I first heard the above about seven decades ago. It gave me and my cousins the giggles to hear my Uncle Mil refer to one of my great-aunts that way. But let’s start the story with the man who brought so much lighthearted joy into our lives. His name was Emilio Antonio Grippo. Born in 1920, he was the first son and fourth child of Antonio and Elena (Morrone) Grippo, who had emigrated from Laurino, Salerno, Campania, Italy around 1912. My grandparents lived on May Street just south of Taylor Street in Chicago’s legendary Little Italy. Finances, fate and the …

A tough kid from the Taylor Street neighborhood, Louis Grippo ended up sparring under the tutelage of a world champion while training at Ft. Riley during World War II. This is a story about Pfc. Louis Grippo and his travels during World War II. But a little background first. I grew up in my father’s family building on West Taylor Street in one of the Italian enclaves of Chicago. My mom’s family lived on South May Street, two blocks away. In my early years, we went over there almost every day. When I was in grammar school, I was there …