"Soldiers of the Lake"

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On April 30, 1945, in the closing days of the European campaign in the Second World War, 26 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division set out in an amphibious vehicle known as a DUKW to resupply units pursuing and fighting the retreating German forces in northern Italy. While crossing Lake Garda near Torbole, Italy, the DUKW sank. Twenty-five of the 26 soldiers on board were lost with the vehicle. Only one soldier survived. The rest remain at the bottom of Lake Garda alongside the equipment they carried and the DUKW that transported them.

Why have the stories of these soldiers gone largely untold? The tragedy was overshadowed by two major events that occurred the same day. Colonel William Darby, widely regarded as the founding father of the Army Rangers and serving as Assistant Division Commander of the 10th Mountain Division, was killed in action in Torbole, Italy. Also on that day, Adolf Hitler took his own life, effectively bringing the war in Europe to an end.

Honor for Heroes, in partnership with the Benach Association, has taken on the mission of one day hopefully recovering the remains from the lake and returning these lost service members to their families with full honors. The question remains why this mission has taken more than 80 years to fulfill.

There have been significant challenges. Matthew Hilley, founder of Honor for Heroes, began working on this effort in 2004 after returning home from Iraq. His great uncle, First Sergeant James Hilley, was among the 25 soldiers lost in the lake. The wreckage was not discovered until 2012. Ben Appleby and Antonella Previdi with Benach are credited with much of the success that has been made thus far. 

Lake Garda is a glacial lake, exceptionally deep, cold, and dark, with low oxygen levels at the bottom. The wreckage lies more than 900 feet below the surface. The equipment that we have seen at the wreckage site is remarkably well preserved, and it is believed the remains may be as well. However, the depth requires highly specialized equipment, making recovery operations complex and costly.

Two expeditions have reached the DUKW wreckage, but no human remains have been recovered to date. The mission continues, but securing funding and finding qualified partners remains difficult. A network of steel cables on the lakebed further complicates efforts, limiting the use of certain recovery technologies.

The United States government maintains a dedicated agency, the Defense POW MIA Accounting Agency, tasked with recovering and identifying unaccounted for service members. In this case, however, current policy prevents involvement until evidence of human remains is confirmed. As a result, the responsibility has fallen largely to private citizens to carry the mission forward.

This effort has been decades in the making, but Honor for Heroes remains committed. They will continue until the “Soldiers of the Lake” are brought home.