A Dark Time for Italian-Americans

My Dad, Luigi, WW2, somewhere in Europe

When Mussolini rose to power and Italy became a Fascist nation, it was a dark time for Italian-Americans. Bigotry and prejudice against Italian-Americans quickly increased. After Italy formally allied itself with Nazi Germany and the US officially entered a  war with those countries, the prejudice became worse for a time.

Instead of hiding their heritage -- Italians don't do that, not ever -- many young Italian-Americans enlisted in one of America's armed services. My Dad and his brother both did.  My Dad served in the US Army from D-Day to the Occupation of Germany.  (After WW2 ended, he joined a Marine reserve unit and later became a combat veteran of the Korean War.)

My Uncle Sandy (Santillo), my Dad's brother, served in North Africa during WW2 and later participated in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. Once allied forces landed in Sicily, they made my uncle an interpreter in addition to his duties as an infantryman.

I've heard many jokes in my life about Italians being cowards. They all stem from WW2. You may have heard some of them as well. Here's one: "WW2 Italian Army rifle for sale. Only dropped once."

My Uncle Sandy later in life. What a fashionable dresser!

I have one word for those jokes and the people who enjoy telling them: Bahfongool!   (Pardon my phonetic spelling.) Italians are descended from people, the Romans, who once conquered most of the known Western World. I seriously doubt that could have happened because their armies were comprised of cowards. Cowardice isn't in the Italian gene pool. Never has been and never will be.

There was more than a little concern amongst some Italian-Americans that the US government might round them up and force them into internment camps the way it shamefully did with Japanese-Americans. As Americans, we have much to be proud of. Putting Japanese-Americans in internment camps wasn't one of our prouder moments. Not even close.

Interestingly (but not surprisingly), there was never much concern amongst Americans of German descent that they might end up in internment camps. Historically, Germans represent the single largest group to immigrate to the US.  German-Americans weren't as willing to proudly announce their ancestry during WW2 the way Italians were still willing to do... and for obvious reasons, not the least of which being Germans didn't stand out as such in predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America during that time period or at nearly any time before.

Many Italian-American servicemen and women, the vast majority of them, served with honor and distinction during WW2... including those who ended up fighting Italian soldiers!  As far as Italian-Americans were concerned, they were Americans first, foremost, and in nearly every way. Yes, they were also Italians. But their Italian loyalties were focused on Italian culture, family, heritage, and more, and had nothing to do with Italian politics of the time.  If WW2 represented something truly important to them, it was that they were loyal and patriotic Americans in every way, not merely a group of people who survived a dark period where they may have represented, to some other Americans, the enemy.

For that and many more reasons, America should be incredibly grateful that so many Italians decided to immigrate to this country. The Italian-American community has been a a vibrant and incredible asset to this country's importance, its growth, and its prosperity. Italian pride-- Yes!  Italian-American pride-- Even more so!