read the “italian american veterans” italian american veterans...these immigrants built new...

U.S. Department ofVeteransAffai~

National Cemetery Administration

._____; & I Department ~ F of History

Readthe“ItalianAmericanVeterans” passageset.

ItalianAmericanVeterans

Source 1: John Antuono WrittenforUCFVLPbyTylerCampbell

1 Attheendofthe1800s, therewasalargewaveofimmigrantswhomovedfromthe continentofEuropetotheUnitedStates.Immigrantsarepeoplewho move from one country toanothercountry tolivepermanently inthenewplace.Theimmigrantswhomovedintothe UnitedStatesinthelate1800scamefromEuropeancountrieslike Italy, Russia,Poland, Greece andIreland.They moved totheUnitedStatesbecausethereweretoomanypeopleandtoofew jobs intheirhomecountries.These immigrantsbuiltnewcommunities, businessesandlivesin theUnitedStatesandworkedtodefendtheirnewcountryinbothWorldWarIandWorldWar II.

2 TwooftheimmigrantswhocametotheUnitedStatesatthattimewere anItalian couple VincentandChristinaAntuono. OnceintheUnitedStates, theAntuonosfoundahome inPortTampa,Florida.Mr.Vincentfoundworkrunningagrocerystore. OnMarch15, 1894, the Antuonoscelebratedthebirthoftheirson, JohnM.Antuono.John spenthischildhoodand schoolyearsinthe Tampabayarea.HecompletedhishighschooleducationintheTampaarea before WorldWarIbeganin1914.

3 ThreeyearsafterAntuonograduatedfromhighschool, theUnitedStatesenteredWorld WarIandbegandraftingmenintothearmedservices.Thedraftisrequiredrecruitmentforthe armedservices.Inotherwords, allmenbetweentheagesoftwenty-oneandthirty-onehadto filloutaregistrationcardtojointhearmedservices.Therewereabout4.8millionAmericans whoservedinthearmedservicesinWWIand2.8millionofthemhadbeendraftedinto serviced.

4 As oneofthe2.8milliondraftees, Antuonoservedasaninfantrysolider inthe US Army inWWI.Heregisteredforthedraftatagetwenty-threeandofficiallystartedintheUSArmyon October8, 1917. AntuonofirsttrainedwithCompanyIofthe324th Infantryinthe81st Division. Theinfantryisthepartofthearmythatfightsonfoot.Infantrytroopsfighttheenemyatclose quartersandsufferthehighestnumberofdeathsduringbattlesandwarfare. InAugustof1918 the81st Division, knownasthe“Wildcats,”wassenttotheWesternFront.TheWesternFront wasthenameoftheareaofFrancewherethemostfightingofWWItookplace.Luckily for Antuono,hewasmovedoutofthe81st beforetheyweresenttotheWesternFront.

ELA Writing Prompt: Lives and Legacies of United States Veterans vlp.cah.ucf.edu

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i U.S.Oepartment of Veterans Affairs


JOHN M AN T1UON O

e: PL

WS ARMY

W ORLD WAR I

MAR 15 ' 1894

MAR 20 1992

.____~~ I ~ Department C7:F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL F L ORID

5 Aftertrainingwiththe81st, AntuonowassenttoCompanyLofthe124th Infantryinthe 31st Division. Whileinthe124th Infantry, Antuonowaspromotedtothe rankofCorporal.Two monthsafterthe81st Division wassenttotheWesternFront, the 31st Division andCorporal Antuonowere sent toFranceaswell. When the31st arrived, they were splitapartandthe soldiersweresenttoreplacethefalleninotherDivisionsacrossFrance. Inthesplit, Antuono was sent tothe330th Infantryinthe83rd Division which didnotseedirectfightingeither.They werealsousedasreplacementtroops.Soafteramonthwiththe330th, CorporalAntuonowas senttoCompanyGoftheCentralRecordsOffice in centralFrancewherehestayeduntil returninghome. HereturnedtotheUnitedStatesinAugust1919andleftthearmy on September3, 1919.

6 Afterthewar, Antuonoworkedmanydifferentjobsinthe Tampaarea.Many skilled cigarmakersimmigratedfromCubato theTampaareawhichthenbecamethelargestcigarmakingcity in thecountry.By 1920, Antuono worked asapackerinoneof Tampa’smanycigarfactories.Throughoutthe1930’s, he worked asabookkeeperatagarageintheTampaarea.By1940, he workedasanaccountantbutwasunabletofindsteadywork. Eventually, hefoundworkasabookkeeperforacigarmaking companyandstayedintheTampaareaforthe rest ofhislife. At 98yearsold,JohnM.AntuonodiedonMarch20, 1992inTampa. HewaslaidtorestinFloridaNationalCemeteryinBushnell, Florida.

Antuono’s gravesite at Florida National Cemetery. Image

courtesy of UCF VLP.


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U.S. Department ofVeteransAffairs


._____~ ~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Source 2: William “JJ” Boese

WrittenforUCFVLPbyRobertoBenitez

1 HistoriansestimatethatoverfivemillionItaliansimmigratedtotheUnitedStates throughEllisIslandbetween1870and1920.EllisIslandisanislandinNewYorkBayjustsound oftheislandofManhattan.EllisIslandwastheentrypointforover12millionimmigrantsto theUnitedStatesfrom 1892until1954.MostoftheItalianimmigrantswhocamethroughEllis IslandwerefromsouthernregionsofItaly whichwererural, poorareas. Mostofthe Italian immigrantsweremales.Infact, therewerethreetimesmoreItalianmalesthanItalianfemales who moved intotheUnitedStatesduringthatperiod.Manyoftheimmigrantswhowent throughEllisIslandstayedintheeasternstatesbutsomemoved tostatesintheMidwestlike Illinois.

2 TwooftheimmigrantfamiliesthatmadetheirwaytoIllinoiswere thefamiliesofErnest andRuthBoese.Mr.ErnestBoese’sfamilywasfromGermanybuthe grew upinIllinois.Ruth’s familywasoneofthemanyfamilieswhoenteredtheUnitedStatesthroughEllisIsland. They immigratedfromItalyin1920.Oncemarried, Mr.andMrs.Boesehadatotaloffivechildren, threeboysandtwo girls. On March22, 1923, theycelebratedthe birth of their second son William“JJ”BoeseinJoliet, Illinois.

3 When“JJ”wasseventheBoesefamilystilllivedinJolietandMr.Boesesupportedhis familybyworkingasabrakemanintherailroadindustry.Abrakeman’sjobwastoclimbontop of atrainandturnalargebrakecontrolbyhandtostopatrainwhentheairbrakesdidnot work.Theworkwasverydangerousandbrakemenriskedtheirlivestostoptrains.Dangerous situationslikebadweatherconditionscausedfatalaccidents.Regularworksituationsliketrying toclimbaboardthetraincausedinjuriesandfatalaccidents. Mr.Boeseworkedasabrakeman in therailroadindustryintothe1940sandhewasabletosupporthisfamilyduringtheGreat Depression.They were even abletobuyandowntheir home inJoliet duetohishardwork.

4 InformationfromtheUnitedStatesCensusrecordsshowsthestoryofmanyAmericans livesincluding“JJ”Boese.Acensusisanofficialcountoftheallthepeopleofanarea.The UnitedStatesCensuswascreatedbytheConstitution.Everytenyearsthegovernmentisin chargeofcollectingallofthecensuscountsandinformation.TheUSCensuscountsthecitizens oftheUSandcollectsinformationaboutthemliketheirlevelofeducation, theirbirthplace, theirage, theirjobandmore.

5 The 1940 USCensusdetailsinformationabout “JJ” Boese himself. The censusshows thatBoesedroppedoutofschoolafterhisfirstyearofhighschool. The censusalsolists his occupationasa“new worker.” The 1940 Census usedthephrase “new workers”tomean


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U.S.Department ofVeteransAffain

National Cemetery Administrat ion

Ii MEMORY OF

llll M J J BOESE

._____; ~ I Department ucF of History UNIVERSITY OF CEN T RA L FLORIDA

people withnopermanentjobforamonthormore.“Newworkers”wereusually young people whofinishedtheirschoolingbutcouldnotfindwork.SoaboutayearbeforetheUnitedStates beganfightinginWorldWarII, Boese waseighteen, hadcompletedoneyearofhighschool, andcouldnotfindasteadyjob.

6 AftertheattackonPearlHarborbroughttheUnitedStatesintoWorldWarII, thousands ofyoung men joinedallthebranchesofthearmedservicesincludingtheMarine Corps. Before WorldWarII, theMarineswereabranchofthearmedservicesthatwasknownforfighting America’s“smallwars”southoftheUSborder. During WWII, theMarineCorpsbecamean amphibiousforcewhichmeanstheyfoughtonlandandinthewater.Theygainedthenational respectastheyfoughtinthePacificTheater, inotherwordsastheyfought alloverthePacific Ocean.

7 DuringWWII, BoesejoinedtheMarinesand fought manymissionsinthePacificTheater. InAugust 1942, nineteen-year-old BoesejoinedtheMarineCorps.HewenttoSanDiego, CaliforniatotrainasaPrivateFirstClassmarine. ByAprilof1943, Boesebeganservingaspart ofthe4th BaseDepotandwassenttotheRussellIslands.TheRussellIslandsarea very small groupofislandsabout1,000milesoffthenortheastcoastofAustralia.TheRussellIslands servedasthebaseforOperationToenails.ThemissionofOperationToenailswastocapture andkeeptheJapaneseoutofanothersetofislandscalled theNewGeorgiaIslands. The US wantedtheNewGeorgiaIslandsbecausetheywerebetter for landingandholdingplanes.They werealsoinabetterareaforfuturemissions.MarineslikeBoese helpedtomakesurethat OperationToenailswasasuccess.InAprilof1944, Boese joined the5th FieldDepotwhichwas onBanikaIslandinthemiddleofanothermissionthatendedupfreeingtheislandof Guam fromtheJapanese.

8 AfterWWII, Boese returntolifebacktohishometownofJoliet. Afterhereturned, hemarriedhiswife,Frances,andtheyhadtwo daughters.Healsofollowedinhisfather’sfootstepsandworkedfor thelocalrailroads.Inthe1950sand1960s, Boeseworked adangerous job asarailroadswitchmanmovingtraincarsandhookingthem togethertomakenewtrains.AfterWorldWarII, peoplestartedusing carsmorethantrainsandrailroadcompaniesstartedtoloselotsof money. By1971, theUSgovernmenthadtostepintohelptherailroad companies.Boeseprobablystayedintherailroadindustryintothe 1970sbefore he moved hisfamilytoFloridain 1978.Thefamilylived inTampaandthenmovedtoOdessa,Floridain1979. Seventeenyears later, Boese passedawayonFebruary22,1996attheageofseventy-two.AmemorialmarkeratFloridaNationalCemeteryinBushnell, Floridapaystributetohislifeandservice.

Boese’s memorial marker at Florida National Cemetery. Image

courtesy of UCF VLP.

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4

i U.S.Oep;irtment of Veterans Affairs


,____~ ~ I Department ~ F of History

Writing Prompt

Write an informative essay comparing the lives of these two Italian American veterans before, during and after their military service. Use information from the passages in your essay.

Manage your time carefully so that you can

• read the passages; • plan your response; • write your response; and • revise and edit your response.

Be sure to include

• an introduction; • information from the passages as support; and • a conclusion that is related to the information presented.

Your response should be in the form of a multiparagraph essay. Write your response in the space provided.


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l8 U.S. Department ofVeteransAffairs

Nat ional Cemetery Administration

'-----~ ~ I Department ~ F of History UN I VERSITY OF CEN T RA L FLORIDA

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'-----~ ~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs


~ UCF

Department of History

UN I VERSITY O F CEN T RA L F LORIDA

Boese Antuono Both

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