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June 15, 2012 - My grandfather, Michele Cicora, arrived in this
country on May 27, 1906, at the age of ten. He had travelled across
the cold Atlantic Ocean with two younger sisters and a brother. The
poverty of their region had caused them to leave their family in
Campobasso, Italy. These frightened young children represented the
hope and faith that a better life lay in a far off land. The small
ship which they had sailed on, the Wiemar, would later be sunk by a
German torpedo in the Mediterranean on February 15, 1918.
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Sam Cicora (center right without a cover) standing with Chinese troops in 1945.
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At Ellis Island they were met by representatives of their
home region. They then boarded a train to Cleveland, Ohio.
Eventually they settled into lives of work, school, church,
and community. Although their immediate family remained in a
now distant land, the local community of Italian immigrants
took them into their fold and cared for them. Their newly
adopted country had welcomed them in peace.
However,
as the events of June 1914 erupted, Europe was led into the
horrendous event then called the Great War. Eventually, the
United States, in support of the Allied cause, entered the
war. Young men across this land volunteered to fight in
order to “make the world safe for democracy.” In June 1918,
Michele Cicora
became one of them. He was assigned to the 61st Infantry
Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, in France.
As the
long and costly war dragged on, combat on the Western Front
had become increasingly lethal. In the six months of major
U.S. combat operations in Europe, from the June 1918 Battle
of Belleau Wood to November 11, 1918, more than 100,000
American soldiers were killed. Michele Cicora was wounded by
a German machine gunner in early October 1918 during the
Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was highly instrumental in
ending the war.
A month later the horrific atrocities
of the Great War ended. At 11:00 AM, on November 11, 1918,
the War to end all Wars ceased its carnage. After the armies
of occupation had secured the peace, and some measure of
order was restored throughout Europe, Michele returned to
the USA and was separated in August 1919. Unfortunately,
shortly after the birth of his first and only son, Sam, in
1923, Michele would pass away at the age of twenty-eight. In
addition to the gunshot wound to his hand, Michele also
likely suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
However, at that time, Veterans were not expected to
demonstrate any type of residual emotional or psychological
effects from their combat experiences. Treatment was largely
unknown and immediate assimilation from the world's first
mechanized war to organized society was presumed to be the
due course. His body was found in the Tennessee River. He
would never know his son.
A generation later, the
Great War would be renamed World War I, and many of the sons
of those Veterans became soldiers, sailors, and airmen in
World War II. Michele's son, my father Sam, entered the U.S.
Army in 1943. By early 1944, he was sailing toward Bombay,
India. Upon arrival, a train across the Indian subcontinent
took him to northeast India where he arrived as an
infantryman assigned to the 5307th Composite Unit, then
called Merrill's Marauders. Following the month long Battle
of Myitkyina, Burma, August 1944, the Marauder's were
disbanded as a unit. In its stead, the newly organized 475th
Infantry Regiment was formed as part of the Mars Task Force.
It was so named because they operated completely behind and
around enemy Japanese lines in the thick Burmese jungle and
the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. The 475th survived
largely on air drops of supplies, which they frequently
fought over with the enemy, and by bartering with native
tribes for food. By early 1945 the 475th, and other elements
of the Mars Task Force, had fought their way from northeast
Burma into southwest China. Here they continued the
offensive against the invading Japanese army while also
training Chinese troops loyal to Chiang Kai-shek. The
release of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
August 1945 finally brought the bloody war in Asia to an
end. Sam Cicora returned home with bayonet scars on his legs
and malaria in his blood.
Sam returned home on
January 1, 1946, to the best years of his life. His marriage
to Ann produced three children, two sons and a daughter. He
worked hard as a machinist and landscaper providing for his
family. Until he passed away in 1988, he filled his house
not only with love, but tolerance, compassion, and joy. In
the long tradition of Italian-Americans who have
patriotically supported their country through active
military service, both of Sam's sons volunteered for the
U.S. Army and served in Vietnam. The oldest, Mike was with
the 25th Division from October 1967 through 1968. I served
with the 32nd Artillery from January 1970-1971.
My
grandfather came to this beautiful country as a boy and
placed his life literally ‘on the line' defending its values
and freedoms. He created a model of citizenship based upon
direct action and support of his country. These are the
values which he passed onto later generations of his family.
They are the principles and ethics of sacrifice for family
and community and have always held this nation together.
By Daniel Cicora
From
Department of Veterans Affairs - Vantage Point
Copyright 2012
About Author: Daniel Cicora recently retired from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Cleveland Regional Office. He
continues to volunteer with Veterans and remains active in other
community service. Daniel resides in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
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