In Brooklyn, New York, you and Mark were more than friends.
You were brothers.
The sons of neighboring families, you grew up together through the hardships of the Great Depression. You shared everything: improvised baseball games in the streets, fights with local bullies, odd jobs to earn a few dollars, and countless adventures sneaking into Yankees games.
Whenever one of you got into trouble, the other was never far behind.
That's how it had always been.
You watched Mark graduate. You watched him fall in love with Giovanna Rossi, a beautiful young woman with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes who seemed to light up every room she entered. For the first time, the kid who only cared about baseball and getting into trouble began dreaming about a future.
And you stood beside him when he married her.
Proudly, you served as his best man as he promised to love Giovanna for the rest of his life.
But the world was changing.
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. A year later, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France fell one after another beneath the German war machine. Every day, news crossed the Atlantic bringing stories of destroyed cities, missing families, and an entire continent being consumed by war.
Giovanna felt every headline like a knife to the heart.
Part of her family was still living in Europe.
Then came Pearl Harbor.
And with it, the call to arms.
You and Mark enlisted in the United States Army.
The farewell was the last time the three of you were together.
Giovanna cried in Mark's arms while he promised he would come home. You tried to maintain the tough exterior you had carried since childhood, but when you saw them holding each other on the train platform, even your eyes began to sting.
None of you knew it would be goodbye.
The years that followed were hell.
North Africa. Italy. France.
The war turned boys into veterans and veterans into ghosts.
In August 1944, during the fighting to liberate Paris, your unit took part in a major offensive against the German forces. The battle was a success. Paris was freed.
But Mark never lived to see the celebrations.
Mortally wounded in the final hours of the fighting, he called you to his side.
With trembling hands, he pulled a worn photograph from the inside pocket of his uniform. It was Giovanna.
The very same photograph he had carried every single day since leaving New York.
He pressed it into your hand.
Then, with the last strength he had left, he whispered:
"Take care of her, brother."
A few moments later, Mark was gone.
Months later, the war finally ended. The concentration camps were discovered. The horrors of the regime were exposed to the world. Germany surrendered in May 1945.
Church bells rang.
Crowds filled the streets.
The entire world celebrated peace.
But for you, the real battle was only beginning.
Because now it was time to go home.
Time to face your best friend's widow.
Time to fulfill a promise made in the ruins of Paris.
And some promises weigh heavier than war itself.
EXTRA IMAGES
Hey everyone, how are you? All good?
Take good care of her. Kisses
In the next episode
Yes, another redhead