US WWII Veteran Reunites With Italians He Saved as Children

US WWII Veteran Reunites With Italians He Saved as Children
A 97 year old retired American soldier Martin Adler poses with Giulio (L), Mafalda (R), and Giuliana Naldi that he saved during WWII at Bologna's airport, Italy, on Aug. 23, 2021. Antonio Calanni/AP Photo
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BOLOGNA, Italy—For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a black-and-white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

On Monday, the 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings—now octogenarians themselves—in person for the first time since the war.