State Rep. Greg Markkanen on Wednesday announced a dedication ceremony for the Private Wesley Vietti Karna Memorial Highway will be held this Friday, Aug. 16, at 2 p.m. at the South Range VFW, 44969 Baltic Ave. in South Range.
Markkanen’s plan to name a section of M-26 in Houghton County as the Private Wesley Karna Memorial Highway was signed into law last month.
Karna was born in 1922 in Painesdale, Michigan, as one of nine children born to his parents Erick and Ida, both Finnish immigrants. He served in the Fifth Army, 91st Infantry, 362nd Regiment, F Company during World War II.
On Sept. 22, 1944, Karna was fighting in northern Italy against the Gothic Line, an enemy force made up of German and Italian forces, when he was killed in action. Karna earned a Purple Heart, a World War II Victory medal, and a European Theater medal for his service.
During a committee hearing earlier this spring, Brad Uren, Karna’s great-nephew, testified with Markkanen during the committee meeting where they outlined how an Italian historian and veteran named Manuel Noferini using a metal detector recently unearthed Private Karna’s canteen cup.
It had been buried 80 years ago. Private Karna had scratched his name into it. That discovery led an organization of Italian veterans and historians with the Gotica Toscana Museum to contact Uren and his family through the help of Andrew Biggio, an American veteran and author of “The Rifle,” a book about the experience of World War II veterans. With the discovery of the cup and the visit to the battlefield, Karna’s family found further details about Private Karna’s service and the circumstances surrounding his ultimate sacrifice. This information became the basis for the legislation that led to the memorial road naming.
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