunnel still was intact.
Col. Russell B. Livermore of New
York City, the battalion COM
mander, finally learned the men
had been captured. Except for a
German broadcast stating an Amer
lean raiding party had been wiped
out" nothing else was learned of the
fate of the men for many months.
Exhumed Bodies Identified.
Last April, the two officer investi-
gators learned the IS Americans
had been taken prisoners and exc
cuted on March "a, 1914
The bodies were eXhumed from
the common grave, identified and
reburied in an American military
cemetery.
The War Departments list of
the Is:
First 1t. Vincent j. Russo. Mont
clair, N. j.: First 1t Paul j. Traf-
cante,. New York City; TISergt.
Livio Vieceli, Manor, Pa; Sergt.
Dominick C. Mauro, New York City:
Sergt Alfred L. Deflumeri, Natick,
Mass, and the following technicians
(fifth grade): Salvatore Disclafani,
Brooklyn; Santoro Calcara, De-
troit; Joseph M. Farrell, Southport,
Conn; John J. Leone. PoughkeepSie,
N, Y; Joseph A. Libardi, West
Stockbridge, Mass; Joseph Noia,
New York; Thomas N. Savino,
Brooklyn: Angelo Sirico Brooklyn;
Rosario F. Squatrito, Staten Island
N. Y: Liberty j. Tremonte, West
port, Conn.