WWII and Italian Americans, Part 1

Military life had made my father spartan in everything but the pleasures of the table. He was a stoic when it came to illness, hard work or inclement weather, but an absolute gourmand when he sat down to eat. And if any members of h is immediate family did not partake of his hearty home-cooked meals with similar gusto, we were considered moody, finicky or, at the worst, ungrateful.

My second-generation Italian American father, the high school drop out and World War II veteran, was a hard-working, uncomplaining provider. A survivor, who, like his Italian American comrades in arms, awoke on the morning after VJ Day a changed man with a two-fold objective: success and assimilation.

NEXT MONTH: The Women

Antony Maulucci is the author of THE ROSSELLI CANTATA. Visit his personal web site at www.anthonymaulucci.com.

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