By Shannon Robinson

Silvio Barsanti, with a pack on his back and hope for the future, left his struggling family farm and walked five miles to Lucca, Italy, where he would catch a train to Genoa and embark on his journey to the United States. On April 1st, 1906, he emigrated through Ellis Island. Soon, his search for work took him to Canada to meet some friends from home. As immigrant tales often go, Silvio followed opportunity. He and his friends heard about a mining town—Tonopah—high in the mountains of Nevada. There was a miner’s strike, so they naturally thought it would be ripe with work opportunities. Silvio and some of his friends moved together in 1915. They worked long, hard days and spent breaks at the local boarding house.

From another small town between Lucca and Pisa, Italy, a young lady, Agata Vangelisti, moved to California with her father at 26 years old in search of a better life. They made a home in the Sunshine State until her father decided they should move to Tonopah. There, she picked up a waitressing job at the local boarding house, serving the miners who would stop in for lunch during the day shift. It was there that she met Silvio. From the same country, the same region, and with the same dreams of the future, they were soon married on August 16, 1916. A year later, on November 11, 1917, they had their first son: Olinto Mark Barsanti.

**Barsanti, University of Nevada ROTC, 1938.**

Mark was the oldest of four boys, all given Italian first names and English middle names. Angelo John, William Peter (he changed his Italian name to sound more American), and Elio Al followed Mark. Silvio spoke some English for work, but Agata spoke almost no English; thus, the brothers grew up speaking Italian at home, and none of the boys spoke much English when they went into school. Mark was bullied and roughed up at school, but this taught him to fight and stand up for himself, never take any flack, and it made him into a tough young man. Little did he know how far that would take him.

The Barsanti parents instilled two things in their children: a strong work ethic and the importance of education. William Barsanti described his father’s attitude towards work in an interview with the University of North Texas Oral History Program: “[He believed] ’You have to work for everything.’ Work was his life. It didn’t matter what kind of work he was doing, as long as he was producing something.”

Boy, did this work ethic pass on to his sons. They all grew up working after school. Mark ran a newspaper route for the Tonopah Times Bonanza that got passed on to each of his brothers once they were old enough to keep up. He and Angelo also worked at a fruit and vegetable stand throughout school.

Silvio was insistent that his boys excel academically as well. According to William, he often said “I would rather see you dead than at the end of a muck stick. You’ve got to go to college and get an education and do something worthwhile.” Mark played basketball and boxed in high school, and all four boys made excellent grades and attended college. Bill admired his oldest brother, remembering that “he had a lot of drive, a lot of push. Everything he did, he put a great effort into it.”

Mark attended college at the University of Nevada Reno in 1936. Bill remembers that “he did not hang out at bars like a lot of the students did. Instead, he became very active in football, boxing, and a lot of other sports.” He maintained his work ethic from childhood and joined the Sigma Nu Fraternity while also waiting tables to earn money. It was obligatory to take military training at the time, so Mark joined the Army ROTC, which also paid a stipend. He loved it and decided to make a career out of the military, graduating a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant.

He Met His Match

**Mark & Aletha Barsanti, Washington D.C., 1960s**

Meanwhile, Aletha Howell, a genteel southern lady from West Texas, was young and single, attending the University of Texas with her older sister. Aletha recalled that she and several friends were working in Austin when one of her friends met a few young, handsome lieutenants from San Antonio. The boys visited so frequently that the girls naturally “decided the thing to do was to ‘help the war effort,’ so we resigned our jobs, and we went to San Antonio…and got jobs with the Army—all four of us.”

The girls worked in the San Antonio Arsenal, and as they met more soldiers, they would set each other up. It was after a bad blind date that Aletha’s friend called her and said there was one more guy she just had to meet. Aletha resisted, but eventually caved and went back out for her second blind date that evening. That man was Mark.

“I just thought he was wonderful,” Aletha remarked. “He was just an exciting guy. He had a lot of humor. He was a handsome, young first lieutenant.” She added that he was a good dancer, a great conversationalist, and could speak several languages—what a catch!

Sure, he had a bad temper. However, Aletha soon decided that would never be a problem. “I was going to scream back just as loudly.” On the other side of the same coin, she affirmed “he was as gentle as a lamb.” Tough and tender, Mark and Aletha were a dynamite match.

Mark was promoted to Captain that same year. It was obvious to both him and Aletha that his division was going to go to war, so they rushed and got married on October 22, 1942 in the 2nd Division Chapel at Fort Sam Houston. Soon, the entire division was moved to Camp McCoy in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, just before Thanksgiving 1942.

WWII

Already an Army Ranger, Barsanti became the Director of the Ranger Battle Training Course, and he was promoted to Major in March 1943. Soon, his division was shipped off to Northern Ireland in October 1943, where they underwent intensive training until the D-Day Invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

On June 7th, 1944, Barsanti arrived at St. Laurent sur Mer near Omaha Beach on the coast of occupied France. At just 26 years old, he was one of the youngest battalion commanders in Europe at the time, commanding the 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry. Shortly after landing, he successfully prevented a German counterattack against his battalion for which he received a Silver Star.

Mark and Aletha agreed to write to each other every night while he was in Europe, and he kept his word without fail. She anxiously awaited the stack of letters she would receive every several days. “You were so happy when you got a fistful of mail” Aletha said, even though the censors cut up any sensitive information; the letters were often quite disheveled. Still, the knowledge that he was surviving brought hope.

For the next eight months of battle, Barsanti fought tirelessly alongside his men. He was awarded five Purple Hearts between June 1944 and January 1945. In December 1944, the 3rd Battalion assisted in the Ardennes Campaign, the famous Battle of the Bulge. It was here that he met his brother Bill in Europe.

Bill was with Cannon Company in the 106th Infantry Division; however, they lost their cannons on their way to England, so when they arrived and only had rifles, they became a rifle company. The 106th made their way in covered trucks to relieve the 2nd Division in St. Vith, Belgium. Mark—a Lieutenant Colonel at that point—knew that Bill was in the 106th, so he sent a car to pick him up and bring him to his quarters behind the Siegfried Line. While their meeting was sentimental, it was also practical.

Mark told his 21-year-old brother, “We’re going to go north and make a big push. You stay here. Here are some souvenirs in case I don’t make it.” Mark gave Bill various collected items, including a German Luger. He was certain that the Germans had nothing left and that the War would be over after their push north.

Snow and sleet covered the ground in the Ardennes Forest. The cold air bit at soldiers’ faces. The 2nd Division moved forward with confidence, but General Gerd von Rundstedt launched the last big German offensive of World War II.

The 3rd Battalion was entrenched at the southern edge of Krinkelt to block a German attack. Over a four-day battle with the Sixth Panzer Army, the 38th Infantry suffered 625 casualties. Mark added an oak leaf cluster to his Silver Star for his assistance during the brutal, devastating battle.

Having already been wounded several times, commanders were concerned Mark was tempting fate a bit, and decided to send him home.

Barsanti was one of only two original battalion commanders of the 2nd Infantry that landed in June 1944 and survived the war. He wrote in journals every day of the war, recounting everything he saw. However, when he finally shipped home, his footlockers were stolen from the docks at Bremerhaven, Germany. Thieves were only hoping for weapons, but they took a whole account of the War as well.

Agata's Citizenship

All four of the Barsanti boys answered the call of duty and served during World War II. Mark, Bill, and Elio to the Army, and Angelo to the Navy.

A prudent Nevada judge knew the sacrifice Agata Barsanti made sending all four of her boys to the frontlines of the War. This judge also knew that if she could give up her four boys for the United States, then she deserved to be a citizen of the country they were fighting for.

A New Father

Mark did have troubles adjusting to peacetime service. Aletha remembered him waking up with nightmares and screaming out in the night “Get down! Get down!” However, “That didn’t last long,” Aletha stated. Eventually, reliving the experience would drift away.

It was Aletha who convinced Mark to stay in the military after World War II. She embraced the military culture completely. She studied the Army Wives Handbook and taught Mark the ins-and-outs of etiquette and protocol at each rank. Bette credits her mother for her role in supporting and encouraging her father’s military career. “It was a great partnership.”

The couple moved around the southern states for a bit before they were sent to Fort Carson in Colorado. The couple arrived at Fort Carson and almost immediately received a telegram saying “Where are you? You are assigned to duty back at Fort Leavenworth.” They packed up right away and moved again.

It was at Fort Leavenworth that Aletha and Mark had Bette. As a father, Aletha recalled that “he was [a] firm disciplinarian, but he adored his little girl.” Bette remembers growing up that her father wasn’t always home, but when he was home, he was present with her and was a truly wonderful father.

It might be easy to think that a man of such rigor and solemn strength might be an intimidating father. “He wasn’t a very patient man, but he was more patient with her than other things. He was a very good father,” Aletha remembered. Bette said that he was a super father, but she was still very careful as a child to not step out of line.

One thing that Aletha couldn’t convince Mark to do was speak Italian in the home for Bette to learn. “We’re American,” he would say, and he saw no reason for them to speak anything other than English.

Bette remembers her father as tough and almost impervious to pain. He was a warrior, but he had a soft side. He raised Bette with the encouragement and support that “you can do whatever you want to do. You can be whatever you want to be.” She remembers that he didn’t have many rules or prevent her from doing much, as long as it wasn’t illegal and she was always on time.

Korea

Barsanti was called to serve in Japan in August 1949 in the Far East Command under General Douglas MacArthur. Lieutenant Colonel Barsanti moved to Tokyo with Aletha and Bette. “It was absolutely different to any place I had ever lived, the Far East,” recalled Aletha. She could afford a babysitter, so she had plenty of time to play bridge, shop in Tokyo, and entertain her friends. Both she and Bette looked fondly back on their time spent in Japan.

It was only six months later on June 27, 1950 that Mark, along with eleven other officers, was called into action again. This was only two days after North Korean soldiers invaded the South. The beginning of the Korean war was a mess, and it took America by surprise. The first men who arrived there bore the brunt of the war before the Marines came. Barsanti was tasked with establishing a command post for General MacArthur at Suwon. Except for help from indigenous peoples, he worked alone. Barsanti set up “all necessary systems and facilities for administration, receipt of replacements, care of prisoners of war, mess, billeting, and transportation, as well as strength and casualty reporting systems,” These actions earned him the Legion of Merit.

It was on October 19th and 20th, however, that Lt. Col. Barsanti had to deliver top secret information behind enemy lines. He drove alone, under repeated attacks by enemy soldiers, for 190 miles to deliver secret orders to two South Korean infantry divisions. For this act of bravery and heroism, Barsanti was presented the Distinguished Service Cross by Major General Edward Almond at the X Headquarters in Hungnam on December 14th.

It was Christmastime in Japan. A four-year-old Bette was playing on the floor, and Aletha was trimming the tree. “The doorbell rang, and I went to the door, and there he stood,” said Aletha. Mark stood in full combat gear, his stocky, dirt-covered silhouette shadowing the doorstep. He had a four-day pass, and it took him three of those four days to get home.

He took off his pack and gingerly laid down on the ground next to Bette. He pulled a small item out of his pocket. “I don’t have a present for you,” he said to Bette, “but I do have this pack of gum.”

“That’s my earliest memory,” Bette reminisced with tears in her eyes.

Barsanti had to turn around that same night and go back to Korea.

Barsanti soon joined the 2nd Infantry Division at the start of 1951. He began as an Executive Officer, and later became the Commanding Officer of the 9th Infantry Regiment. He was the Army’s youngest regimental commander in Korea at 33 years old.

He was awarded a Bronze Star (Sixth Oak Leaf Cluster) and a Silver Star (Second Oak Leaf Cluster) for participating in heavy fighting and for his personal leadership in a successful assault against strongly fortified North Korean emplacements near Inje. He suffered injuries in battle and returned to Japan in August 1951. “He was on the last plane that came out when they had to evacuate,” Aletha remembered. In true Mark fashion, he refused to leave despite having enough points to go home. Eventually, he flew back to Japan to pick up his family. Soon, they were all evacuated to California.

Service, Foreign and Domestic

The Barsantis moved around the United States, from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Norfolk, Virginia when Mark graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College. It was eventually time to move again, and the family picked up and shipped off to Heidelberg, Germany in 1954.

By 1955, Mark was promoted to Colonel and became Chief of Staff of the Berlin Command. “No one expected him to be promoted,” Aletha said. “He was always in the top five percent, and he came out on the list,” However, “that surprised everyone in the headquarters because there [Mark] sat in quarters that were too small for even a lieutenant colonel, so imagine that they have this full colonel sitting in this [small] set of quarters.” They couldn’t believe Mark was a Colonel because the family was living in quarters that were far too small for that rank. Aletha said that she would get calls everyday offering a different house for the family to move to, but she insisted, “No, I don’t want to live there. I want to live on Colonel’s Row, right over there across from the headquarters. You can call me back when you have one over there.”

It was a busy life in Germany. Aletha remembered having lots of interaction with the French, British, Germans, and even the Russians. “Mark was number three on the protocol list, so that means we received invitations to everything that the missions did.” He also completed the Basic Airborne Course with the 11th Airborne Division. Bette learned German, alongside the Japanese that she already knew. While they were only in Berlin for a year, they soaked up the experience.

When they returned again to the US, Mark went to the National War College, from which he graduated in 1958. This was the Barsantis’ first tour in Washington, and they had a chance to settle for about six years. He graduated from the college and was stationed at the Pentagon in various positions. He also went to night school at George Washington University and earned his Masters in International Affairs. He worked in the bustling city until 1963, when he went back to South Korea on an unaccompanied tour.

In Korea a second time, he served as Assistant Division Commander for Combat Operations, 7th Infantry Division. His schedule was tight, and his duties kept him busy. His aide-de-camp and helicopter pilot, 1st Lt. John Oliver remarked that Barsanti “places a premium on proficiency. When he tells someone to do something, he expects it to be done well and on time. But he sets the same standards for himself as he does for others. The man has an almost inconceivable amount of energy.”

It was in South Korea that Barsanti was notified of his promotion to Brigadier General, which made him one of the youngest generals in the Army at 46 years old. One year later, he was reassigned back to Heidelberg. Aletha and Bette—now a senior in high school—joined him in Heidelberg in 1964. Mark served as Comptroller for Headquarters for the U.S. Army in Europe, and in 1966, he became Chief of Staff. He was moved back to Washington to be Comptroller and Director of Programs at the United States Army Materiel Command Headquarters.

Another year passed and Barsanti was promoted to Major General. “His sights were so high, and he was always ahead of his contemporaries. I just always expected it,” Aletha recalled. Mark always outperformed others, setting the highest standards for his work and achieving them; however, he didn’t like being a comptroller. He always wanted to be on the ground with the troops. He wanted to be in Vietnam. “He enjoyed it—every minute of it…he just loved those troops,” said Aletha.

**Barsanti on Helicopter in Camp Kaiser, Korea, c. 1950.**

In the Summer of 1967, the 101st Airborne Division had six months before they were to deploy to Vietnam. The 1st Brigade was already overseas; the remaining men needed to be whipped into shape. The men needed Mark Barsanti. “They sent him to Fort Campbell because he was a strong disciplinarian, and they had had some deaths in night training,” Aletha said. Bette remembers that this was the proudest moment of his career. Barsanti was honored to have the opportunity to command the 101st, a command usually given to a West Point graduate. “He was so excited,” Bette remembers. On July 1st, he took command at Fort Campbell. The soldiers had to be trained and ready to deploy to Vietnam by December. His instructions? “Go down, kick ass, and take names.” It was a challenge—well, a challenge for anyone but Barsanti.

Colonel Ted Crozier, who first met Barsanti in Heidelberg, lived in Clarksville at the time that Barsanti commanded the 101st. He remembers stories that “he was a tough commander. He wanted to shape up the division…intensify the training; get them into first class physical shape.”

Bette remembers going to church after they had been in Ft. Campbell for three to four days. They got in the staff car and started driving down to the chapel. Bette looked out the back window and saw a military police car following them. She sank lower and lower in the back seat as she soon noticed four cars following them, stopping periodically and picking up troops along the way. By the time they stopped, she realized that the police picked up every single troop who didn’t salute her father’s two-star as they passed (or they gave him the “one finger salute”). It was then that she realized how serious they were that her father had to improve the Division.

Vietnam

Come Winter 1967, the 101st was ready to deploy. Codenamed Operation Eagle Thrust, Barsanti commanded the largest airlift transfer of men and equipment from the United States to Southeast Asia since World War II. Over 10,000 troops and 14,000 pounds of combat equipment were flown nearly 10,000 miles from November 17th to mid-December.

Settled in to base camp, General Barsanti communicated to his troops that “the mission of the 101st Airborne Division is to find the enemy and destroy him. Inherent in this mission is an incumbent responsibility to respect the proud people we are here to assist.”

A little-known fact about General Barsanti is that he was a great lover of animals. Bette remembers always having pets growing up, and her father loved cats. So, the moment he got his command trailer in Vietnam, the first thing he told his aide was “get me a cat.” Soon, Geronimo joined the Division and became a part of life on base.

Crozier, a parachutist in World War II, joined Barsanti in Vietnam as his aviation officer in charge of restructuring the division for helicopter use. He firmly stated that if anything had to be done, Mark “wanted it right.” Mark was rarely behind the desk and spent most of his time out in the field as Crozier recalled. Twice, Crozier was called into Barsanti’s office, and the General was livid. First, an aircraft was thirty minutes late picking up a brigade commander, and the second time, an aircraft flew out without any headsets. Both times, Crozier said “I will take care of that right now,” and both times, General Barsanti responded “I knew you would.” Instead of fixing the problem himself or remaining angry, Mark trusted his men to perform their duties and, in Ted’s case, allowed him to correct the mistakes himself.

Mark Barsanti standing at a microphone, making a speech during a fallen soldier memorial in Vietnam c. 1967-68. *

The 101st Airborne, or Screaming Eagles as they were called, played a major role in the defense of Saigon, Bien Hoa, Song Be, Hue, and Quang Tri during the Tet Offensive. Aletha knew that “The first person killed in the Tet Offensive was a clerk in his office. They hit the 101st Division first. There were a lot of the casualties coming in.” According to his biography, Barsanti “believed that to fight a war in the coastal plains the following methods of combat were required: multiple actions to keep the enemy off balance, continuous attacking to keep pressure on the enemy, night fighting for continuous pressure, no reliance on reserves and a home base, providing maximum fire support, rapidly massing on lucrative targets, coordinating closely with ARVN units, and using special equipment and techniques such as airlifts and constant night illumination in cordon operations.”

General Barsanti never quit. He frequently visited wounded troops in the hospital or made his way to the frontlines, engaging in combat when he needed to. He never asked his men to do anything that he wasn’t willing to do himself. He received two Purple Hearts in Vietnam (that makes seven in total) before General Creighton Abrams—one of his former students at Command and General Staff College—said “if you get wounded one more time, you’re coming home.”

However, Bette found out much later that her father should have received another Purple Heart. Mark was on his way to the front when a shell exploded in the helicopter. His leg was wounded, and he was rushed to the medics. They tended to his leg and said “well, this is a Purple Heart,” to which Barsanti looked them square in the eye and said “Don’t you dare report this.” He refused to go home and didn’t want to leave his men before his Command was complete.

Aletha’s Responsibility

Back home in Fort Campbell, Aletha, with a heavy heart and a grave sense of responsibility, stood by the wives of the 101st Division. “I always went with the post commander and the chaplain to inform if a serviceman was killed.” She took her duty as a General’s wife very seriously and did everything she could to stand by the women who supported their husbands’ service. She ingratiated herself into military culture from day one and considered it her stateside duty to support the women on base in the good times and the devastating times.

Ft. Sheridan

After his year-long command in Vietnam, General Barsanti turned over the 101st to General Melvin Zais. General Abrams assigned Mark to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, as Chief of Staff. The Barsantis could look forward to a bit of stability after years of traveling, and they would be near Bette who was attending Northwestern University. It was an ideal situation—although, “he liked the one he had with the troops,” Aletha said. “He would have stayed [in Vietnam] until the end.”

Here, Mark had his routine. He started every morning with an exercise regimen and ended every evening with a walk around the base, his cat Louis Noir Quatorze walking beside him.

It was at Ft. Sheridan that Mark’s health started to deteriorate. He knew he had stomach cancer and was suffering from stomach pains, fevers, and a weakening immune system. Yet, “he was convinced it wasn’t going to kill him,” Aletha said. Even when they were in Germany, Mark went to the hospital for ulcers in his stomach. The doctors wanted to remove the ulcers, and as the “General in the room,” he outranked them; with a firm “no, you’re not,” he refused surgery.

On the list to be promoted to Three Star General, Mark received a visit from long-time friend Lt. Gen. Frank Mildren who came to visit the Barsantis at Fort Sheridan. He wanted to check on Barsanti’s health, and “I am sure he was going to put him on the list for his third star,” Aletha recalled; however, he witnessed Mark’s poor health, and it wasn’t too long after that that instead of a promotion, Mark was asked to retire on disability.

“It just about broke Mark’s heart because he thought he would go on forever.” Aletha remembered.

Very soon after his retirement from the Army, Mark was offered a CEO position with the American Automobile Manufacturers Association in Detroit. Another good friend, General Frank Kreml, had already been tapped by the Detroit auto industry, and he wanted to bring in Mark as Chief of Staff to run the day-to-day operations. Aletha and Mark talked about traveling, and Mark even went out and got himself a passport. However, when he got home, he told Aletha “I don’t want to do that. I want to work somewhere.” So, the couple moved to Detroit.

For the first time in his life, Mark had to buy civilian clothes. He had to work and live as a civilian. He struggled to adapt to civilian culture and didn’t understand a world where people didn’t give 100% energy in everything they did. “He really didn’t like it,” Bette remembers.

**Mark at Detroit Automobile Mfg. Association.**

Mark was steadily deteriorating in health, but as much as his wife and daughter tried to get him to find a doctor at a cancer hospital, he would not leave the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. His response was “not only no, but hell no.” They remained in Detroit for nine months until Mark had another attack; they operated on him and confirmed there was no hope of survival. It was then that the Barsanti’s moved one last time back to Chicago where they could be close to their daughter and live out his remaining months together as family.

A true powerhouse, a man of resilience and strength, Mark “fought it until the end. He wasn’t going to give up” said Aletha. However, cancer eventually overtook him, and Mark passed in May of 1973.

His remains were shipped to Arlington National Cemetery. In true Mark fashion, he left Aletha six pages of clear instructions detailing what to do about the funeral. Most importantly, Mark “wanted to be sure he was in a GI casket like all the other GIs.” Even after the end, Mark was right beside his men, his fellow soldiers.

How do you sum up the life and service of such an exceptional man? Is it by the medals, meticulously preserved and displayed? Or is it through the stories and memories of family, servicemen, brothers, and friends?

There may be no better way to describe Mark’s service than by Aletha’s own words: “He loved the troops, and they loved him.” Mark gave everything for his family, his men, and his country. He earned 76 medals, citations, and declarations during his 31-year career. Among his many commendations and years of service, one of his greatest honors was sitting on the selection board for the first female general; “it’s about time,” he said.

Mark Barsanti’s life and service humbly stand as a testimony to one man who worked tirelessly to preserve and defend the freedoms of our Nation.

The Legacy Continues

Perhaps in the most fitting way, Mark’s legacy has been commemorated through educational scholarships and endowments. At the University of North Texas, Bette and her husband Bob endowed the MG Olinto M. Barsanti Graduate Fellowship in Military History as well as the MG Olinto M. Barsanti US Air Force ROTC Scholarship and the MG Olinto M. Barsanti US Army ROTC Scholarship, both of which support enrolled and active members of the Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC programs at the University. Additionally, they endowed the MG Olinto M. Barsanti Emergency Relief Endowment Fund which provides support for student veterans.

Because of their family legacy of service, the family established The Barsanti Brothers Military and Veterans Endowed Scholarship for military and veteran students at the University of Nevada Reno. This scholarship was endowed by Bette and her husband Bob, John Stephan Barsanti (son of Angelo) and his wife Trish, Dr. Jeanne Barsanti (daughter of Angelo) and her husband Dr. Craig Greene, and John Silvio Barsanti (son of Elio) and his wife, Romy. Finally, the Barsanti name and dedication to education is memorialized in the form of the MG Olinto M. Barsanti Elementary School at Ft. Campbell, which was dedicated in January of 2011.

In honor of Mark’s storied career in the US Army, Aletha, Bette and Bob are counted as charter contributors to the recently opened US Army Museum in Washington, DC.

_____________

Thank you to the UNT’s Oral History Program and Special Collections Library for access to the photos, interview transcripts with Aletha Barsanti, Bill Barsanti, and Ted Crozier. All quotations from these individuals were sourced from their material.

Thank you to the Arlington National Cemetery for the detail and description of MG Barsanti’s exceptional service.

A very special thank you to Bette and Bob Sherman, without whom I would not have received the personal insight into General Barsanti’s courageous life or truly understood the impact he had as a soldier, a father, and a man.

THE LEGACY & SERVICE OF MAJOR GENERAL OLINTO M. BARSANTI