First Special Service Force Monuments, Plaques and Signs
USA
Montana
b) Marshall Field Drop Zone named for Col. Alfred C. “Cooky” Marshall, Jr., commander of 1st Regiment, killed in Rome 6/4/44.
c) Main St. named for Gen. Frederick “Frederick St.”
d) other streets named for Force battles
e) sign posted at entrance- FSSF trained here
Georgia
North Carolina
Minnesota
Canada
Italy
5) Plaque on Hill 720, site of Christmas Day battle in 1943.
6) Plaque on Ridge 368 where 1st Regiment suffered a 40% casualty rate on December,3, 1943 in the battle for
Monte la Difensa
7) 3 plaques in the town square at Artena, Italy: a small one in the square by the bar, the second with a list of the fallen in the region and a third dedicated to Tito Vittorio Gozzer, an Italian army officer and who fought in the battle for the liberation of Rome; Gozzer accompanied the Force into Rome and became friends with several Forcemen including Ed Thomas and Stan Waters.
8) Monument in Borgo Sabotino, Italy commemorating Capt. Gus Heilman and “Gusville” Headquarters across the Mussolini Canal.
9) Plaque in the Anzio Beachhead Museum at Anzio, Italy
10) Anzio port area; plaque dedicated to the FSSF on a building wall on the street leading away from the port where the main Italian Anzio Beachhead monument is located
11) Plaque in Cori commemorating Beachhead Breakout on May 23, 1944. On wall across from City Hall.
Museums:
1) Museo Historicus in Caspoli, Italy
2) War Museum Winterline, Venafro, Italy
3) Piana Delle Orme Museum in Latina, Italy (not specific to the Force but excellent museum)
Cemeteries in Italy where Forcemen are Buried:
US servicemen are buried at the American Battle Monuments Commission Florence American Cemetery and Memorial near Florence and at the ABMC Sicily-Rome American Cemetery at Nettuno (near Anzio).
Canadian Forcemen are buried at the Commonwealth Beach Head War Cemetery at Nettuno, at the Cassino War Cemetery at Cassino and at the Naples War Cemetery. One Forceman is buried in the Ravenna Cemetery in the NE part of Italy near the town of Ravenna; he was killed after the Force was disbanded.
France
There are a number of plaques/memorials in southern France that were placed by Raymond Gatti , French citizen and friend of the Force, in appreciation to the FSSF for the liberation of many villages.
1) Plascassier + Gen Ed Thomas Avenue
2) Mouans-Sartoux
3) Pegomas
4) Auribeau-sur-Siagne
5) Peymainade
6) Le Tignet
7) Spéracèdes
8) Cabris
9) Opio
10) Grasse
11) St Vallier
12) Valbonne *Plaque has been taken down and will be re-installed **2022 do not know if it was reinstalled
13) Cagnes-sur-Mer *Will be put up at the end of August 2012 **2022: do not know if it was installed
14) Chateauneuf *In the planning process **2022 update pending
Other plaques and memorials in France:
Cemeteries in France where Forcemen are Buried: American Forcemen are buried at Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France.
Canadian Forcemen are buried at Mazargues War Cemetery at Marseilles.
There is also an American Forceman buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Liege, Belgium. John P. Moser was interred in Belgium next to his brother-in-law at the family’s request. He was killed at Anzio.
USA
Montana
- First Special Service Force Monument ("Memorial") in Helena, Montana
- Ft. William Henry Harrison, Helena, Montana
b) Marshall Field Drop Zone named for Col. Alfred C. “Cooky” Marshall, Jr., commander of 1st Regiment, killed in Rome 6/4/44.
c) Main St. named for Gen. Frederick “Frederick St.”
d) other streets named for Force battles
e) sign posted at entrance- FSSF trained here
- FSSF mural at the Service Club at Ft. Harrison- Irvin “Shorty” Shope was a Montana artist, this mural is one of three in the US created by Mr. Shope and is the only mural or painting documenting the participation of women in military service created during the WWII timeframe.
- banner signed by some Forcemen during training at Ft. Harrison
- US I-15 First Special Service Memorial Highway from Helena, Montana to the Canadian Border at Sweet Grass, Montana and continuing on to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Georgia
- The large Red Spearhead Monument at the National Infantry Museum near Fort Benning, Georgia.
- Force Memorial Column on Airborne Walk at Ft. Benning. (Note that this monument is on Ft. Benning proper.)
- Monument recognizing the Rangers that transferred into the First Special Service Force at the National Ranger Memorial on Ft. Benning, Georgia. (Note that this monument is also on Ft. Benning proper.)
North Carolina
- U.S Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, NC, near Ft. Bragg. There is a granite column honoring the Force displayed outside. https://history.army.mil/museums/IMCOM/fortBragg_airborneSpecOps/index.html
- Ft. Bragg, near Fayetteville, NC
- John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum. This is where the original Force flag is displayed. Note the museum is on Ft. Bragg proper, please check website for access availability. https://history.army.mil/museums/jfk-swm/index.html
- MG Robert T. Frederick Field House, dedicated in 1979.
- MacWilliam Hall, Headquarters Building 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Named after Lt. Col. Tom MacWilliam, FSSF, KIA at Monte La Difensa, Italy. Note that a special dispensation had to be sought allowing the dedication to a Canadian. The FSSFA was allowed to choose the honoree; dedicated in 1991.
- MG Robert T. Frederick History Building for U. S. Army Special Forces; dedicated in 2021
- Force Memorial stone tablet at Special Operations/Special Forces Command Headquarters, installed in 1994.
Minnesota
- Hastings Five Gold Room- The American Legion Post in Hastings, Minnesota dedicated a room to the 5 men from Hastings that volunteered for the FSSF.
- Airborne Circle at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in MN
Canada
- Frederick Gate at Canadian Forces Base, Petawawa, Ontario, Canada. Canadian and American flags, Stone structure bears Force insignia and Frederick bronze plaque.
- The Military Museums of Calgary, Alberta (construction of FSSF display currently underway)
- Plaque in the city of Lethbridge, Alberta
- First Special Service Force Memorial Highway from Lethbridge, Alberta to the U.S. Border at Coutts, Alberta and continuing on to Helena, Montana, USA.
- Plaque at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, includes the replica of the Congressional Gold Medal presented to the Force in 2015
- Plaque at the Citadel Hill Army Museum in Halifax
- Plaque at Pier 21 in Halifax; location of thousands of soldiers departing and returning home from the war. Located in the section called "Gateway" with other military plaques .
- Monument at Wasaga Beach, Ontario honoring the First Canadian Parachute Battalion and the First Special Service Force
- Plaque in Kincardine, Ontario recognizing Charlie Mann for his military service and service to his community. References the FSSF.
- Plaque and Park in Warkworth, Ontario dedicated to the Richardson family that lost several family members in multiple wars. Among them were two brothers in the Force KIA, Keith died on Monte La Difensa and Garnet died at Anzio.
- Stan Waters Peak in Alberta
Italy
- Rome War memorial, in the form of a plaque, devoted to the soldiers from the 1st Special Service Force, The Devil's Brigade, that fell in central Italy during the Second World War. The plaque, in English and Italian, was laid the 4 June 1984, at Liberation of Rome Fortieth Anniversary; it is located on the wall near the Pyramid at St. Paul's Gate (Porta San Paolo)
- Plaque honoring Gen. Robert T. Frederick at the American Consulate in Rome, it notes that the Consulate was Force HQ.
- Plaque at City Hall in Mignano, Italy facing Monte la Difensa. Memorial plaque to Capt. Bill Rothlin (1-2) same location.
5) Plaque on Hill 720, site of Christmas Day battle in 1943.
6) Plaque on Ridge 368 where 1st Regiment suffered a 40% casualty rate on December,3, 1943 in the battle for
Monte la Difensa
7) 3 plaques in the town square at Artena, Italy: a small one in the square by the bar, the second with a list of the fallen in the region and a third dedicated to Tito Vittorio Gozzer, an Italian army officer and who fought in the battle for the liberation of Rome; Gozzer accompanied the Force into Rome and became friends with several Forcemen including Ed Thomas and Stan Waters.
8) Monument in Borgo Sabotino, Italy commemorating Capt. Gus Heilman and “Gusville” Headquarters across the Mussolini Canal.
9) Plaque in the Anzio Beachhead Museum at Anzio, Italy
10) Anzio port area; plaque dedicated to the FSSF on a building wall on the street leading away from the port where the main Italian Anzio Beachhead monument is located
11) Plaque in Cori commemorating Beachhead Breakout on May 23, 1944. On wall across from City Hall.
Museums:
1) Museo Historicus in Caspoli, Italy
2) War Museum Winterline, Venafro, Italy
3) Piana Delle Orme Museum in Latina, Italy (not specific to the Force but excellent museum)
Cemeteries in Italy where Forcemen are Buried:
US servicemen are buried at the American Battle Monuments Commission Florence American Cemetery and Memorial near Florence and at the ABMC Sicily-Rome American Cemetery at Nettuno (near Anzio).
Canadian Forcemen are buried at the Commonwealth Beach Head War Cemetery at Nettuno, at the Cassino War Cemetery at Cassino and at the Naples War Cemetery. One Forceman is buried in the Ravenna Cemetery in the NE part of Italy near the town of Ravenna; he was killed after the Force was disbanded.
France
There are a number of plaques/memorials in southern France that were placed by Raymond Gatti , French citizen and friend of the Force, in appreciation to the FSSF for the liberation of many villages.
1) Plascassier + Gen Ed Thomas Avenue
2) Mouans-Sartoux
3) Pegomas
4) Auribeau-sur-Siagne
5) Peymainade
6) Le Tignet
7) Spéracèdes
8) Cabris
9) Opio
10) Grasse
11) St Vallier
12) Valbonne *Plaque has been taken down and will be re-installed **2022 do not know if it was reinstalled
13) Cagnes-sur-Mer *Will be put up at the end of August 2012 **2022: do not know if it was installed
14) Chateauneuf *In the planning process **2022 update pending
Other plaques and memorials in France:
- Force Memorial Plaque at Menton, France at Place Gal Koenig-Mal de France
- Plaque in memory of Lt. J. H. LaPorte KIA after a skirmish at St. Louis. Placed at City Hall in Menton by his family.
- Monument placed by the City of Menton at Square Souvenir France in Menton, France.
- Plaque in front cemetery parking lot, Castellar, France. Memorial to Second Regiment and ceramic plaque “To All Liberators”.
- Plaque from FSSF to inhabitants of Castellar, France at City Hall.
- Monument in Castillon, France
- Plaque in Roquebrune Cap-Martin, France in a small park close to roundabout in Avenue Louis Pasteur.
- Plaque in Roquebrune Cap-Martin, France in the roundabout on the Monaco-France border.
- Plaque in St. Paul de Vence, France marking gate through which Force entered to liberate the town.
- General Frederick Traffic Circle in Le Muy, France
- Plaque on the island of Port Cros, Iles de Hyeres, France
- At Tanneron two plaques were installed by the town in 2019 to honor the four Service Company men killed and one seriously injured when their jeep hit a land mine. One plaque is at the hairpin turn where the explosion occurred and one in the town square. The location of the crash was provided by Eugene Gutierrez during the 2014 tour; he was first on the scene at the time of the tragic event.
- Avenue named for T4 Walter Ladd, “Rue Walter Ladd” killed in La Colle sur Loup, France. Also, plaque near City Hall.
- Solomon Biblowitz Memorial Plaque in Peille, France
- Memorial plaque honoring James Moore and Emmet Reed on Mont Meras, France
- Memorial plaque in village of Villeneuve-Loubet, Rue 30 August. Also, a Memorial Plaque dedicated to Lt. Gen. Stan Waters, same location.
- Plaque in Tourette, France, city park.
- Plaque in La Turbie, France from the FSSFA thanking the townspeople for their friendship during the war; in stairwell of city hall.
- Plaque in Sospel, France at the entrance to the town.
Cemeteries in France where Forcemen are Buried: American Forcemen are buried at Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France.
Canadian Forcemen are buried at Mazargues War Cemetery at Marseilles.
There is also an American Forceman buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Liege, Belgium. John P. Moser was interred in Belgium next to his brother-in-law at the family’s request. He was killed at Anzio.