Mount Notre Dame students work to identify Cincinnati World War II vets who died in Anzio, Italy

First Lt. Francis G. Baldwin Jr. graduated from Walnut Hills High School and went on to operate his own commercial art studio here prior to joining the Army and serving in World War II. The Air Force pilot made the ultimate sacrifice on Dec. 9, 1944 when he and 14 other officers were passengers on a plane that disappeared in the mountains in southern Italy. A group of Mount Notre Dame students has been piecing together the details of Baldwin’s life this fall as part of a student-led research project that has connected the girls with more than two dozen local WWII service men who were laid to rest in Italy more than 70 years ago. It’s called Operation Anzio. The goal of the project is finding all the Hamilton County residents who gave their lives during the Italian campaign of World War II and buried or commemorated at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Anzio, Italy. So far, the student researchers have identified 26 CIncinnatians.