[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE COURAGE OF MR. OSVALDO GHIO AND HIS FAMILY TO HELP 
                       RESCUE LT. WARREN ADERHOLT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2018

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, we have often heard stories of American 
soldiers and airmen in World War II being rescued by heroic men and 
women throughout Europe. Today I rise to honor just such a man and his 
family.
  On April 9, 1945, 2nd Lieutenant Warren Aderholt, a cousin on my 
father's side, crashed his P-5l Mustang approximately 30 miles behind 
enemy lines in northern Italy near the town of Sarzana. The area was 
occupied by German forces and the local civilians had been warned not 
to assist the Allied forces. They were told that if they disobeyed this 
directive they risked being shot. Nevertheless, at great personal risk 
to himself and his family, Mr. Osvaldo Ghio rescued Lieutenant 
Aderholt. Mr. Ghio and his family gave Lt. Aderholt food and clothes 
and hid him in a secret hideout that he had constructed for just this 
purpose. The hideout looked like a large stack of concrete blocks, but 
inside was a place for Aderholt to hide.
  Also, U.S. documents show that Mr. Ghio would personally remove mines 
from around the airport that the Germans had placed there. He would go 
through these mine fields at night so as not to be seen and would then 
give the mines to the Italian Partisans in their fight against the 
enemy. Had Mr. Ghio not removed these mines when Lt. Aderholt bellied 
his plane into the airport, he would have surely hit one as his plane 
skid in a crash landing.
  Once the news that an American pilot had crash landed nearby, the 
Germans lined up the local citizens, including the Ghio family, and 
interrogated them. One family even had their home burned by the 
Germans. However, the Ghios continued to hide Lt. Aderholt until the 
coast was clear. Once the German troops left the area they led Lt. 
Aderholt to safety by hiking miles through the mountains to the front 
where American troops were advancing.
  Members of Lt. Warren Aderholt's family will be traveling to Sarzana, 
Italy this month to meet the surviving daughter of Mr. Ghio, Rosalba. I 
would also like to recognize the painstaking research of Claudio 
Mischi, an aeronautical archaeologist, who did extensive research on 
what exactly happened in April of 1945 at this location. Mr. Mischi has 
done this painstaking research out of his extreme gratitude to the 
United States and the Allies that liberated his country. It should also 
be noted that Claudio Mischi is writing a biography on Lt. Aderholt's 
career as well.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize the courage of the Ghio 
family and their sacrifice to help rescue Lt. Warren Aderholt back on 
April 9, 1945, as well as all those who offered acts of kindness and 
assistance to the United States Military during WorId War II.

                          ____________________