Maria: The Life Story of a World War II Italian Bride

Author by : Maria Leonardi-Lamorte
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2006
Publisher by :

ISBN :

Description : "Maria is a real life drama that begins in old world Italy, in the midst of World War II. Based on a true story of a World War II war bride."--Page 4 of cover....

Author by : Maria Leonardi-Lamorte
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2006-11
Publisher by :

ISBN :

Description : Maria is a real life drama that begins in old world Italy, in the midst of World War II. Based on the true story of a World War II war bride this page-turning book takes you for a ride through the challenges of real life. As an Italian woman, Maria had to learn to be strong very quickly. The German occupation was taking its toll on her beautiful native hometown of Napes. Thankfully the United States brought freedom and the love of her life, her husband. Quickly her life was turned upside-down once again with the long journey to a strange new world. All alone in America and not yet able to speak English she fights loneliness as her new husband is still in war. Follow Maria as she travels through life this dramatic story of war, family and love....

Author by : Donato De Simone
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2007-10-23
Publisher by : Xlibris Corporation

ISBN :

Description : Donato De Simone WORLD WAR II EVENTS NARRATED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHILDREN CAUGHT IN THE WEB OF ADULT INSANITY A young boy . . . a beautiful town . . . stalked by the Nazis bombed by the Allies . . . hiding Jewish refugees Abruzzos mini-holocaust . . . meeting Padre Pio escape to a new life in America Growing up in the tranquility of the Abruzzo region of Italy, Donato De Simone, Danny to his friends, was abruptly plunged into the violence of war as the Germans and Allies contested for the Sangro River in a major World War II battle. Now, after decades of pondering the meaning of these events, Danny recalls the drama of his times. Mixing humorous touches with his graphic descriptions, he creates for his readers a vivid picture of life in wartime: the nomadic journeys trying to escape the Nazis; the drama of a downed British airman sheltered by his grandfather in a barn; the little-known story of Jewish refugees hidden from the exterminators by sympathetic Italians; watching Allied bombers shot down by German antiaircraft batteries and sent crashing into the Adriatic Sea; finally finding his home destroyed. These are the circumstances under which Danny grew up. His shrewd mothers planning enabling her family to escape German terror, the familys hardships as they slept in a hastily-constructed air raid shelter, titanic efforts to avoid stepping on personnel or anti-car mines, praying that bombs from both sides would miss themall are created anew by this masterful story-teller. The normal educational patterns having been disrupted by war, Danny struggled to learn in makeshift classrooms. After finally succeeding in rejoining his father to America, Danny faced further challenges trying to adjust to a new life, a new culture and a new language. Finally returning to Italy, he married Anna Maria, his childhood sweetheart and fellow war survivor. Returning to America at the urging of Anna Marias father, former U.S. Army private Ernesto Fantini, Danny sailed the Andrea Doriathe trip before she sank! Danny and Anna Maria raised their family in Norristown, Pa., and on June 2, 2006, they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. We must have done something wrong, Danny quips. In fifty years we never even had a serious argument! Danny met Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, now Saint Pio, twice as a teenager before coming to America, and once in 1956 together with Anna Maria on their honeymoon. It was an unforgettable experience for both to go to confession and receive Holy Communion from the sainted man who bore on his body the signs of the crucifixion. De Simone does a superb job personalizing the historical record, for his account teaches us what it means to suffer the concrete effects of the abstract decisions made by the generals and dictators and kings - what it means to be the family member whose home is bombed, to be the farmer whose field is mined, to be the child who has seen too much death. Prof. Millicent Marcus Yale University His narrative is most interesting and disturbing at the same time as we realize that so many innocent people, especially the children, were caught in the middle of such insane violence. This is a book for all to read, especially the young. Most Rev. Louis A. De Simone, D. D. Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Archdiocese of Philadelphia . . . fascinatingly human, fast-reading, well-written. Prof. James T. McDonough St. Josephs University Philadelphia...

Author by : Donald Spoto
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2000-08-22
Publisher by : Rowman & Littlefield

ISBN :

Description : This authoritative biography of film icon James Dean offers a clear-eyed look at the actor who crossed America's cinematic landscape with the brilliance and brevity of a meteor....

Author by : Diane Kinman
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2005-06
Publisher by : Diane Kinman

ISBN :

Description : Francas Story chronicles a young girls determination to help her family survive World War II in Italy, 1937-1945. The onset of war shatters Franca Mercatis privileged childhood in Florence, devastates her aristocratic family, and threatens the Italian way of life. The family flees their palatial home in Florence to escape Allied bombs and settles in their beach home at Viareggio. One brother is soon killed, and a second is missing in action. Franca and her father secure a private audience with the Pope will his influence help them find her missing brother, Lt. Mercati? Franca discovers her father is helping Jewish children escape; she secretly uses his connections to rescue a wounded British pilot. She watches in horror as her school friends die in the bombing of a train station; helps when her brother-in-law is severely beaten by Fascists; and survives a harrowing ride with a deserting Nazi doctor. Franca and her family slide from wealthy aristocrats to impoverished refugees surviving hand to mouth at an old Hapsburg palace. She overcomes obstacles with courage, ingenuity, good humor, and a deep faith in God in a world filled with turbulence....

Author by : Laurence Pino
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2020-12
Publisher by :

ISBN :

Description : On September 30, 1944, Maria Rosaria Giordano (Mom), the daughter of a wealthy Italian fur merchant in Bari, Italy, married Samuel Pino (Dad), the son of Sicilian immigrants who had come to America through Ellis Island and settled in south Philly. Dad, who landed in Italy as part of the Sicilian invasion during World War II, met my mother when the Americans had occupied her family's 16-bedroom compound, which was a full city block called il Palacio Giordano, and made it Allied Headquarters for Southern Italy. As a single-striper in the Army-Air Force, Dad saw a photo of mom on the fireplace mantle and . . . that's all it took! A year and a half later, Mom battled her family to marry Dad and ultimately won. Mom told me at some point in my childhood that her "Samuch" was the kindest man she had ever met. Dad told me when I was getting married years later that the happiest day of his life was the day he married Mom....

Author by : Terry Rowan
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2006
Publisher by : Lulu.com

ISBN :

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