A young California man of 18, George Ciampa, served in five World War II campaigns in Europe including the Normandy Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. He was with the 607th Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Army. His company had the solemn task of gathering, registering, and burying dead comrades in France, Belgium and Germany. Ciampa knows the price they paid. He saw death in the eyes of these young soldiers. Not dozens, not hundreds, but thousands of dead comrades. He has NEVER forgotten. And neither should our Nation.
Six decades later Ciampa, now age 81, has taken on another tour of duty. This time armed with an HD documentary crew. The mission: To emphasize the real cost of freedom. To share with young people today and in the future the enormity of those costs. Only liberated people know what it was like to lose their country, to lose their homes, to lose their friends, to lose their families – to lose their freedom.
In 2006 Ciampa returned to Belgium, this time with four young Southern California history teachers from four Torrance high schools and two Battle of the Bulge veterans who served with the First Division. This is a first-hand account of that return. To hear stories from Belgians who lost their freedom under Nazi Germany occupation. To hear stories told by brave Belgian resistance fighters. To hear stories from five WWII veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. And not forgetting these stories today or in the future is the EDUCATIONAL MISSION of George Ciampa.
The tour of duty is LET FREEDOM RING. The lesson is priceless.