U.S. Army honors Wisconsin son, killed on an Italian battlefield in WWI

U.S. Army honors Wisconsin son, killed on an Italian battlefield in WWI

By Staff Sgt. Richard Cole, U.S. Army Garrison Italy

SAN DONÀ DI PIAVE, Italy – Lt. Edward Michael McKey, an American Red Cross volunteer, arrived in Italy with a simple purpose – to help those caught in the devastation of war.

He carried no rifle. Instead, he used his skills as an artist and humanitarian to serve on the front lines – where the Red Cross supported allied troops with ambulance services and supporting morale.

On June 15, 1918, an Austrian artillery shell killed him along the Piave River. His sacrifice forever connected him to Italy. He is the only American buried at Sacrario Militare di Fagarè – an Italian military memorial cemetery not far from Venice.

On Nov. 4, the Italian Armed Forces Day, four medical Soldiers from the U.S. Army Health Clinic - Vicenza joined Italian partners at Fagarè della Battaglia to honor McKey and the allied forces who fell during the war.

McKey’s sacrifice highlights a longtime partnership between the United States and Italy that began when he, and other Americans like writer Ernest Hemingway, chose to share WWI hardships and found a mutual commitment on the battlefield.

Born in Janesville, Wisconsin, and raised in Minnesota, McKey built a career as a portrait artist with a studio in New York City after studying art. His passion for creative expression eventually took him across Europe, though Italy held a special place in his heart. A contemporary biography described him as an ardent lover of the country. McKey envisioned retiring to an old villa in Florence, recalling poet Robert Browning's words, "Open my heart and you will see, Graved inside of it, Italy."

When World War I began, McKey volunteered with the Ambulance Field Service in France, earning the French War Cross. In December 1917, he traveled to Italy and joined the American Red Cross, driving ambulances and mobile canteens along the front lines, where he befriended Hemingway.

On June 15, 1918, the first day of the Battle of the Solstice, also known as the Second Battle of the Piave, an Austrian shell exploded beside McKey in San Donà di Piave. He became the first American Red Cross member killed in Italy during the war.

Hemingway was also wounded nearby during the fighting. Hemingway survived and later honored McKey with a poem inscribed on a bronze tribute. Hemingway's poem, "Killed, Piave, June 18," reads:

Desire and

All the sweet pulsing aches

And gentle hurtings

That were you,

Are gone into the sullen dark.

Now in the night you come unsmiling

To lie with me

A dull, cold, rigid bayonet

On my hot-swollen, throbbing soul.

— Ernest Hemingway

McKey's service was part of a broader American presence in the region.

In the fall of 1918, the U.S. Army's 332nd Infantry Regiment arrived in Veneto to support Italian forces. Known as the "American Lions," they were the only American infantry regiment assigned to the Italian front. They supported the offensive across the Piave River and contributed to the Allied victory at Vittorio Veneto, adopting Venice's historic Lion of St. Mark as their unit patch. Today, that symbol lives on in the insignia of U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, headquartered in Vicenza, carrying forward a legacy rooted in mutual alliance.

For Staff Sgt. Patrick Smith, Noncommissioned Officer-in-Charge of the Primary Care Clinic, rendering honors carried deep personal significance. When assigned previously at Fort Sam Houston, he rendered honors for 57 service members in four months.

“It gave me a deep-seated respect for the service and sacrifice of those we serve alongside and those who came before us,” Smith said.

Three fellow medical soldiers from the clinic joined Smith in honoring McKey. They were Maj. Blayne Rankin, Deputy Commander for Administration; Sgt. Kirill Baklykov, Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter; and Pfc. Nicholas Freund, Soldier of the Quarter. Together, the team represented the Vicenza military community at the Italian ceremony.

“Living in Italy, it means everything to have those connections with your neighbors," Rankin said. “We have very strong connections with the local healthcare facilities. Those connections are vital to the operations here.”

They presented white flowers at McKey’s final resting place and rendered a solemn salute.

That moment, four U.S. Army Soldiers in dress uniform, amid the fallen of WWI, bridged past and present.

Once the ceremony concluded, the U.S. Soldiers got to know the local community. Rankin conversed with Valentina Pillon, the mayor of San Biagio di Callalta. Nearby, Baklykov swapped hats with an Italian Alpini mountain infantry veteran and handed out his ribbons to enthusiastic children.

“I was happy to give the children a fun experience,” said Baklykov. “This is my last month in Italy. Spending the day with the Italians was a great way to end the journey.”

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