L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024 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 s V a l e n - t i n e ' s D a y approaches, I thought about t h e 1 9 4 0 s , w h e n C u p i d ' s arrows easily bit their marks a c r o s s t h e d i n i n g r o o m tables and, for hundreds of Italian-American girls, "war grooms" became the silver lining to the clouds of war that hung over "homefront." In his book Italian Pris- oners of War in Ameri- c a , 1 9 4 2 - 1 9 4 6 , a u t h o r Louis E. Kieffer records the h i s t o r y o f 1 5 , 0 0 0 I t a l i a n prisoners of war captured in N o r t h A f r i c a d u r i n g t h e fighting in the desert and shipped to the United States as POWs. After Italy surren- d e r e d t o t h e A l l i e s a n d declared war on Germany, the POWs worked with the army as cooperators in Ser- vice Unites, serving army posts throughout the United States. The 15,000 coopera- tors remained until their release, in 1946. The text itself is based on interviews w i t h f o r m e r P O W s , t h e i r families, and US military personnel who worked with them. *** Signor A. A.'s American fiancée came to Italy in 1947 a n d , f o r h e r h o n e y m o o n , spent six weeks visiting rela- tives. Although he did not have to wait on a quota to return to the US, the couple n e e d e d t o g o t o t h e U S Embassy in Genoa about ten times to sign all the neces- sary papers. Signor E. F. recalled that when he returned to Italy in 1945, conditions were bad, food and clothing scarce, a n d w o r k i m p o s s i b l e f o r him to find. The only bright s p o t i n h i s l i f e w e r e t h e happy memories of friends he had made in Providence, Rhode Island, and of a very charming family who had been most hospitable to him a n d h i s b u d d i e s . H e h a d fallen in love with one of t h e i r d a u g h t e r s , a n d s h e with him, for in 1947, she w e n t t o I t a l y w h e r e t h e y married and, seven months later returned to America. *** Signor M. C.'s future wife went to Italy in 1946, and thanks to the fact that he had grown up in San Gio- v a n n i R o t o n d o , a t h i s request, they were married by Padre Pio. S i g n o r A . M . m e t h i s future wife in Seattle when he was with an ISU unit. He t r i e d t o g e t a v i s a a t t h e American Consular Office in Naples but was unsuccess- ful, so his future wife came to Italy. She was the first American girl ever to visit his hometown of Taurasi, near Naples, and the whole town was standing in front of the place where she was s t a y i n g t o w e l c o m e h e r . They married in St. Mar- ciano's Church in 1946, and even the mayor attended. *** Signor A. M.'s wife-to-be left New York to join him on May 2, 1947, on the Marine Shark, unofficially known as L a B a r c a d ' A m o r e , f o r aboard the boat were over 100 American women, all headed for different towns in Italy to join their ex-pris- oner fiancées. *** S a l , a f o r m e r P O W , became a successful restau- r a t e u r . H e w a s a c t i v e i n music circles and, as a POW, had a group that entertained at USO shows. I met him in San Jose, California, when he was an active member of the Italian-American Her- itage Foundation, and often sang at their annual festa. S a l d i e d i n 1 9 8 9 , b u t t h e h a p p y m e m o r i e s o f h i m singing Italian songs linger on. *** Even before the Tunisian c a m p a i g n s t a r t e d , t h e r e were at least 250,000 Italian prisoners scattered through- o u t E n g l a n d , S c o t l a n d , Egypt, South Africa, India, and Australia. The British asked the US to take some of the POWs off its hands, and the two nations agreed that all Axis prisoners captured i n N o r t h A f r i c a a f t e r t h e November 1942 Allied land- i n g w o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d 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. American-owned. The US A r m y k e p t m a n y I t a l i a n POWs in the war zones. As of September 1942, it held a b o u t 8 2 , 0 0 0 i n N o r t h Africa and Sicily, but only 48,000 in the United States. Many of the POWs retained in North Africa were eventu- a l l y s h i p p e d a c r o s s t h e Mediterranean to support t h e U S t r o o p s i n v a d i n g southern France in October 1944. About 15,000 Italian POWs were transferred to F r e n c h a u t h o r i t i e s t o b e used as laborers in North Africa. In the book, we read about Sal Davide, a POW a n d r e s t a u r a t e u r i n p r o g r e s s . S a l , w h o h a d sailed from Casablanca on the Mariposa, an American liner then turned troop ship, landed in Boston in mid- 1943, and went first to Fort Leonard Wood and then to Camp Carr, Missouri, where he worked in the kitchen a n d w a s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r ordering all food supplies. I n s o m e c a m p s , P O W s entertained themselves by organizing ad hoc theatre g r o u p s . L a S c a l e t t a , t h e d i m i n u t i v e o f L a S c a l a , staged plays at Camp Crook, Nebraska. *** After Pearl Harbor, 5,000 P O W s w e r e s e n t f r o m camps in Arizona and Utah to Oahu, Hawaii, where they worked digging foundations f o r a s m a l l h o s p i t a l a n d loading crates on ships full of young American soldiers on the way to Iwo Jima. Ital- ian POWs stayed in Hawaii until 1946.

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