Miracle At St. Anna
For those not old enough to remember overt racism, this story will reveal just how bad it was for the soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division during their heroic advance through the high country of Italy in the closing days of World War II. The story follows four soldiers who manage to get detached from their unit and become lost in No Man’s Land. One of them, a huge, not-too-bright farmhand, finds a dazed and injured young Italian boy. He comes to believe the boy is an angel and that it’s his responsibility to protect the boy at all costs. The group finds refuge in a mostly destroyed village. At first distrusting each other, the soldiers and the quirky, courageous villagers slowly become allies in the quest to save the young angel.
McBride’s tale is exceptionally well written without becoming too literary. He clearly illustrates the attitudes the white commanders had toward their black soldiers, the soldiers had toward their commanders, and most interestingly, the varied attitudes the soldiers had toward each other–the last being a direct result of where in the States they originated. Against today’s climate of patriotic backslapping, this story shows us a fascinating, if disturbing look into the military’s checkered past.
