Lake Garda, Italy ~ The Search for Fallen Heros ~
 Newspaper article on Lake Garda project, 2003. |
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ProMare is leading an expedition to Lake Garda, Italy to locate the remains of 24 US Servicemen lost in 1945, just days before WWII ended, when their amphibious truck overturned, drowning them all.
As Allied troops rushed north through Italy into southern Europe, an amphibious 2 ½ ton truck, the ubiquitous DUKW, was lost on Lake Garda 60 miles east of Milan. One of three in the van of the advance north, the DUKW was loaded with a field artillery piece and 24 infantry men when launched from Torbole in the northeastern corner of the lake. The DUKWs were to sweep northwest, flanking the enemy fortifications at Monte Brecchio between Torbole and Riva Del Garda. Horribly overloaded the vehicle swamped taking the artillery and men to the bottom of the Lake 200 meters below, all of whom are still listed as missing in action.
We have employed state of the art sonar systems to search the lake bed
and will return to Italy in 2007 with an autonomous underwater vehicle and manned submersible to continue our search.