Page 3 - Italian-American Herald - December 2024

Vol. 11 No.12 – December 2024
A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER SERVING
THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
A DIVISION OF TODAY MEDIA
Editor & Publisher
Robert F. Martinelli
Vice Pres. Business Development
Charles W. Tomlinson Jr.
Associate Publisher
Barbara Ann Zippi-Och
Managing Editor
Al Kemp
Art Director
Rosalinda Rocco
This issue’s contributors
Andrea DiFabio
Ken Mammarella
Alessandra Mirra
Gabriel Marcella
Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
Nikki Palladino
Natalie Pantaleo
Charlie Sacchetti
Murray Schulman
Tanya Tecce
Lou Thomas
Social Media Director
Andrea Di Fabio
Senior correspondent
Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
Advertising Sales
Christina Kelley
Pam Mariani
Murray Schulman
Jessica Stryker
Tanya Tecce
Production Manager
Eric Bolis
Graphic Designers
Kyle Manzolillo
Natalie Newhart
Editor Emeritus
Joseph T. Cannavo
TODAY MEDIA, A MARTINELLI HOLDINGS LLC
President Robert F. Martinelli
Secretary-Treasurer Richard Martinelli
In Memoriam
Chairman Angelo R. Martinelli (1927-2018)
Vice President Ralph Martinelli (1962-2019)
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Contents
Traditions ...................................... 4, 6-9
Cuisine and Culture .................. 10, 12-13
Achiever .............................................. 14
History .................................................16
News from Italy ................................... 17
Local ................................................... 18
Wellness ..............................................20
Did You Know? ....................................21
Per I Bambini .......................................24
Pagina Italiana .....................................25
Wining and Dining ...............................26
Through the Grapevine ........................28
Language ............................................30
The Chef’s Perspective ........................32
Dining In and Out ........................... 33-34
It’s All Good .........................................34
Arts and Entertainment .......................39
ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
DECEMBER 2024 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 3
LOCAL HISTORY
In last years of World War II, Italian POWs built
a church of their own in Chambersburg, Pa
By Gabriel Marcella
During the latter stages of World War II,
thousands of Italian soldiers were captured by
the Allies in North Africa and Sicily. They were
sent as prisoners of war to various locations
such as England, India, South Africa and the
United States.
A total of 52,000 Italian POWs were
distributed around 21 camps in 18 states of
the United States. In these camps they were
organized into Italian service units which
worked to provide munitions and equipment
to the American war effort. Most gladly
collaborated with the United States and joined
in the war effort against Germany and Japan.
They provided essential help that helped
defeat the enemies. Their story is now
beginning to be recognized in articles,
a book, and a documentary.
On Sept. 6, the documentary “Fedelta,
Soldier, Prisoner” debuted at the Capitol
Theater in Chambersburg, Pa. It gives an
account of 1,231 Italian POWs who were
interned at Letterkenny Army Depot
between 1943 and 1945. The Depot is a
two-hour drive west of Philadelphia, in rural
Franklin County. The fi lm was made by
Steven Mancini, an Italian American from
Pittsburgh. It was later shown in Rome and
Milano.
Mancini, professor at Robert Morris
University, served for 20 years in the U.S.
military. Mancini loves Italian culture and
wanted to do justice to the story of the Italian
POWs. The fi lm has been entered into the
2024 Montreal Independent Film Festival.
The Italians wore Army uniforms,
had good health care, and ate well. They
organized soccer games, and were given
latitude to visit places such as Philadelphia.
The Italian-American community of central
Pennsylvania embraced them, visiting them,
bringing them food and welcoming them
The Church of Peace
in Chambersburg, Pa.,
was built in 50 days
by Italian POWs in
May of 1945.
PHOTO BY GABRIEL MARCELLA
into their homes. Romance also fl ourished,
and some of the soldiers came back after the
war to marry Italian-American girls that they
had met.
Descendants of these marriages came
together at Dickinson College in the Fall
of 2018 to celebrate the publication of the
book by Alan Perry and Flavio Conti, “Italian
Prisoners of War in Pennsylvania: Allies on
the Home Front, 1944-1945.” Professor
Perry teaches Italian at Gettysburg College.
Conti is an Italian scholar who writes on
Italian immigration. One of the Italian POWs,
Alfredo Tonolo, later taught as a professor at
Bloomsburg University.
The soldiers left a remarkable legacy of
friendship and creativity that will survive
for a long time. Some of the soldiers were
carpenters and masons, notably master
mason Sgt. Major Giuliano Orzali of Tuscany.
Using locally available materials they built
a church where they could worship and
re-create a semblance of Italian culture.
Tradition holds that Orzali was so nostalgic
for home that the commander recommended
that they build a church. Pvt. 1st Class Aldo
Lorenzi noted in memoirs: “We were missing
one thing: a church. They gave us permission
to build one, but only with second-hand
discarded material, and so we started off with
great enthusiasm without paying attention to
the labor and hours of work needed … On
13 May ’45, after only 50 days of hard work,
everything was done and what our eyes
beheld was a splendid church in pure Italian
style.”
Note the Italianate style reminiscent of
Florence, Italy. The church has witnessed
various visits and celebrations, including
delegations of descendants and dignitaries
from Italy and the United States. In
1945, Monsignor (later Cardinal) Amleto
Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United
States, celebrated Mass and consecrated the
church. It is now called the Church of Peace.
A piece of the Twin Towers of the Sept. 11
tragedy has been placed next to the church,
to represent the triumph of good over evil.
In Italy the Associazione per la Memoria
dei Prigionieri a Letterkenny keeps alive the
memories and the friendships between Italy
and the United States. IAH
Born and raised in Italy, Gabriel Marcella
is retired professor and Distinguished Fellow
at the United States Army War College in
Carlisle, Pa. He has written extensively on
national security and Latin American affairs
for the policy and academic communities.
Reach him at gabrielmarcella1@gmail.com.
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