Ranger Hall of Fame veteran Jeff Struecker visits WWII site in Italy where founder of the Rangers was killed
- associazionebenach
- Jul 2
- 4 min read
NAGO-TORBOLE, Italy — A U.S. Army Ranger veteran traveled this week to northern Italy to stand at the site where Brig. Gen. William O. Darby, founder of the modern U.S. Army Ranger Regiment, was killed during the final days of World War II.
Jeff Struecker, a retired Ranger and combat veteran of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, visited Lake Garda for the first time invited by the Association Benàch to take part in the documentary examining Darby’s life and legacy and the closing operations of the Italian Campaign.
Darby was killed on April 30, 1945, in Torbole on Lake Garda while serving as Assistant Division Commander of the 10th Mountain Division, a position he assumed on April 23 after Brig. Gen. Robinson E. Duff was wounded. Although more commonly remembered as the founder of the US Army Rangers. His death is just eight days after being assigned to the 10th is often mistakenly associated with the Po Valley, a misconception that the Association Benàch are working to correct by increasing awareness of the actual site where he fell, in 2025 Col. Scott Horrigan the Garrison Commander of at Vicenza under a new plaque marking where he fell.
Struecker’s military career included deployments to Panama, Operation Desert Storm, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. He won the 1996 Best Ranger Competition alongside SPC Isaac Gmazel and was inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2017. After leaving active duty, he served for more than a decade as a U.S. Army chaplain and continues ministry work while remaining active in Ranger and veteran-related initiatives.
He was accompanied by Gino Baldwin Smith, staff with Athletes in Action Italy, who represented Struecker during the 80th anniversary commemorations of Darby’s death and liberation of Torbole in 2025.
Struecker’s visit grew out of contacts and friendship made during those commemorations. Ben Appleby and Antonella Previdi from the Association Benàch exchanged messages with Struecker and later discussed the documentary project with him directly. With Ranger history being so close to his heart the opportunity to visit the place where Darby fell was always something Struecker said he wanted to do and so agreed to visit and participate in the documentary “With love,Billy”.
“With Love, Billy” is a documentary being produced by a team based in northern Italy led by the Association Benàch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering WWI and WWII history in northern Italy, working together with documentary directors Elena Goatelli and Angel Esteban.
During the trip, Struecker and the team visited key sites connected to the final days of the war, including the location where Darby and his Sergeant Major, John “Tim” Evans, were killed, as well as seeing the marble monument dedicated to Darby in Torbole.
The origins of this marble have special significance as they came from Cisterna di Latina, location of possibly the most devastating and defining battles in the history of the Rangers - the Battle for Cisterna (January 30 - February 2)
Struecker was interviewed inside the historic Church of Santa Maria al Lago in Torbole, where he reflected on leadership, combat experience and the continuity of Ranger ethos from World War II through modern conflicts.
He also discussed his experience during the Battle of Mogadishu, later depicted in the movie Black Hawk Down, drawing parallels between modern combat leadership and the principles associated with early Rangers.
When asked about courage, Struecker described it as acting in spite of fear rather than the absence of it.
During the visit, Struecker met with Nago-Torbole Mayor Gianni Morandi and Deputy Mayor Sara Balduzzi, expressing appreciation for the community’s efforts to preserve and commemorate the history of both World War I and World War II. He presented the mayor with a signed copy of his book, The Road to Unafraid.
Struecker, who remains an active long-distance runner, also expressed interest in returning to participate in the annual Darby 40-Miler, a military endurance event held around April 30 that follows the route from Peschiera del Garda to Torbole in remembrance of Darby and the American soldiers who fought during the final stages of the Italian Campaign, an event which the Association Benàch has been involved with is now the official contact after the Richard Tscherne ‘Ranger Rick’ declared last April he would no longer be part of the organization team.
Gino and Jeff had a private screening of Association Benàch’s first documentary The Lost Mountaineers, visited their Welcome/Research Centre with a selection of their WWII artifacts and learnt more about their efforts to preserve and honor the military history of the Lake Garda region for future generations, through events, ceremonies, documentaries, exhibitions and books as well as discussing the future of the Association Benàch such as a museum.
The Association Benàch is led by president Ben Appleby and Treasurer Antonella Previdi, and continues work on With Love, Billy, a nonprofit documentary examining the life, service, and legacy of Brig. Gen. William O. Darby. Ben and Antonella are also executive producers of this documentary. The organization remains committed to bringing the project to completion while continuing to seek sponsors and partners to support the production.
Preview - View The Project
10-minute teaser:https://youtu.be/guQeuXPngf0?si=0bkCIOrEvayZ3070
1-minute project introduction:https://youtu.be/ZGdppVLcVgY?si=g3EpQ3wxhkHTfA7_
1-minute film on William O. Darby:https://youtu.be/_-IqGbcF5Jw?si=xMbRLJG_7O-8gCv7
1-minute film on the Darby Rangers:https://youtu.be/IvZCQBaOsNM?si=NSo6PmDu_m3O62cL
Documentary on Brigadier General William O.Darby - With love, Billy
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