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Foreword
In his latest book, The Humble and the Heroic: Wartime Italian Americans, Professor Salvatore LaGumina establishes himself as the preeminent chronicler of the Italian Immigrant experience. Laced with scholarly nostalgia and solid research, this is a timely “must read” for all Americans who are descended from immigrant forbears. Today’s third and fourth generation Italian Americans are who we are because of the sacrifices of our forbears.
The author sets the stage for his manuscript by asking two basic questions: Was an extra measure of loyalty and patriotism required of Italian Immigrants because the country of their birth was a declared enemy of their adopted country; and, does their WW II experience offer meaningful insights as to how we should treat other immigrant groups in future conflicts?
While the answer to both questions is clearly “Yes,” the long, hard road traveled by the early Italian immigrants is worthy of this scholarly study. That road was paved with sacrifice, bitter poverty, discrimination and, for many, the devastating indignity of being designated as “enemy aliens.” Professor LaGumina’s book presents a balanced and graphic description of an epic moment in one minority’s fight for their right to assimilate.
The contributions of the immigrant Italian community to the war effort are legendary—13 Congressional Medal of Honor winners were of Italian descent and this did not include Don Gentile who became the “highest-scoring fighter pilot in American history.”