World War II, the war to end all wars — more than any other event in U.S. history — exhibited the love, loyalty and patriotism Italian Americans held in their hearts for our nation. We rushed to enlist, and roughly 1 million Italian Americans served in the armed forces during the war, amounting to some 10% of American soldiers in total. Here’s one of many heroic accounts that started in Normandy on June 6, 1944 (D-Day).
Joe Sacco, the only son of Italian immigrants, left his Alabama farm and landed at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion.
While serving in the 92nd Signal Battalion and Gen. George Patton’s famed Third Army, Sacco and his second family found themselves at the forefront of the Allied push through France and Germany.
After more than a year of fighting, but still only 20 years old, he and his fellow troops reached the walls of Germany’s Dachau concentration camp.
They were among the first 250 American troops to liberate the camp, and it was there, surrounded by horror, where they fully grasped the significance of the Allied mission.
The Holocaust ended the minute he and his fellow soldiers entered the camp.
Jack Sacco — Joe’s son, and a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author — recounts World War II through his father’s eyes and discusses what drove him to write about one of many brave Italian Americans who fought for freedom:
To learn more about Jack Sacco’s book, Where the Birds Never Sing, click here.
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