U.S. Senator Jerry Moran is pushing to formally recognize one of World War II’s most grueling military efforts. On Monday, Sen. Moran introduced a resolution to designate September 9 as National World War II Italian Campaign Remembrance Day, marking the 82nd anniversary of the campaign’s start.

The Italian campaign began in 1943 with Operation Avalanche, when Allied forces landed in southern Italy to begin liberating the peninsula from Nazi occupation. The campaign lasted 602 days and included some of the war’s bloodiest battles, such as Monte Cassino and Anzio. Nearly one million Axis troops eventually surrendered in April 1945, just days before Hitler’s death and the collapse of the Nazi regime.