He Is All American Now”: Italian–Americans in the Italian Campaign of World War II

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyze the case of the Italian–Americans' participation in World War II. It is an interesting case study to focus on issues connected to the processes of constructing multifaceted identities that characterize ethnicity. In 1943, in view of the invasion of Italy, the US asked Italian–Americans to fight against their ancestor country. Nonetheless, they were encouraged to exploit their idealistic roots and their “ethnical” competence to facilitate a “good occupation.” Biographies of Italian–Americans that were in Italy will help us to examine the interplay between Italianness and Americanization in war experience.