Salerno, Italy: WWII Outdoor Movies Attracted Attention for the U.S. Army in Salerno, Italy

When U.S. Army soldier Tom Kullman was stationed near Salerno, Italy, during World War II, the Army regularly showed outdoor movies for troops in the area. The screening site sat near a heavily traveled supply road the soldiers called “Highway 66,” which ran convoys to the front.

One evening Kullman had already seen that night’s film and stepped away from the crowd. A German Ju 88 dove out of the darkness and strafed the highway. “I wasn’t anywhere close to the road, but it scared me to death. I had never been under fire before,” Kullman recalled. “I suppose he saw the lights from the movie and thought there might be a convoy on the road.”

Outdoor movies were a fixture of Allied military life throughout the war — a morale booster that helped soldiers on campaigns across North Africa and Europe feel connected to home.