In Northern Italy, we decided to leave the walled city of Barga and head out for a hiking adventure. Way, way up in a far mountain top we saw a small settlement.
The tiny town was called Sommocolonia. It has quite the history. On Christmas day of 1944, this little town was held by the allied forces, specifically a black regiment led by a man by the name of John Fox. He was 29 years old.
The “Buffalo soldiers” were poorly treated, as you can imagine, and reinforcements were not coming, despite a massive attack from German and Austrian forces.
John Fox called in airstrikes, knowing they would kill him and what was left of his crew.
In 1982, after much agitation, he was finally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
The hike took us through Chestnut forests, vineyards and occasionally provided great overviews.
Hours of hiking later, we could see back to the walled city of Barga and north toward the Alps.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.