Located on the outside of a building which makes up Malga Montegal (an agriturismo) where the OSS operations headquartered; just under the roof overhang.

An inscribed polished marble plaque.

The plaque was placed on the 75^th Anniversary (December 2019) of OSS Operational Group (OG) TACOMA’s jump into DZ AZURE in Valmorel, Italy. They flew in a Halifax bomber piloted by a Polish aircrew. Their mission was to help Steven Hall (Operation Eagle) destroy the Brenner Pass and other Partisan support operations.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS)- precursor to the modern CIA, conducted numerous operations behind enemy lines in Italy in WW2.  The plaque remembers three missions in Northeastern Italy conducted by Operation Groups Tacoma; Aztec and Eagle.  Operation Groups of the OSS in WW2 were the modern day precursor to our Current Special Forces teams.  These missions all operated in close coordination with Italian Partisan units.  

SOE were British missions of the Special Operation Executive (SOE).

Operation Tacoma:

Engagement: From December 26, 1944 until May 24, 1945

Personnel:

Captain Howard W. Chappell, mission leader

T/5 Salvadore Fabrega, weapons specialist

Cpl. Oliver Silsby, radio operator

Staff Sergeant Eugene Delaini, weapons specialist

Staff Sergeant Charles Ciccone, demolitions specialist

T/3 Eric Burchardt, medical corpsman

It was an assignment to organize the partisans to block the German Army’s vital supply and escape routes from northern Italy to Austria and Germany through the passes in the Alpine and Dolomite Mountains. Also to support Operation Group Eagle. 

 Operation Aztec:

Engagement 1944-1945

Mission: To work with the Alpini partisans in the Belluno area of northeast Italy blocking communication between Germany and Italy.

Personnel:

 Operation Eagle:

Engagement:  1944-1945

Leader:  Roderick Stephen “Steve” Hall.

Mission: From the CIA History Website:

America’s history is rich with stories about courageous men and women who have gone above and beyond to protect their nation.

The story of Office of Strategic Services officer Roderick Stephen Hall and the Brenner Pass assignment is one of the most amazing and inspiring stories.

Steve survived for six months in the Italian and Austrian Alps while planning sabotage missions targeting Nazi supply routes.

Patrick O’Donnell wrote a book about these operations and is described as such:

O’Donnell brings a cinematic style and considerable expertise to this engrossing tale of a behind-enemy-lines mission during the last year of WWII. Conducted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, the predecessor to the modern CIA), the plan was to cut ""a carotid artery of the Third Reich,"" the infamous Brenner Pass through the mountains between Austria and Italy, leaving the German army in Southern Italy isolated. Arguably one of the war's most dangerous operations, it was led two OSS operatives who never met: Stephen Hall, a combat engineer trained in demolitions, who conceived and sold the plan (and himself) to the newly formed OSS; and Howard Chappell, a Fort Benning paratroop trainer recruited by the OSS to train the team of ""shadow soldiers"" who would infiltrate Nazi Germany under Hall's command. Unfortunately, the main theater of operations had shifted to France by the summer of 1944, and the team was shorted critical logistical support. With thorough research and new interviews, O'Donnell provides an insightful look into the internal struggles of the burgeoning OSS as well as a real-life espionage adventure of bravery, ingenuity and sacrifice.

The text on the plaque is written in English and Italian.  The English reads:

Commune di Limana                                                           ANPI Belluno

To the valiant

Allied Military Missions OSS:  Tacoma, Aztec, Eagle

SOE: Simia, Fra

in the province of Belluno

75^th Anniversay of Liberation

26-12-1944                                       26-12-2019