I wish I had had the wisdom or the curiosity to ask my father more questions about his life and his family before me. What I know is very little I'm sorry and almost embarrassed to say.
I know he had several brothers and a sister. My name is John Julius Carone. After the Italian tradition,a certain order of naming children after family members was followed. My oldest brother Frank was named after my father's father and my other brother Sabino was named after my father's mother whose name was Sabina. I was named John after my father's oldest brother and Julius after his sister Julia.
I also know that my father and his father came to the USA when my father was about 12 years old. My grandfather was a baker for the workers building a railroad line in the Wisconsin area. The rest of his family were still in Italy. Just before the outbreak of the first world war they returned to Italy and at that time my father was conscripted into the Italian army. Although he never talked about the war he would tell an unbelievable story of one incident. He was posted to guard a gate. His superior instructed him to not let ANYONE through that gate, and for emphasis he added, "not even the King". You guessed it. The story is that the King happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to pass through the gate. Are you kidding me? I can't believe the man I knew would have done such a dumb thing.
After the war he became a policeman. He must have been stationed in the Naples area. My mother was from a town near Naples. I know little about how they met but they did and soon married. In 1920 they landed on the shores of the USA, pregnant with my oldest brother, and started a new life, I don't know if they came following a dream or if they were trying to escape the political climate in Italy. He was a vehement foe of fascism.
I was born in 1924 the third son. Although my father spoke fluent English, there were a couple of words he just couldn't seem to master. For "argue" he would say "arg". Here's the one that kills me! "Third" became "Turd". You got it!!!! I was introduced as the "turd".
I regret not having learned more about my parents. Even though I don't know much about their life before me, I can tell you that my life with them was wonderful.
I know he had several brothers and a sister. My name is John Julius Carone. After the Italian tradition,a certain order of naming children after family members was followed. My oldest brother Frank was named after my father's father and my other brother Sabino was named after my father's mother whose name was Sabina. I was named John after my father's oldest brother and Julius after his sister Julia.
I also know that my father and his father came to the USA when my father was about 12 years old. My grandfather was a baker for the workers building a railroad line in the Wisconsin area. The rest of his family were still in Italy. Just before the outbreak of the first world war they returned to Italy and at that time my father was conscripted into the Italian army. Although he never talked about the war he would tell an unbelievable story of one incident. He was posted to guard a gate. His superior instructed him to not let ANYONE through that gate, and for emphasis he added, "not even the King". You guessed it. The story is that the King happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to pass through the gate. Are you kidding me? I can't believe the man I knew would have done such a dumb thing.
After the war he became a policeman. He must have been stationed in the Naples area. My mother was from a town near Naples. I know little about how they met but they did and soon married. In 1920 they landed on the shores of the USA, pregnant with my oldest brother, and started a new life, I don't know if they came following a dream or if they were trying to escape the political climate in Italy. He was a vehement foe of fascism.
I was born in 1924 the third son. Although my father spoke fluent English, there were a couple of words he just couldn't seem to master. For "argue" he would say "arg". Here's the one that kills me! "Third" became "Turd". You got it!!!! I was introduced as the "turd".
I regret not having learned more about my parents. Even though I don't know much about their life before me, I can tell you that my life with them was wonderful.
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