MARYVILLE, Tenn. — About 15 years ago, Kevin Callahan visited the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Italy with his family. After seeing brothers buried side by side, he was inspired to tell the stories of these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II, so he wrote “Brothers in Arms.”
Callahan shared the stories of two young Kentucky brothers who died on the same day in World War II, and he’s brought the story right to East Tennessee.
The Zacchi family lived in High Splint, a small coal town in Harlan County, Kentucky. The brothers joined the military to escape the life of coal mining. Callahan said the father, Assuero, immigrated from Italy to work in a Kentucky coal town, where he later died in a mining accident. His sons, John and Pete Zacchi, joined the army to escape that life…