When the Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1752, it was a Maltese immigrant – John Pace – who cast the iconic symbol of United States independence.
A few years later, as the fledgling nation took on the British army in the war of independence, some 1,800 Maltese sailors and Knights of St John fought alongside American forces.
These little-known historical occurrences were brought to the forefront this morning during a ceremony at the Upper Barrakka commemorating US soldiers, sailors and marines killed in Malta during World War II.
Over 120 members of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company of Massachusetts participated in the ceremony alongside members of the Armed Forces of Malta, during which a plaque was unveiled by Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela and Captain Domenic Previte.
Captain Previte paid tribute to the long history of close collaboration between Malta and the US, founded on “shared values of peace, democracy and liberty for all”.