War Stories

Born a century ago in Chicago Heights, Ted Micci is a living testament to the determination of the crews who flew bombing missions over Europe during World War II. Attilio (Ted) Micci was born 100 years ago in his parents’ home in Chicago Heights. Massimo and Frances Rotaloni Micci emigrated from Marche, Italy, and settled in the Hungry Hill Italian neighborhood of the city. Micci’s maternal grandparents lived across the street, and his aunts and uncles lived down the block. They all shared Sunday dinners together. Micci loved everything his mother prepared. “She was a good cook,” he says. Micci …

  A newly minted Marine at the start of the Gulf Wars, Bob Larsen was picked to serve in the courtroom rather than on the battlefield.  Bob Larsen was born in Arlington, Virginia. One of four children born to Robert L. and Joan Campagna Larsen, he also has a brother and sister from his father’s second marriage. With roots in the Chicago area, the family returned here when Larsen was 4 years old, settling in the Edison Park neighborhood, then moving to Park Ridge when he was 13. Larsen’s mother prepared traditional Italian pasta dishes, but the family also enjoyed …

The first Italian American to earn the Medal of Honor, Luigi Palma di Cesnola was instrumental in establishing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Cavalliere Emmanuele Pietro Paolo Maria Luigi Palma di Cesnola would never be mistaken for the “Modern Major General,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical take on the overly educated officers of 19th-century England. While Cesnola didn’t know everything “vegetable, animal and mineral,” he knew enough about the martial, pedagogical and archeological to more than get by. Cesnola led an amazing life, fighting wars on three continents, marrying an American blue blood and conducting groundbreaking archaeological digs …

After guarding the Korean DMZ for most of his tour of duty in the Army during the Vietnam War, Luco Clarizio watched over fallen soldiers returning to the States, escorting their caskets from the airport to the cemetery. The oldest of two sons born to Dominick and Mary (Viola) Clarizio, Luco was brought into this world by his maternal grandmother in a fourth-floor walk-up on Loomis Street in Little Italy. “I was born blue, and my grandma put me in the oven,” he says. His parents were born in Chicago, and his grandparents emigrated from Calabria and Bari. The family …

While stationed in Italy at the end of his military career, retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Ruffolo helped an RAF officer find the grave of a grandfather who gave his life while storming Monte Cassino during World War II. Prior to my retirement from the U.S. Army, my last military assignment was to the United States Diplomatic Mission to Italy in 2012. These are normally capstone assignments that wrap up a career, but, looking back, a greater power “arranged” that assignment for another reason. An adjunct duty in my assignment to Italy was serving as one of the seven national …

As a Navy Seabee, Anthony Pucillo helped create housing and infrastructure for installations throughout the Pacific after the Korean War. The oldest of three sons, Anthony Pucillo was born in Chicago to Ernest and Theresa (FioRito) Pucillo. The family lived in the Jane Adams Projects on Taylor Street until Pucillo was 5 years old. “We moved around quite a bit,” he says. Both parents were born in Chicago, and his grandparents emigrated from Sicily and Calabria. A “very good cook,” Pucillo’s mother made traditional Italian dishes in addition to fried chicken and breaded veal steak, two meals he especially liked. …

One of history’s greatest cyclists, Gino Bartali went above and beyond the call of duty during World War II on behalf of Italy’s Jewish citizens. Life has peaks and valleys, happiness and sadness, good and evil. In the course of a storied career, Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali pedaled through countless highs and lows, both physical and emotional, battling more than his fair share of evil along the way. Gino was born to Torello and Giulia Sizzi Bartali in 1914 in Ponte a Ema, a small Tuscan town just south of Firenze. Torello often collected mud for bricks as a day …

Suffering 75 percent hearing loss as a member and then leader of a mortar squad in the push toward Berlin, Alex Fosco took part in three major battles on the way to victory over the Nazis. The oldest of five children and only son, Alex Fosco was born on Sept. 19, 1925, in Chicago to Alex and Mary Vespa Fosco. The family lived in the Italian neighborhood at Taylor and Halsted streets. Fosco’s father was born in France, but his family was originally from Pizzone, Italy. Fosco enjoyed spending time with his extended family, especially his maternal grandmother, Angelina Vespa. …

Originally assigned to the Army Finance Branch in Kentucky, Louis Mirabelli soon found himself behind the controls of a tank on the battlefields of Korea. One of six children, Louis (Lou) Mirabelli was born in Chicago. His parents, Enrico and Mariane (Mirabelli) Mirabelli, emigrated from Cosenza. The growing family moved from apartment to apartment in the vicinity of Taylor Street and Hermitage. “It seemed like every time the people would raise the rent, my father would say, ‘OK, let’s pick up our furniture and move someplace else’ … the old Italian custom,” Mirabelli says. The Italian neighborhood was a haven …

A Marine Guard in Europe after World War II, Joe Priola had the time of his life while serving his country. This is a war story where no one gets hurt: Goodwill and humor are the weapons of choice. My first cousin Joe Priola was in the Marines at the tail end of World War II and a bit thereafter. Though 40 years separated us in age, I loved my cousin Joe like a big brother. Joe and his younger brother, Sam, were my dad’s nephews, and my grandparents and father raised them in the ’30s and ’40s. My father …