L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 36 L'Italo-Americano predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). T h e O S S w a s f o r m e d t o coordinate espionage activi- ties behind enemy lines for t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s A r m e d Forces branches. J o n V a n H o u s e n , an American living in Italy who has had a passion for mili- tary and intelligence history f o r m o r e t h a n 4 0 y e a r s , thinks the Italian men and US materiel were destined t o a i d p a r t i s a n s f i g h t i n g German troops in Northern Italy. Rome had been liber- ated in June and the pres- s u r e w a s o n t h e N a z i s t o forestall an advance through I t a l y i n t o s o u t h e r n Germany. " T h e O S S w o u l d h a v e known the names of all the I t a l i a n s – u n d e r g r o u n d agents they paid and trained – so why all were not named is a bit of a mystery," Van Housen says. "Perhaps the f a m i l i e s d i d n ' t w a n t t h e names released publicly." He also notes that the B- 24 had an unfortunate histo- ry of accidents and crashes. "Some pilots called it the 'flying coffin' because of its death toll," he said. "It was much harder to fly than its predecessor the B-17 and did not survive enemy fire as well." The Liberator was fitted with dual 50-cal machine- guns front, aft, and amid- ships. Van Housen says the c r e w c o u n t o f t h o s e w h o perished on Mount Menna m a t c h e s t h e s t a n d a r d s t a f f i n g p r o t o c o l . " Y o u would have had a pilot, co- pilot, navigator, machine g u n n e r s , a n d w h a t a r e known as 'kickers," those who help get the dropped cargo overboard." I t w a s p a r t o f t h e effort to aid Italian par- tisans who were rising in number toward the end of the war. Helped by the OSS a n d a i r c r e w s s u p p l y i n g t h e m w i t h t h e n e c e s s a r y equipment, secret agents a s s i s t e d t h e p a r t i s a n s i n o r g a n i z i n g a n d a r m i n g t r o o p s . T h e y a l s o h e l p e d them keep in touch with the Americans through Army Signal Corps radio opera- tors. The Italian agents were meant to drop in by para- chute. "They were helping t h e p a r t i s a n s d i s t r i b u t e weapons, food, medical sup- p l i e s , a n d m o n e y , " s a y s Bolrini. "They were flying w i t h a l a r g e a m o u n t o f cash." L o c a l s f o u n d i n t a c t I t a l i a n b a n k n o t e s a t t h e crash site. "Miner Gaspare Valle said locals took the m o n e y a n d t h e n m o v e d d o w n t h e v a l l e y t o t h e Bergamo plain," he says. S o m e f i r e - d a m a g e d b a n - knotes were brought home as well. Debris was all over. Each p i e c e o f w r e c k a g e w a s removed. "War and poverty induced the local population t o r e u s e t h e r e c o v e r e d materiel," says Bolrini. "For instance, a man used part of a wing to cover his sheep- fold, while others melted the a l u m i n u m s k i n t o m a k e p o l e n t a p o t s . A l s o , s o m e ladies reused fragments of parachute fabric to create blouses." Bolrini collected many of these pieces. "I keep them in m y d a d ' s w a r e h o u s e . W e save history," he says. At first, the 13 dead bod- ies were buried on the crest of Mount Menna. "Only a year or two after the war, US Army officers came to Oltre Il Colle to exhume the com- m i n g l e d b o n e s a n d m o v e t h e m t o J e f f e r s o n B a r r a c k s N a t i o n a l Cemetery, a United States m i l i t a r y c e m e t e r y i n S t . Louis, Missouri," Mr. Borlini says. The US soldiers and t h e t h r e e I t a l i a n s r e s t together in a common grave. T h e s o l d i e r s ' n a m e s a r e engraved on the tombstone. T w o o f t h e t h r e e I t a l i a n c i v i l i a n s a r e l i s t e d a s "unknown"- The one identi- fied by name is Gaspare R. Pace. "I did some research o n t h a t b u t I f o u n d n o r e c o r d o f a m a n b y t h a t name ever existing. If some- b o d y c o u l d h e l p ? " a s k s Bolrini. " W e w r o t e t o t h e A m e r i c a n C o n s u l a t e i n Milan but we received no reply," he says. In the name of all Italy, it would be nice to give a name, a voice, and a face to these Italian agents o r O S S p e r s o n n e l . T h e y honor the memory of all sol- diers and civilians who have l a i d d o w n t h e i r l i v e s f o r Italy's freedom and future democracy. He wishes he could access the Office of S t r a t e g i c S e r v i c e s ( O S S ) Archives. L a s t y e a r M r . B o r l i n i bought a piece of US mili- t a r y m e m o r a b i l i a a t a Bergamo collectibles mar- k e t . I t l o o k e d l i k e a n o l d m e t a l m e s s t i n f r o m a n American soldier in WWII. "That battered object need- e d a g o o d c l e a n i n g . A n d o n c e h o m e I d i d t h a t b y using a steel wool scrubber for the kitchen and some s o a p . A n d g u e s s w h a t I found?" he says. The object p o l i s h e d t o m i r r o r f i n i s h revealed the soldier's ID. "The full name of the sol- dier, James Cardinalli, is etched on the mess tin's bot- tom," says Bolrini. Also, the p l a c e s w h e r e h e w a s s t a - t i o n e d a n d f o u g h t a r e inscribed: "Oran" (Algeria), "Naples" and "Rome". "He was referring to the Salerno a n d A n z i o l a n d i n g s , " t h e young researcher explains. " C a r d i n a l l i m u s t h a v e l i k e d t h i s m e s s t i n v e r y much", he adds. It was part of his survival kit, and sure it meant a lot to him if he p e r s o n a l i z e d i t . B o r l i n i w a n t e d t o f i n d J a m e s Cardinalli's next of kin to r e t u r n t h e s e n t i m e n t a l object, so he posted pho- tographs and information about it in Facebook groups, both in Italy and the US. Many responded included J a m e s ' s s o n , R o b e r t Cardinalli, a former anthro- p o l o g i s t f r o m M o n t e r e y , California, who now resides in Cyprus. "I got the confirmation that Robert was the right person from the Monterey Public Library. Thanks to Robert, we have now recon- structed James's story." He w a s b o r n i n M o n t e r e y i n 1918 from Sicilian parents who emigrated from Isola delle Femmine in 1898. They originally settled in Pittsburg and in 1917 moved t o M o n t e r e y , C a l i f o r n i a . They gave birth to numerous c h i l d r e n — t h e b o y s a l l s e r v e d i n W W I I . J a m e s served in the Medical Corps i n t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n T h e a t e r o f O p e r a t i o n s . " R o b e r t t o l d m e t h a t h i s f a t h e r s n u c k o u t o f t h e i r unit's camp at night to treat wounded Italian civilians, mostly mothers and children who had no other access to c a r e , " M r . B o r l i n i s a y s . James contracted tuberculo- sis and spent the last days of the war in a military hospital outside of Verona. He pre- sumably left his mess tin on the field before being hospi- talized. Once he returned to Monterey, he worked as a federal employee. He died in San José in 1990. T h e y o u n g I t a l i a n researcher can't wait to meet J a m e s ' s s o n , t o g i v e h i m back his father's mess tin. T h e m e e t i n g , w h i c h w a s scheduled for last spring, had to be postponed due to C O V I D - 1 9 . T h e y w a i t f o r better times. LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD ARTS ADVICE Continued from page 34 James Cardinalli's mess tin (Photo courtesy of Giulio Borlini) A blessed cross with the name of Captain Charles Robert Sloan, the plane's pilot (Photo courtesy of Giulio Borlini)

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