The Amazing True Story Behind Words' Veterans Day Window Display

When Jonah Zimiles placed his Veterans Day display of patriotic-themed books and American flags in the window of Words bookstore last week, he was hoping for a positive response.

But he never expected the feedback he received from local resident Maxine Giannini.

Giannini fired off an email to Zimiles praising his window and offering him use of her husband's sketches drawn on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day (June 6) in 1944.

Newark-born Ugo Giannini was an art student and an MP who landed on Omaha Beach as part of an MP Platoon assigned to direct the incoming traffic on D-Day. According to his widow (Giannini passed away in 1993 of pulmonary fibrosis), of the thirty-seven men in his platoon, six got to the beach. When Giannini climbed the beach to the top of the hill, "He found himself utterly alone. He jumped into a crater made by naval bombardment, and he began to draw."

Maxine Giannini said that, while Ugo was an artist, he was not  attached to the group of artists hired by the Army. The drawings he made on D-Day and throughout his campaign through France until May 1945 remained undiscovered until after his death.

"To my astonishment, I found twenty-seven drawings done from June 6,1944 to May 1945," said his widow. "He had never discussed these with me." The drawings had been carefully stored and catalogued by Giannini.

Said Maxine, "He made the only drawings of D-Day in the world."  

Giannini continued his study of art after the war, returning to Paris to work with Fernand Leger. He was very influenced by Surrealism, Expressionism and Cubism. At the very end of his life, Giannini began a monumental series of works related to the war. Unlike the D-Day drawings, his later work is very modern and more abstract.

The drawings in Words' window are reproductions of the originals.  They have been exhibited in Virginia, South Carolina, London, Paris and at Omaha Beach for the 65th Anniversary of D-day.  

Maxine Yellin Giannini herself is a classical pianist. You can read Ugo Giannini's full biography online.