Out of Bounds

You can find OUT OF BOUNDS on the wall along Via Tenente Ragno. It was painted there during World War II by the Americans to indicate the safe area of town. Italy was liberated by the Allies town by town, street by street. Beyond this point in town you were fair game for the Germans.

My mother-in-law used to tell amazing stories of the occupation, first by the Germans, then by the Americans. Both were polite and reasonably well-behaved in her experience, despite the fact that they had requisitioned a large part of the building she lived in. She even had an admirer, John from Texas, who serenaded her with his guitar from below her window. She wasn't interested, but that guitar has become a family heirloom. John, who died soon after at the front, carved "Remember me" on the guitar...and we have.


This is what Via Tenente Ragno looks like now. You can hardly see the writing on the wall...and most people pass by without noticing it or thinking about what it means.