Two scribes touring Rome meet storm of kisses
Packards are first snubbed as Nazis until bartender recognizes them
By Reynolds and Eleanor Packard
Scores notable scoop
Reynolds Packard, veteran United Press war correspondent who was interned by the Italians when the United States entered the war, scored a notable beat yesterday by filing the first press dispatch from Rome after the Allies entered the city.
Rome, Italy (UP) – (June 4, delayed)
Just 20 minutes after the last enemy tank had rolled past, we reached the center of Rome tonight and found that the Germans had left the city 95% intact.
A few fires set by the Germans were still burning and railway yards were in ruins as a result of Allied raids, but Rome as a whole was surprisingly little changed from the time we left it for an internment camp two years and 25 days ago following the United States’ entry into the war.
Our jeep was fourth in line in the first Allied column entering Rome at 8:30 p.m. The three tanks ahead of us sped off in pursuit of eight German Mark IV tanks while we headed for the bar at the Grand Hotel for a drink of Italian cognac.
Suspected of being Germans
The Italians at the bar at first thought we were Germans and would not drink with us, but when Peter, the bar man, and the manager of the hotel recognized us the atmosphere changed abruptly.
Five minutes later, the American Stars and Stripes and the British Union Jack were flying from the hotel’s flagstaffs over the doorway – the first Allied flags to fly in Rome since the United States entered the war.
Our trip through the streets of Rome and its suburbs and been in the nature of a triumphant tour. Never before had we been kissed so often or so much. Men and women alike overwhelmed us with their kisses.
Turn back six times
We had a bad case of jitters getting into Rome. At least six times we lost our nerve and turned back, only to talk ourselves into turning around and heading for the capital again.
The sniping and shelling was so bad that sometimes we felt like minesweepers. Once or twice, we got ahead of the tanks leading the column.
Once inside Rome, Italians waded knee-deep through water spilled by a broken water main to greet us. Though well-dressed and neat, the women told us they had been suffering from malnutrition for more than two years and had had no meat for the past four months, no eggs and no gas.
Clapping, cheering Italians threw armfuls of roses on the American tanks and into our jeep as we rumbled through the streets.
Although the bolder Italians sought to kiss or shake hands with us, many seemed only to want to touch us as if it would bring them good luck.
Roper: Jeep starts for Rome, meets some trouble
By James E. Roper
Rome, Italy (UP) – (June 4, delayed)
As we reached the outskirts of Rome today, the word went around that the Germans had pulled out and all we had to do was ride right into the city.
But we found out differently as our jeep rolled down deserted Highway 6 in the lead of three other cars filled with correspondents and photographers – all unarmed. In the jeep were me with Reynolds Packard, United Press war correspondent, and Ed Johnson of the Chicago Sun.
We were passing a road intersection when we realized the word was wrong. There, coming down the crossroads toward us, was a German vehicle. We crossed the intersection and the driver spun the jeep around to retreat. The move brought us directly under the guns of the German vehicle, about 0 yards away.
I looked at the Germans’ machine gun eye-to-eye. But I ducked when I saw the 37mm assault gun. It looked as big as a 250mm howitzer.
We expected the Germans to blaze away, but they began to pile out of the vehicle and dive into a ditch. They were just as scared as we were, although they could have killed all of us.
The jeep moved back to a column of tanks moving down the road and I hopped on the back of a Sherman commanded by Cpl. Fred Lance of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When we reached the crossroads, the German reconnaissance car was gone. A lone German, however, hopped out of a ditch and started zigzagging to escape the small-arms fire from infantrymen clinging to our tank. They included Sgt. Donald Rew of Lynbrook, New York.
As we started again for Rome, we received a radio message that enemy machine guns were on the left. Twice the tanks tried to get over the hill, but both times heavy German artillery shelling made them retreat. The infantrymen and myself then piled off the tanks and carefully walked behind them for maximum protection until we reached a ditch.