One of many Life’s photos of the Italian Campaign: American soldiers on a completely destroyed Apennines little Italian town flooded by mud after a storm. Victor Sierra

Mud and ruins

Standing proudly in his jeep, General Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army, triumphantly crosses a pontoon bridge over the Seine river on August 26, 1944. Later that day, Patton sent a wry message to General Eisenhower to mark the occasion: "Dear Ike: Today I spat in the Seine."

Reaching the Seine

Third Army troops move into Angers, France on the 10th of August, 1944 after a successful attack that netted 2,000 prisoners.
 
