Next to the monument.

A street sign honoring the 34th Infantry Division soldier, Private First Class Andrew G. Biggio.

PFC  Biggio was assigned to B Company, 135th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division. An infantryman, Biggio fought valiantly with the Red Bulls, liberating the Italian towns of Viterbo, Cecina, and Livorno. His heroic actions in combat earned Pvt. 1st Class Biggio a Bronze Star Medal.

Since the Italian peninsula was essential to the success of Nazi Germanys military efforts, the Nazi regime fortified various west-to-east lines across the country as they retreated north. Constructed substantially by slave labor, one of the most impervious was the Gothic Line, stretching throughout the northern part of the Apennine Mountains. The Gothic Line consisted of more than 2,000 well-fortified machine gun nests, bunkers, and observation posts.

In the Allied attempt to break the Gothic Line, soldiers of the 34th Infantry Divisions 135th Regiment charged up impossibly steep terrain to force the Nazi retreat. It was during this effort that Biggio was killed on Sept. 17, 1944, on Hill 599.

Source:  Minnesota National Guard Website