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Pro Patria: The Story of an American Who Fought for Italy in World War I
How many immigrants who permanently leave their native land still feel loyalty to the place of their birth?
In May of 1914, Italy broke with the Triple Alliance and declared war with Austria-Hungary to reclaim the terre irredente, her lost border provinces, so that she could complete her unification. Italians in the United States and around the world were divided: some sided with their homeland; others thought it was Italy’s war.
Pro Patria is the story of one of those Italian-Americans who sided with Italy. The novel is based on the wartime journals of Bernardino Bernardini, eldest son of a family who had relocated from Florence to Chicago in 1901. Both Bernardino and his younger brother Mario had been born in Italy, and the war brought out in Bernardino a sense of loyalty to the land of his birth. In addition, he’d fallen in love with a young woman he’d met there on a trip in 1911. Bernardino joined the Italian Army a few weeks before his twenty-first birthday in 1915, which meant renouncing his American citizenship and entering another culture. He spent four years, four months, and fourteen days in the land of his birth, fighting in eight of the twelve battles of the Isonzo..
Bernardino’s niece Marcella Bernard builds on the adventures that her uncle recorded in his journals, incorporating family lore, historical facts, and imaginative reconstruction to portray her uncle as a man whose national identity vacillated between American and Italian as he risked his life for loyalty and love against the backdrop of World War I.
In May of 1914, Italy broke with the Triple Alliance and declared war with Austria-Hungary to reclaim the terre irredente, her lost border provinces, so that she could complete her unification. Italians in the United States and around the world were divided: some sided with their homeland; others thought it was Italy’s war.
Pro Patria is the story of one of those Italian-Americans who sided with Italy. The novel is based on the wartime journals of Bernardino Bernardini, eldest son of a family who had relocated from Florence to Chicago in 1901. Both Bernardino and his younger brother Mario had been born in Italy, and the war brought out in Bernardino a sense of loyalty to the land of his birth. In addition, he’d fallen in love with a young woman he’d met there on a trip in 1911. Bernardino joined the Italian Army a few weeks before his twenty-first birthday in 1915, which meant renouncing his American citizenship and entering another culture. He spent four years, four months, and fourteen days in the land of his birth, fighting in eight of the twelve battles of the Isonzo..
Bernardino’s niece Marcella Bernard builds on the adventures that her uncle recorded in his journals, incorporating family lore, historical facts, and imaginative reconstruction to portray her uncle as a man whose national identity vacillated between American and Italian as he risked his life for loyalty and love against the backdrop of World War I.
768 pages, Paperback
Published October 11, 2018
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February 21, 2019
Pro Patria gives us an intimate view into the most visceral and significant era. Historians describe 1914 as “the year the world went mad.” Additionally, society as we know it today remains impacted by the many changes that occurred in the years of the First World War. I value my print edition of this account. The voice and description embraces the type of reader that prefers a journey to a mere destination. It is written with love and despite the horrors of war, an evil nun, injustice and privation, we are left more inspired by the good heart of Bernardino Bernardini. There are many fine moments of reflection that enrich the tale, be it family love, an attachment to earth and farming, community, and music. And the lesson that I derived, to live in the moment as a generous soul, has proved beneficial. I highly recommend this book.
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Sent from my iPad
Displaying 1 of 1 review