L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , A n O c t o b e r assortment of " I t a l i a n C o n - n e c t i o n s " f o r you: Anthony Fauci plans to retire in December after 50 years in government and will s t e p d o w n a s h e a d o f t h e National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Anthony Stephan Fauci has advised seven Presidents and is currently President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor. He has overseen research on infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infec- t i o n s , d i a r r h e a l d i s e a s e s , tuberculosis and malaria, as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika. W i t h t h e a r r i v a l o f t h e Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci became the face of the gov- ernment's response to the virus, as a top adviser to for- mer President Trump and President Joe Biden. His role under the former administra- tion was controversial. He became a lightning rod for those who did not agree with his advice on how to battle t h e t h e n - n e w a n d l i t t l e - understood pandemic. Fauci's family came from Italy through Ellis Island in the 19th century. His mater- nal grandparents were from N a p l e s , a n d h i s p a t e r n a l grandparents emigrated from Sciacca, Sicily. Dr. Fauci grew up in Brooklyn, where his father ran a neighborhood pharmacy with the help of the entire family. Fauci deliv- ered prescriptions to cus- tomers on his bike. Often c u s t o m e r s w h o c o u l d n ' t afford to pay got the medi- cine for free. Dr. Fauci has spoken affectionately about growing up in Brooklyn and h o w i t i n f l u e n c e d h i s l i f e view. T h e c o u n t r y o w e s D r . Fauci a huge debt of grati- tude for his unwavering com- m i t m e n t t o t h e c o u n t r y ' s public health over the past five decades. *** Boston's Genovese earl y arrivals to the North End deserve a belated but heart- felt "bravo" for their fore- sight, back in 1888, when they gave their local Catholic Church (an Italian Parish) the use of the property in perpetuity but did not deed it to the Archdiocese, thereby saving Sacred Heart from being sold to developers, and the money being used to sat- isfy judgements awarded in sex scandals lawsuits. As I sit here, over a century later, I am still astonished that those "paesani" from Genoa, who literally had just "come off the boat," had the "smarts" to say: "In God We Trust but for all others put it in writ- ing." *** Italian Diplomacy The ability to tell a man to go to hell, so that he will look forward to making the trip. *** A Cab Convoy of Paris and taxi cabs rushed troops to t h e f r o n t w h e n G e r m a n y attacked France (1914): com- manding General Joseph Gal- lieni decided a cab would be faster than marching so he called for some 3,000 taxi c a b s . G e n . G a l l i e n i w a s already 65 years old when Germany attacked France in 1914 and was the appointed military governor of Paris. His career spanned forty-five years of colonial services. A military progressive, he urged the army to abandon i t s t r a d i t i o n a l p a n t a l o n s rouges (red rousers) as he c o n s i d e r e d w e a r i n g t h e m "suicidal" on any battlefield. He was an early proponent of airplanes for reconnaissance. D e s p i t e h i s a g e a n d n e a r retirement, he was a con- tender to be France's com- mander-in-chief just before the Great War. When the Germans invad- ed and were only thirty miles f r o m P a r i s , t h e F r e n c h p l a n n e d a c o u n t e r a t t a c k , using Galliani's forces. It was Galliani's unorthodox use of Parisian taxis that inspired the nation. On September 8th, 1914, some 3,000 taxis convoyed 5,000 men to the front. Those men, and then thousands of others, halted t h e G e r m a n s i n w h a t w a s called the "Miracle of the Marne." Unfortunately, that battle only led to four years of static trench warfare. Gallieni was not to witness all the future carnage. He died in 1916, two years before the Armistice. I f o u n d t h e " T a x i c a b Army" item on a blog by John Mancini, founder and execu- tive director f of the Italic Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. Institute of America "Italian Pride on a Classical Founda- tion." Visit www.italic.org and I am sure you will return often. *** Italy contributed more than men to the American Revolution. Even before the conflict started, Italy was a s o u r c e o f i n s p i r a t i o n t o American patriots because of t h e s t r u g g l e w a g e d b y Pasquale Paoli and his fellow Corsican for independence. The Corsicans had been for centuries under the domina- tion of Genoa, who treated them more as colonial sub- jects than fellow Italians. The Corsicans tried several times t o r e g a i n t h e i r f r e e d o m , beginning as far back as 1545, but their struggle reached e p i c p r o p o r t i o n s i n 1 7 5 5 when Pasquale Paoli, assisted b y C a r l o B o n a p a r t e , Napoleon's father, landed on t h e i s l a n d f r o m I t a l y a n d fought heroically against the Genovese. For 14 years, Paoli fought with all the means at his dis- posal, arousing the admira- tion of free men all over the world, particularly in Eng- land and America, It lasted until 1768 when Genoa sold Corsica to the French. It was then that Paoli and 400 of his followers left the island and sought refuge at Leghorn, where he eventually died in 1804. The town of Paoli, not far f r o m P h i l a d e l p h i a , w a s named after him. His chief admirers, however, were the Sons of Liberty who played such an important role in the Revolution. When the New York Battalion of the Inde- pendent Foot Company was organized in 1773, it took the name of "Corsicans."

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