During the Battle of Salerno on the Italian front in World War II, the bodies of Allied soldiers were scattered in Fox Hall in Green Beach. Two members of the U.S. Army's Fifth Army Burial Unit paused in their labors near the bodies of fallen soldiers who had been their comrades covered with military blankets.

　 During the Battle of Salerno on the Italian front in World War II, the bodies of Allied soldiers were scattered in Fox Hole in Green Beach, the hottest part of the city. At sunset, two members of the U.S. Army's Fifth Army burial squad paused in their labors beside the body of a fallen soldier whose companion was covered with a military blanket. Behind them, another of their exhausted comrades was sleeping in the aftermath of the battle.

　The main Allied invasion force landed on the west coast of Italy at Salerno on September 9, 1943 as part of Operation Avalanche. American and British troops and tanks landed while under fire from the Germans during the invasion of mainland Italy from Salerno. The Battle of Salerno set the stage for Operation Avalanche, initiated by the Allied forces, which suffered heavy casualties in the invasion of Italy, resulting in a week of fighting from September 9 to September 18, with Allied losses of 2,349 killed in action, 7,366 wounded in action, and 4,100 missing in action. The Germans suffered 840 killed and 2,002 wounded in action.

　　With the start of Operation Avalanche on September 9, 1943, American troops landed in infantry landing craft (LCI) at Salerno, near Naples. A tank landing ship (LST) was attacked by the Germans. German 88 shells raised smoke and water plumes on the shore of Salerno. In the midst of it all, the troops landing craft (LCVPs) headed for the beach, while Allied cruisers and destroyers came in to provide fire support. The Italians withdrew from Salerno on September 8, the day before the invasion, while Allied forces landed in areas defended by German troops. From September 12 to 14, the Germans launched an all-out counterattack with six divisions of motorized units, and the Allied forces were too thinly scattered to counter the concentrated attack, inflicting heavy casualties. From September 13, the U.S. Army began to deploy heavy weapons, raining death on the Germans, preventing them from regaining the offensive, and crushing and recapturing the beachhead at Salerno.