WWII BURIED TREASURE

It was like finding a buried treasure on a deserted island. Not for everyone but just for me. My eyes wide in excitement and my heart pounding like a drum. Every photograph, article of clothing, letter and food ration was like picking up priceless piece of American and Family history.

My grandfather, Remo, came to America from Italy with his mother Assunta when he was sixteen. They started a new life here as many had dreamed to. He joined the Army during WWII and was sent to Japan after the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Traveling over the Pacific he was an Anti Aircraft Gunner Sargent and was a M.P. Sargent in occupied Japan.  In high school, I interviewed him one Sunday afternoon about his stay in Japan for a report in my American History class. He spoke with passion about it and even found his beautifully intact US Army uniform to show me.

That was the last time I saw his uniform until he passed away almost 4 years ago. We were cleaning out his home in Lexington, Massachusetts when we stumbled upon two US Army duffel bags. There was so much to go through that my mother put it aside and we forgot about them until recently. I remembered that they were put away in my parents house so when I was home last, I dragged them out and slowly began to empty them. At first I thought it was full of a bunch of disintegrating trash. When my hand pulled out a big bag full of curled up black and white photos is when I realized that I was opening the ultimate treasure chest of information from seventy years ago. For someone like myself that is so intrigued by the eras of the 1920’s-1950’s, this finding gave me the feeling of a connection to that time; WWII. And not just WWII but what my Nonno Remo was doing at that time overseas. I felt like I was the only one who was privileged enough to go through his personal belongings.

My Nonno saved everything. He would also buy everything in bulk. And I’m not just talking about going to the grocery store and buying a lot of one item. I’m talking about when buying something like eggs he would buy a gross because the store needed to get rid of them or buying sliced cheese in huge amounts. He grew up during the Great Depression and knew better to never throw anything out and if you could buy in large amounts for cheap, you did. He raised chickens, rabbits and goats…. using all parts when it was their time. No questions or arguing about it. I will never know exactly why he saved his food rations from the 1940’s…..more than likely he thought they would come in handy someday.

There were plenty of intact food rations that I didn’t feel guilty taking apart to inspect them in detail. And detail is what I got! Intact caramel candies, lemonade packets, coffee and sugar cubes. The finer things in life while being so far away from home; Chesterfield cigarettes, matches and Wrigley’s Spearmint gum. What also caught my eye is that on every single item was clearly and proudly printed where in the United States that product was produced. They were from all over the USA which I then unfortunately realized that we do not see that print much anywhere these days.

Under the boxes of rations, clothing was found. Beautifully worn out everyday army clothing with stains that had a story I will never know and worn out area with holes that my Nonno patched and sewed up with other pieces of cloth. His helmet was lying at the bottom of the bag. Unfortunately it was just the shell and the inner lining had disappeared somewhere over the years but still just as amazing.

A couple of notebooks full of handwritten information needed for how to navigate with an Azimuth and information on different methods of radio communication.  I clearly didn’t understand much but was fascinating just the same. There were many pamphlets found on sex hygiene and diseases as well as a small booklet about how to get back into the routine of civilian life again. Pretty much just the military basics of information that are given to soldiers before shipment overseas.

I didn’t even know where to begin with organizing all his photographs and letters. A mix of silly Army group photos to random photographs of unknown woman mixed in with letters. So many letters from woman all over the States pouring out their love to him. After reading many of these love letters, I realized by the finding of copy of some poem he had that he would copy this poem to all these woman. These poor young ladies had no idea about his game. Even though I was quite entertained by all these letters I had hoped to maybe find one little note of sorts that my Nonna Rita had given him. But since they did not meet untill he got back from the war I knew this was not going to be something I would ever find.  Sifting through envelopes, a large square one fell out of the pile. The postdate marked: BOSTON, MASS  FEB 14 1947 with a 3₵ postage stamp. What a minute….Remo was back in the states by this time. The envelope was a little thick compared to all the others I had opened. I pulled out a very decorative valentine for even this day and age. I read the heartfelt print-“Every hour I’ve spent with you, Sweetheart, are the happiest I’ve known, my happiest hopes and dreams are those I’ve spent with you alone; And as I send this Valentine, I’m looking forward, too, to all the future joy I’ll find in hours I’ll spend with you!” and scrolled my eyes down to the signature which read “With all my love- Rita”. Remo and Rita were married that December of 1947. A small piece of their personal history that I finally got to share with them like they were still here telling me their story.

Finding all of these personal articles and memories of my Nonno’s was such a special moment for me. Not only intrigued by this time in history but I like to consider myself a family history buff. The more knowledge I gain about my family’s past, the more I understand who I am.