Braided in Fire

BRAIDED IN FIRE is the stirring author's search to understand the drama that unfolded between the Italian peasants and African-American infantrymen of the 366th Infantry Regiment whose lives were lost, or changed irrevocably by a village battle in Tuscany during the Battle of Garfagnana. Cultures and relationships are intertwined to become BRAIDED IN FIRE in Sommocolonia, a medieval Tuscan village in the Apennines directly on the highly fortified Third Reich's 'Gothic Line' stretching across northern Italy. Only at Sommocolonia did attacking German troops break through that formidable line, with dire consequences to the inhabitants and their defenders, who were outnumbered three to one by the Axis troops. In the desperate fight, Lt. John Fox, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor 52 years later, sacrificed himself with supreme heroism. BRAIDED IN FIRE is not just military history; it tells of the human toll of war: the drama, the folly, the heartache — all present in grand measure for two peoples marginalized over the years. This book is a celebration of human dignity in desperate circumstances, painted in a narrative befitting the beauty and rich hues of the Tuscan hills and its people, juxtaposed by the toils of a segregated America in black versus white, even while in Army green. Together these two worlds are BRAIDED IN FIRE with all of the passion, heartbreak, and violence of war, ultimately providing the reader with a redemptive peace, and cultural harmony