ITALY – Standing among rows of white marble headstones at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, Soldiers of the Oklahoma National Guard bent to place sand from the beaches of Anzio into the carved names of Thunderbirds who never returned home.
For today’s Citizen-Soldiers, the gesture was a bridge across generations, connecting their service to the sacrifice of those who fought for freedom more than 80 years ago.
The visit to the cemetery was part of the Thunderbird Trail, a long-term international initiative designed to preserve the legacy of the 45th Infantry Division during World War II. Spanning Italy, France and Germany, the project links battlefields, monuments and museums into a unified story of Oklahoma’s Citizen-Soldiers, whose courage helped liberate Europe from Nazi control.
“The Thunderbird Trail is an effort to commemorate the sacrifice and service of not only the Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division but all American and Allied forces who served in Italy,” said David D’Andrea, an Oklahoma State University professor serving as the project’s historical advisor. “This campaign has been largely overshadowed by Normandy, but Americans had already been fighting in Italy for a year. The Trail is a way of giving those sacrifices the recognition they deserve.”
The spark that lit the Thunderbird Trail grew from D’Andrea’s research into the sketches of Brummett Echohawk, a 179th Infantry Regiment Soldier and artist from Pawnee, Oklahoma.
“While doing research in the 45th’s archives in Oklahoma City, I realized there was an enormous amount of unpublished documentation related to the Italian campaign that would be of interest to not only American history but also Italian scholars,” D’Andrea said.
Echohawk’s sketches not only served as the spark for the Thunderbird Trail, but also stand as a reminder of the integral role Native American Soldiers played in the 45th Infantry Division. Nearly 2,000 Native Soldiers from more than 50 tribes served during World War II, making up almost one-fifth of the division’s ranks.
The first of the new monuments along the Trail, a 10-foot-tall obelisk marked with a Thunderbird and a memorial message, will be placed in Paestum, marking the location of the Operation Avalanche landings. The monument is funded by the Chickasaw Nation as a way to honor the Native American Soldiers who served in the 45th Infantry Division during the war.
“I see the Thunderbird Trail as a living memorial that bridges the past and the present,” D’Andrea said. “It allows Oklahoma families to connect with the soil their relatives fought on, while also giving Italians a way to link their often tragic local experiences to a larger global struggle for liberty.”
That sense of connection is central to the project. Partnerships span from the Oklahoma National Guard Museum and the Chickasaw Nation to the Winterline Museum in Venafro, Italy and the Museum of Operation Avalanche in Eboli, Italy. Together, they ensure the Trail not only honors sacrifice but also educates future generations.
“None of us working on the exhibition knew much about what had happened here,” said Amedeo Bacelli, graphic designer for the “Thunderbirds: Lamip nella Notte” exhibit in Telese.
Most of the locals’ grandfathers were soldiers serving in other parts of Europe during World War II, leaving just the women and children in the towns, who didn’t have a clear idea of what was happening at the time. Bacelli says their stories didn’t get passed down to current generations, and locals are awed to see the photos of their history displayed.
“That same sense of surprise is what I see in visitors,” Bacelli said. “They learn that an entire division of the U.S. Army passed through our small village, thousands of Soldiers, and yet most people had no idea this had ever happened. The second reaction is a recognition of how important it is to remember. Especially today, when bad things are happening all around the world, it reminds us that war is not always far away. Only 80 years ago we experienced war in our own towns. That perspective is powerful.”
For Oklahoma National Guard leaders, the Thunderbird Trail represents both remembrance and responsibility.
“Sacrifice and service are not specific to any one war,” said Brig. Gen. Brad Carter, assistant adjutant general-Army for Oklahoma. “Democracy and liberty require constant vigilance. The Thunderbird Trail helps us remember that, while also inspiring today’s Citizen-Soldiers to carry on that same commitment to freedom.”
The Trail illustrates the enduring ties between Oklahoma and Italy, where countless towns still commemorate their liberation.
“Italy was an enormous battlefield, and the suffering was terrible,” Carter said. “Yet everywhere we go, we see gratitude. Small villages hold ceremonies every year, and people continue to thank us for what the Thunderbirds did here.”
The Thunderbird delegation met a local Italian woman who attends the wreath-laying ceremony in Paestum each year. She carries a photo of herself as a 4-year-old with her family and the American Soldiers who liberated them from German occupation.
“I show this picture to everyone who will look so they will know about my family and the Americans who saved me.”
For the Guard’s youngest leaders, encounters like these highlight the enduring impact of the 45th and give deeper purpose to their own service.
“The purpose of the Thunderbird Trail is to commemorate the great sacrifice these Soldiers laid down their lives for, something greater than themselves,” said Sgt. Juan Lopez, Soldier of the Year 2025 for the Oklahoma National Guard. “As a young noncommissioned officer, it gives me context. Knowing their stories helps us prepare for the challenges we might face.”
At the Winterline Museum in Venafro, Lopez was moved by artifacts collected from the very ground the Thunderbirds fought across, including uniforms, helmets and patches from both Allies and Germans.
“It shows that death came for everyone. Nobody was safe in that environment,” Lopez said.
While visiting the Operation Avalanche Museum, he met a British couple carrying postcards written by their grandfather during the landings.
“He made it sound like a vacation, even though he was in the worst conditions possible,” Lopez said. “It was the first time I ever gave out a Challenge coin. I wanted to thank them for helping carry on the living legacy of these men who perished for our freedom.”
From leaders to young Soldiers, historians and local citizens alike, the Thunderbird Trail serves as more than a reminder of our shared history; it has heritage with purpose.
“We are standing on the shoulders of giants,” Lopez said. “If we can live up to even a fraction of the valor they showed, we’ll be doing something worthy.”