CULTURAL NOTE FOR NOVEMBER 2024
In November we honor our veterans and give thanks for their sacrifices. Colorado can be proud that we have over 340,000 veterans living in our state as of 2022, according to usafacts.org, a non-profit and non-partisan website. El Paso County is home to over 82,000 of those 340,000 vets, which is more than any other county in Colorado. Most of them are Gulf War and Vietnam vets, but the vet I knew best was my father who fought in WWII. Although I thought of him as a hero, he always credited his mom, Giuseppina, (Josephine) for making him a brave Italian-American when he was five years old. Here is his story:
“Mamma, I hate America! Let’s go back home,” whined five-year-old Salvatore as his mother Giuseppina dragged him along to their third-story apartment in the Bronx. Little Sal continued to complain all the way up the three flights of stairs. “Mamma, I’m so hungry and it’s cold here and there’s no place to play outside.The kids here are mean and I miss my Nonna!” Giuseppina waited until they got to their front door to address her son’s concerns. She thought hard for a moment and then gave her son a sharp slap on the backside. Through his shock and tears, Sal heard her say,
“You don’t ever criticize America! We came here to give you a better life. You will go to school, you will learn English, you will get a good job, and you will never go hungry again. This is why we came to America and you will thank God every day that we did!”
Salvatore never forgot his mother’s words or the spanking he got on that cold winter’s day in 1929. As predicted, he went to school, he got a good job and provided well for his family. He fought in World War II, marching across France and Germany with the 104th Infantry Division and met the Russians at the Russian Front. Along the way, his company liberated a Nazi concentration camp. He was the company’s photographer, so he recorded all the atrocities they witnessed. His WWII experience caused him a lifetime of nightmares, but his photographs are now on display at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.
Salvatore Nicita always flew an American flag in his front yard to remind him to be grateful. He was an active, lifetime member of the Elks Club, The Kiwanis Club, and the Knights of Columbus. Most of all, my father was proud to be an Italian-American and belonged to the Sons of Italy in Monterey, California for over 25 years.
As we celebrate all our veterans this month, let’s especially honor those in our Lodge and in our own families.
Sources:
Conversations with Salvatore Nicita (1924-2010).
www.usafacts.org
www.historycolorado.org
Submitted by Charlene Pardo