Miracle at St. Anna

Plot[edit]

In 1983, Hector Negron, an aged, Afro-Puerto Rican World War II veteran, works as a post office clerk in New York City. After recognizing a customer, Negron shoots and kills the man with a German Luger pistol. Several hours later, rookie reporter Tim Boyle and Detective Tony Ricci are at the crime scene seeking information. At Negron's apartment, Boyle, Ricci and other officers discover a finely carved statue head, the head of the Primavera, a long missing segment from the Ponte Santa Trinita. Also found is a Purple Heart and a photograph revealing that Negron was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star.


Negron, in a flashback, tells of his war experiences as a young corporal of the segregated 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, late 1944 during the Gothic line phase of the Italian campaign. A disastrous attack ensues on German positions across the Serchio River. An officer, Captain Nokes, calls down artillery on the 92nd's own position, refusing to believe their reports of how far they have advanced. Many American soldiers are killed, leaving Negron stranded on the wrong side of the river with three men: Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps, Sergeant Bishop Cummings, and Private Sam Train. Sam carries the Head of the Primavera that he found in Florence, which he believes to carry magical powers. He and Bishop rescue an Italian boy named Angelo from a collapsing building. While traveling through the mountains of Tuscany, the soldiers enter a small village where they form a bond with the residents. Sam grows especially fond of Angelo, becoming the boy's father figure. One of the villagers, Renata, soon becomes entangled in a love triangle with Stamps and Bishop, which creates conflict.


After Negron gets his damaged backpack radio working, the soldiers contact headquarters and are told to capture an enemy soldier. A local Italian Partisan group arrives with a young German deserter, Hans Brundt, as their prisoner. Earlier, residents of the nearby village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema were killed by German forces following a betrayal by an Italian partisan, named Rodolfo, who knows that Brundt can identify him as the traitor. After concealing the fact that German forces are approaching the village in a counterattack, Rodolfo kills Brundt and the Partisan leader before escaping. It is Rodolfo whom Negron will kill 39 years later. Captain Nokes arrives in the village to interrogate Brundt and finds him dead. The Americans prepare to leave the village ahead of a German counterattack, but Sam refuses to leave Angelo behind. After promising to court-martial all four soldiers, Nokes and his contingent drive out of town, but are killed in the opening German offensive.


The remaining Americans and Italian Partisans hold their ground, killing many Germans. Bishop and Negron hold off the Germans while Stamps tries to get the villagers to safety, but they are too heavily outnumbered. Sam, Stamps and Bishop are killed in the attack. While attempting to retreat, Negron is shot in the back, but is saved by his backpack radio. After Angelo gives him the Primavera's Head, Negron gives the boy his rosary and tells him to leave. Angelo is led away by the spirit of his brother Arturo, who had been killed during the massacre at St. Anna. Negron is spared by a German officer who hands him his own Luger pistol and tells Negron to defend himself. More Americans arrive and secure the village before evacuating Negron.


In 1984, Negron is the defendant in a court proceeding, facing a life sentence for his killing of Rodolfo. He is defended at his bail hearing by a powerful attorney acting on behalf of an unknown wealthy man. Hector is brought to the Bahamas and is reunited with the Head of the Primavera, accompanied by its new owner who takes out a rosary and reveals himself as an adult Angelo. They both hold Hector's rosary and burst into tears of remembrance.