“The Abbey of Monte
Cassino had become a hated object....it was the only
undestroyed thing in the middle of a totally destroyed
battlefield.” Douglas Lyne, Royal
Artillery
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...a documentary of experiences of the men
who suffered in the shadow of the great Abbey of Monte
Cassino.
For four years Grand
Island Films has been producing a documentary
on the WWII battles of Monte Cassino (Dec. 1943 - May,
1944). This battlefield gave rise to stories that will be
told by the men who were involved.
But we are running out of time as the veterans of
WWII leave us. To date we have taped many hours of
veteran and expert interviews, and have completed film
coverage of the battlefield in Italy. We have established
contacts with the leaders of the veterans associations
representing the major Divisions and Regiments from all
over the world who fought at Cassino. These men, as well
as the heads of the Abbey of Monte Cassino and the city
of Cassino support the Monte Cassino
project.
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Search the Monte
Cassino site:
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We need your help to complete the Monte Cassino film project:
- Veterans'
Questionnaire. Send us a brief narration of your
experiences at Cassino. Please include a note stating
that you would like to see such a documentary on your
local PBS station.
- Help Us With Funding. We have
assurances from the head of programming at a major PBS
station (WNET/13 in NYC) that Monte Cassino
will have a "prominent place in our broadcast
season." And we are confident that PBS will present
it nationwide. Your financial support will demonstrate to
PBS, as well as their major funders that the general
public wants to see this film on public television.
Please tell your associates and friends about the Monte Cassino
project and this web site. Click for Recent
Funding letter
| For us at GIF this work has been more
than another film job. It is impossible not to get
emotionally involved in the veterans' stories. And it is
quite obvious from responses to this web site that there
is enormous interest, worldwide, in learning more about
the battles for Cassino and the destruction of the Abbey
of Monte Cassino. Polish
troops take positions on the Cassino massif.
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Monte Cassino will re-tell the events that occurred in the Abbey and
on the battlefields. Monte Cassino will incorporate the testimonies of Cassino vets in
order to communicate the realities of this battle and of world
war to younger generations. The time for such an inter-facing of
generations is growing short as our WWII soldiers enter their
eighties.
For updates on our documentary please check
back with this site.
Grand Island Films
E-mail: gif212@mindspring.com
