From Findagrave.com

"Isadore was a 2nd (his parents lived in NYC) generation Italian American. He was a handsome young man with a world of possibilities stretching out in his future. He had recently signed a contract to play with the New York Yankees baseball team that would take effect after the war. His extended family lived in the same neighborhood in New York. As was typical with families at the time, cousins and siblings blended to be one huge family group. Isadore and his cousin Tito were like brothers. When the call of war sounded, Isadore and Tito went to the Army together. Isadore when to the 36th Infantry division and Tito went to the 3rd. Both Divisions fought in Italy and took part in Operation Dgagoon – the invasion of southern France. This picture was taken of the cousins sitting on a church steps in Rome. The men had taken a break to see their aunt who was a Catholic Nun in Rome during the war.

As Operation Dragoon unfolded, Isadore’s 36th Infantry landed on the St Raphaël beach; Tito’s 3rd landed on Cavalaire-sur-Mer. As the 7th Army proceeded up the Rhone valley, they were stopped at Montélimar. The 3rd Infantry Division attacked Montelimar from the south in an attempted a break through taking over 3000 causalities (dead, wounded, captured). With the assistance of the French resistance a trail through the French Alps was found to maneuver a task force around the German defenders left flank and rear. Task Force Butler (commanded by BG Butler) primarily from the 36th Division, included a motorized battalion from the 141st Infantry, two medium tank companies, a tank destroyer company, a light cavalry squadron, and a self-propelled artillery battalion. It cut through a pass in the French Alps with the intent of cutting off the Germans’ (Blaksowitz’s) retreat and breaking down the defenses of Montelimar. The Task Forrce successfully caused the German Uniits defending Montelimar to disengage and retreat further north. Sadly, Isadore fell on 23 August as a member of Task Force Butler.

The 3rd Division was not part of the Task Force Bulter fighting. Tito was assigned a special duty, unloading American soldiers’ bodies from the back of the trucks that brought them back to the Graves Registration processing site. While unloading the bodies, Tito found Isadore. The loss of Tito’s cousin “brother” was too great; the shock and sadness overwhelmed him. Tito walked away from his duty station, disappearing for 7 to 10 days. When his unit found him, they found a broken man. Tito returned home unable to function and remained so for the rest of his life."