With a round of B次元官网网址淗appy BirthdayB次元官网网址� in Italian and English, the U.S. Army toasted an Italian woman with a birthday cake Thursday to replace the one that U.S. soldiers ate as they entered her hometown during one of the final battles of World War II.

Meri Mion, who turns 90 on Friday, wiped away tears as she was presented with the cake during a ceremony in Vicenza, northwest of Venice. The event marked the anniversary of the day the 88th Infantry Division fought its way into the city on April 28, 1945.

According to the U.S. Army, Mion spent that night with her mother hiding in the attic of their farm in the nearby village of San Pietro in G霉. Retreating German soldiers had fired on the house, but when Mion awoke on the morning of her 13th birthday, American soldiers were nearby.

In a statement, the U.S. Army Garrison Italy said MionB次元官网网址檚 mother baked her a birthday cake and left it on the windowsill to cool. But it disappeared B次元官网网址� apparently nicked by hungry American soldiers who had already been feted by grateful Italians with wine and bread as they entered Vicenza along its main thoroughfare.

Mion seemed genuinely surprised that U.S. soldiers had returned the cake 77 years later. She marveled B次元官网网址淢ama miaB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕razieB次元官网网址� as a small crowd featuring U.S. commanders and Italian officials sang B次元官网网址淗appy Birthday.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭omorrow, we will eat that dessert, with all my family remembering this wonderful day that I will never forget,B次元官网网址� Mion said, according to the U.S. Army.

B次元官网网址擳he Associated Press