In 1945, American GIs stole a birthday cake from a 13-year old Italian girl while they were embattled with Nazi occupiers
77 years later, the Department of Defense found room in the budget to include a replacement birthday cake for Meri Mion at a ceremony held in the city of Vicenza’s Salvi Gardens.
Americans are well-liked in parts of Italy that saw conflict during WWII—they arrived there before all other parts of Europe.
However in 1945, some presumably-hungry soldiers took Meri Mion’s birthday cake, baked by her mom for her special day, while fighting was taking place in the village of San Pietro in Gu.
In a scene like something from a Tom & Jerry cartoon, Meri’s cake was left on the windowsill to cool. Having just been taken out of the warm oven, it was stolen by what the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) described as “resourceful” Americans.
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“It was a little awkward, but it makes me feel great to give her the cake,” said Sgt. Peter Wallis, who had the honor of presenting the retroactive 13th-birthday treat in a ceremony last week.
“Tomorrow, we will eat that dessert with all my family remembering this wonderful day that I will never forget,” Mion said.
For the ceremony, National Archives workers dug up photographs from the battles in and around Vicenza—and as bitter as the fighting was, the photographs depict a fast-growing warmness between the American soldiers and the locals, who would offer bread and wine during pauses in conflict.
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The DoD included video of soldiers and onlookers singing Happy Birthday to you and Tanti Auguri a te to Meri Mion—who struggled to wipe away the tears.
(WATCH the video for this story below.)
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