It was rainy and frigid on Jan. 8, 1944, and 20-year-old Lawrence native Lou Panebianco and four other volunteers in the forward observation patrol were in deep trouble.

German soldiers atop the slopes of Italy’s Monte Cassino had discovered that they were being watched by five American soldiers huddled in a bomb crater partially shielded by railroad ties. The spotters had been spotted.

Machine guns, mortars and a deadly 88 mm gun that was typically used for crippling aircraft and tanks were unleashed on the members of the Army’s 36th Infantry Division.

“At the time we got hit, the Germans had the 88 mm aimed at the troops. It was quite disturbing,” recalls Panebianco, a 1941 Lawrence High School graduate who is 89 now and a resident of Salem, N.H. “There were five of us in that hole, and they dropped a shell right into [it]. I got pretty banged up. Two were deceased right away … the others had amputations. I was hit by shrapnel in both legs and my lung. We survived by putting tourniquets on each other’s legs to keep from bleeding to death.”

For 36 hours, Panebianco and his wounded comrades remained pinned down in the wreckage of their blown apart bunker. An American search patrol eventually located the three survivors and evacuated them to an Army field hospital, where they were stabilized.

“When we got to the field hospital, I was praised for applying the tourniquets, or gangrene would have set in,” Panebianco says. From there, he was transported to the 38th Evacuation Hospital in Africa for three months of recovery followed by physical therapy. He returned to his outfit and spent the remaining few months of his tour assigned to the Army motor pool, away from the front lines.

Eight days after he was wounded, Panebianco received the Purple Heart. He refused risky surgery to remove the shrapnel from his left lung, inches from his heart.

After entering the Army at 18, Panebianco was shipped first to Africa and then to Italy, where his division fought through Salerno, Naples and then Monte Cassino, a small town about 80 miles south of Rome and home to the Abbey of Monte Cassino, which was originally built in the fifth century.

“We were battling for that monastery at the top of the hill,” Panebianco says. “The Germans had all kinds of guns and artillery, and they were looking down at us with gun placements. As a forward observer, I’d crawl up to where the machine gun placements were and radio back coordinates. When we got hit, the Germans caught us by surprise.”

The Purple Heart was the first of two significant medals bestowed upon Pfc. Panebianco. He recently received from France the prestigious Legion of Honor medal for his efforts in liberating the French Moroccans in Africa.

“There were a lot of French people living in that area in 1943,” Panebianco says. “We were fighting the Germans and Italians. The Americans had the Germans on the run, and the Air Force was bombing the hell out of them. Some of the units retreated into Sicily and Italy. We were right on their tails.”

Panebianco read an article two years ago announcing that the government of France was seeking surviving World War II veterans who had a hand in freeing the French in Morocco from the German invasion. Six-thousand Americans were killed in that theater.

He sent in copies of his discharge papers to the French government, and weeks went by before he was contacted with news that he was eligible for the Legion of Honor medal, which would be presented to him at a ceremony in Tampa, Fla.

“It was a surprise — something the French government just started doing in the last five or six years,” Panebianco says. “It’s to award anyone who helped liberate the French people in any way. I was amazed it took such a long time for them to recognize it. A lot of people — friends of mine — deserved it but never got it because they passed away. But it’s still thoughtful of them to recognize us.”

Unable to attend the ceremony, Panebianco says he received the medal and the official documentation in the mail. A certificate from Stephane Chmelewsky, the consul general of France in Boston at that time, reads in part:

It is a pleasure for me to inform you that you are eligible to receive the “Special Diploma” from the Government of France for your contribution in the fight to liberate France from the Axis Powers during World War II.

The People of France have never forgotten the sacrifice made on behalf of their beloved country and the great pain suffered by all of her allies.

The People of France and my Government are delighted to be able to present to you a “Special Diploma” in recognition of your unselfish action and your action on behalf of France and Free People everywhere…

These days, Panebianco feels his sacrifices are embraced by friends and even strangers who spot the Purple Heart image on the license plate of his Lincoln Town Car, which transports him and his wife, Mary, to local restaurants.

“I think it’s appreciated by everyone that I encounter. I have a Purple Heart, and a lot of people thank me and acknowledge it,” Panebianco says. “I’m not sorry for what I did or what happened. I served my purpose.”

 

( Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the May/June 2013 issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine. With today being Veteran’s Day, please remember to honor and thank any and all veterans. )