Italian Military Citizenship in the U.S.
During the first World War, Italian immigrants who joined the military were now the second-generation kids who were living in America and “nearly all of these men had emigrated as adolescents, and the sights, sounds, and emotions of traveling in steerage were still vivid in their minds” (Sterba, pg. 80). While serving together in the military, these men were not distinguished as Italians, but they were recognized as Americans, being in uniform. This shared sense of unity and camaraderie during war was vital in defending themselves at war and overseas.
Regarding the second World War, “like Japanese and German Americans, Italian-American loyalty to the Unites States was questioned” (Carnevale 7). In our history books, we learn very little on how other ethnicities had been heavily discriminated against during war-time. Especially how the U.S. treated Italian immigrants since they first immigrated here. What really happened was that “The government toyed briefly with the notion of placing Italians with non-resident status in internment camps, just as it had Japanese Americans” and it was “due in part to the logistical difficulties of rounding up such a large and widely dispersed population” but it did, “however, settled for relocating 10,000 alien resident Italians living on the West Coast away from the waterfront, which was designated a prohibited zone as a result of the Pearl Harbor bombing” (Carnevale 7). The discrimination made between who was an enemy of the state at the time had very harsh results. Mainly towards Japanese-Americans living in America, but it also transferred into the lives of thousands of Italian-Americans as well. But “Although very few Italian Americans were interred and curfews were imposed only in California, beginning in 1941, some 600,000 non-resident Italian Americans across the country were labeled "enemy aliens" and forced to register with the government” (Carnevale 8). This resulted in discrimination in jobs for Italians, and discrimination against Italians in general all over the country. Since Italian Americans were still a recently immigrated group, the only thing distinguishable about them was many of them did not speak English and only spoke in their native language. So, “the use and promotion of the Italian language figured largely into the FBI’s monitoring of Italian Americans during the war years” (Carnevale 10). This was highly discriminatory to raid Italians’ homes’ due to them speaking their native language, or having items/newspapers that had Italian writing on it. The FBI viewed using their language as “evidence of potential disloyalty, just as they equated the use of English with greater patriotism” (Carnevale 10). Of course, this was all just an overreaction of the U.S. viewing Italian-Americans as a threat to the country, but as a nation we seem to overlook this critical point in U.S. history.
Interestingly enough, Italian-Americans were more effected if they lived in California. By the time it was “June 30, 1942, the FBI had arrested a total of 9,405 suspect enemy aliens” which included “1,521 Italians” (Mormino & Pozzetta 146). Being an Italian in America meant automatically that you were an “enemy alien,” and of course this resulted in Italians not being comfortable in the country they were living in anymore. Regulations started to be set upon Italian fishermen, industries that were heavily dependent on the labor of Italians had suffered, and most notably, the saddest of it all was that the “epidemic of grief-stricken Italians, [culminated] in three suicides in a single week” (Mormino & Pozzetta 147). Being targeted just for being Italian and thought of as being disloyal to a country just because you are from another country obviously had an effect to Italians living in the U.S.
Regarding joining the military, Italian-Americans had the largest numbers of foreigners to join the force, making up 10% of the military. Joining the service “had special ramifications for Italian Americans” being that “Italian-American men joined the military in numbers out of proportion to their presence in the population” and they “made up a heavier representation of young men than the population at large” (Mormino & Pozzetta 150). Amazing how the treatment of Italian-Americans was so discriminatory, while large numbers of them served to prove their loyalty to America and fight for a nation that was so prejudice against them. The war “permitted Italian Americans to become fully accepted citizens through the crucible of patriotism,” especially within the “younger generation” that had “great pride to their numbers in the military, viewing their patriotism as the ultimate indication not only of the loyalty of the group as a while but of the fact that they had chosen America in the struggle over dual identities” (Mormino & Pozzetta 151). While fighting for America, no one viewed themselves as separate from one another, they were just one big force to fight for the greater good in the world, and ethnic inclusion was a part of wearing that uniform. And through these young Italian-American men joining the military, “the war did resolve the question of dual loyalties, as Italian-Americans overwhelmingly demonstrated their attachments to America” (Mormino & Pozzetta 157). Italian families who had their own families join, were the most supportive in trying to raise money for the troops. The fact that most Italian-American families had at least one member join, says a lot about how much they were willing to sacrifice in order to assimilate and fight for this country. “Italian Americans confronted issues of identity and politics, but also powerful structural, material, and cultural realities imposed by the war” (Mormino & Pozzetta 158). We can see this through the discrimination against Italian American freedoms as they were labeled enemy aliens.
The aspect of citizenship through joining the military has also been a subject worth mentioning in regards to Italian-American culture. As of “May 9, 1918, Congress allowed foreigners in the U.S. military to become naturalized without signing a declaration of intention, without paying the naturalization fee, and without passing an English examination” (Gürsel 356). This meant that joining the military was one quick way to earning a citizenship for Italian immigrants. Also during World War II, congress in the U.S. had “acted to provide for the expedited naturalization of noncitizens serving honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces” (Military Naturalization). What’s interesting is that “no member of the military was forced to naturalize and service members did not ‘automatically’ gain citizenship upon joining the Armed Forces” they had to “file a petition for naturalization and swear the required Oath of Allegiance” (Military Naturalization). These restrictions were tighter during this war, than with the first world war, as congress allowed all foreigners to become naturalized if you served in the U.S. military. There was “difficulties faced by naturalized Italian Americans when repatriated to Italy forced U.S. policymakers to clarify the meaning of U.S. citizenship and to do so broadly to include the protection of persons who were neither born nor residing in the United States” (Gürsel 354). But “until 1868, the Constitution did not even offer a clear definition of U.S. citizenship or define the relationship between state and national citizenship; states had much power to make decision about individuals’ citizenship” (Gürsel 355). This mostly inferred that if you were an immigrant living in the U.S. and wanted a citizenship here, you would have to completely abandon your former nationality as a whole.
With reference to my own family, my grandfather James J. Santangelo was born in Sicily, and had joined the U.S. Army when he immigrated here to the U.S. I do not know much about him, and with the few resources and people that are still alive to tell me about him, I have very limited knowledge about him. I know he fought in during World War II, and earned a purple heart medal while in service. He had died from his injuries of the war years later with an infection to his leg, I believe. He earned his citizenship through joining the military and became fully immersed into the American culture.
But that had made my father, Vincenzo Santangelo, want to join the U.S. Navy and continue to fight for this country as his father did. My father had fought during the Vietnam War, as soon as he could join, and served honorably as well.
