December 7, 1941, and June 6, 1944, are iconic dates in the history of World War II, or at least when history was taught in school. There is no date commemorating the war in Sicily and Italy in 1943 and 1944. In his book The Day of Battle, Rick Atkinson summarizes the view of historians of the Italian campaign with a quote from the American historian David M. Kennedy: "He decried a 'needlessly costly sideshow' … a 'grinding war of attrition whose costs were justified by no defensible military or political purpose.'" But nearly 30,000 Allied troops died there, and they must be remembered.