My father, Julian John Viecelli served as a PFC in the Fifth Army, Battery D 216TH AntiAircraft Arlillery (AAA) Gun Battalion from November 1942 until October 1945. He fought in Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Southern France and Germany until war end. He was never wounded in battle, but he lost a few good friends at Anzio; one of the toughest beachhead battles of the Italian Campaign. His AAA battalion ended up guarding German war prisoners in Germany until they were sent home after the war ended.
I investigated the U.S. Army invasion of Southern France, which was originally code-named Anvil by the U.S. and later became Operation Dragoon. Churchill did not favor the invasion that occurred on August 15, 1944. My Dad's 5TH Army AAA Battalion was absorbed by the 6TH Army Group and fought with the French First Army in Southern France until they hooked up with General Patton's Third Army near the Vosges Mountains in Northeast France near the German border.
After my father died, we found most of his war souveniers, medals, letters, photos, Army papers and other items, which I scanned for our family history files.
I included some articles and history information on his gun battalion. I added his letters home for viewing or downloading. I included Dad's war photos he took with his small camera and sent the film home for his folks to develop. See links below for the files.