L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers,let us look back at some December dates with an Italian Connection…On December 7, 1941, a date we shall never forget, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thus causing Con- gress and President Roosevelt to declare war on Japan, Germany and Italy. On January 15, 1942, a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, my good friend Mario Avigignone, proud Pie- montese and longtime columnist for Chicago-based Fra Noi News, recalled that "ten friends and I were in the Rose Bowl Casino Tavern discussing the war and all decided to enlist in the service the next day. Nine of the fellows were accepted but they rejected me... underweight. I talked to one of the medical of- ficers and asked how much I had to weigh to be accepted in the armed forces. He looked at me and smiled. "You are under weight, and no one wants you. The Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force do not want you be- cause you are too much under- weight." When I asked the offi- cer, "How much does a person have to weigh to be accepted?" He replied "you have to weigh at least 120 pounds." I was determined to help our country and I asked the officer: "If I went down stairs and ate 6 p o u n d s b a n a n a s t h a t w o u l d b r i n g m y w e i g h t u p t o 1 1 8 p o u n d s s o t h e n I w o u l d b e accepted." He then put his arms around my shoulders and said: "We know how you love our country and want to help. We decided to accept you at 112 pounds and you must promise to eat a lot and get your weight up. We will enlist you in the Army Air Corps" (as it was called then). I looked worried and said: "Sir, I do not want to fly an airplane." H e a g a i n l a u g h e d . " N o , " h e replied, "for every man in an air crew, there are 8 men on the ground who must support him, such as cooks, K.P., medical, office clerks, etc. You have a good record as an office clerk and the Air Corps needs good clerks." On that day, January 14, 1942, I was accepted in the Air Corps. *** The famed Christmas tru- ces were documented on the W e s t e r n F r o n t b e t w e e n t h e English, French and Germans. In the depths of winter's French warfare, somehow the spirit of the holidays went through, and whole regiments of combatants stopped fighting, came out of the trenches, and "broke bread" together, including sharing their rations with each other. You could imagine how the Major Generals reacted! Even so, the series of truces are the stuff of legends, and generated many stories, books, plays and even a film. B u t a g a i n i t w a s a l w a y s a b o u t t h e W e s t e r n F r o n t . G r a z i e t o K e n B o r e l l i , V i c e President and IAHF Events and Cultural Activities Chair of San Jose, Calif.(408-293-7122) I c a n s h a r e b i t s o f a W W I Christmas Truce from an Italian p e r s p e c t i v e , a s t o l d b y t w o m e m b e r s o f t h e I t a l i a n American Heritage Foundation. (Ken Borelli is also the author o f F l a v o r s f r o m a C a l a b r e s e K i t c h e n - C a l i f o r n i a S t y l e , which has been reprinted multi- ple times). M a r i a B a n d y s a i d t h e Christmas truce episode was one of the few stories her father would talk about from the war. Francesco Cancilla, born in 1890 in Trabia, Sicily, was in the Italian Army for nine years, a n d f o u g h t t h e A u s t r o - H u n g a r i a n s a n d G e r m a n s i n N o r t h - E a s t e r n I t a l y . M a r i a noted that the family suffered twofold: her father was away fighting, while whole areas of the country were suffering from the influenza that killed more people than the war itself. The one story that he was willing to talk about was when his regi- ment and the enemy declared a Christmas truce. The soldiers of both sides emerged from the trenches to meet each other, and to share rations and music. After the holidays were over, they went back to their respec- t i v e s i d e s a n d t h e s l a u g h t e r began anew. It defies common war logic, but it has been well d o c u m e n t e d o n t h e W e s t e r n Front. Yet, it is not well known that this same spirit prevailed in t h e w a r a r o u n d t h e I t a l i a n Lakes/Alpine Front. Another IAHF member, Vita Fota, also noted the same story told to her b y h e r f a t h e r , G i u s e p p e Montemagno of Palermo, who had already immigrated to the USA when war broke out, and r e t u r n e d t o I t a l y i n 1 9 1 6 t o fight for his home country. *** F r a n k S i n a t r a h a d a D e c e m b e r b i r t h d a y . H e w a s born on December 12, 1915 and d e l i v e r e d b y " s t o r k " t o Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank left us in 1998, when he died at a g e e i g h t y - t w o . H i s s i m p l e g r a v e s t o n e r e a d s , F r a n c i s Albert Sinatra. 1915-1998. "THE BEST IS YET TO COME." Let's all hope so. *** R i c h a r d N i x o n s e r v e d a s our thirty-seven President from 1969 to 1974 when he resigned. H e w a s a l s o t h e f i r s t Californian to enter the White House. Frank Sinatra had fans all over the world. President Nixon requested Frank as the featured performer a t t h e W h i t e H o u s e S t a t e D i n n e r f o r t h e I t a l i a n P r i m e Minister and his wife. Frank gratefully came out of retire- ment for this occasion and was so excited by the invitation that he took all three of his children to Washington, so they could hear the President of the United States praise him to the hilt: "Frank Sinatra is to American m u s i c w h a t t h e W a s h i n g t o n Monument is to Washington - he's the top. "This house is honored to have a man whose parents were born in Italy but yet from hum- ble beginnings went to the very top in entertainment," Nixon said. T h e t w o h u n d r e d t w e n t y g u e s t s i n t h e E a s t R o o m s a t e n r a p t u r e d a s F r a n k s a n g a medley of his classics, includ- ing Moon River, I've Got the World on a String, One for My Baby, I've Got You Under My S k i n , a n d T r y a L i t t l e Tenderness. "When I was a small boy in New Jersey, I thought it was a great boot if I could get a glim- pse of the mayor in a parade," S i n a t r a s a i d . " T o n i g h t , h e r e with my President, the Italian P r i m e M i n i s t e r , a n d t h e i r guests, it's quite a boot to me. I'm honored and I'm privileged to be here. "I love my country. We all do. That's just it. I thank you, Mr. President, for inviting me here. It was wonderful to per- form for the Prime Minister of m y f a t h e r ' s c o u n t r y . " A s a p a t r i o t i c e n c o r e , F r a n k s a n g "The House I Live In," which brought Nixon jumping to his feet to lead the applause. ***

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