Jewish war hero buried in Italy gets right headstone changed 80 years later
February 19, 1945 - American soldiers in the Army's 10th Mountain Division's 85th regiment are attempting to break through the Gothic Line and take Italy's Mount Belvedere, in what proved to be a bloody undertaking. A soldier trips a landmine, wounding Private First Class Del Riley. Over calls to stay back, Riley's good friend medic Private First Class Frank Kurzinger rushes to their aid. Kurzinger triggers another landmine and dies instantly at 22 years old.
"Neither Frank nor Dad made it to the top. Neither one accomplished their mission," Riley's son Bruce told Fox News Digital.
Riley had been injured in the femur by landmine shrapnel. The soldiers were scaling the mountain at night, armed only with bayonets and grenades – their superiors feared that a firearm's muzzle flash would give their position away to the Germans. Riley lay for hours behind a rock as the soldiers took incoming fire from the Germans.
The shrapnel that had pierced his bone was so hot that it cauterized the wound instantly, saving Riley's life. The firefight was so intense it was hours before medics could evacuate the soldier, and the wound resulted in Riley developing a life-long bone disease.
His war buddy, Kurzinger, had a circuitous path toward the Italian front. He was born in Wurzberg, Germany on August 9, 1923. His parents fled Nazi oppression and re-settled in Denver, Colorado in 1938. After making the ultimate sacrifice, Kurtzinger was buried at the American Cemetery in Florence, Italy. Despite being Jewish, the combat medic was mistakenly buried beneath a cross.
On May 15, 2025, eighty years after Kurzinger's death, Operation Benjamin, a non-profit dedicated to reconsecrating Jewish graves that were mistakenly buried beneath crosses, fixed Kurzinger's gravesite at a ceremony attended by descendants of both Riley and Kurzinger.
"I knew I had to go, I needed to take my family with me… life is about legacy and that's what this is all about. We went to honor Frank… that is the importance of never forgetting the sacrifice that Frank made, and the impact he had on my father," Bruce told Fox News Digital.
Bruce, 63, minted a challenge coin to commemorate the bond his father and Kurzinger shared. Bruce placed the coin together with a shell casing from his father's 21-gun salute at Kurzinger's grave.
"Frank's legacy, and his story, and his sacrifice is not going to die on my watch," Bruce said.
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