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By: Emidio |
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Emidio Piermarini
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My Grandfather, Emidio Piermarini. He was born
and raised in Pretare, Italy, province of Ascoli Piceno, on Emidio Piermarini is the fourth oldest child out of the five. He
went to school until the fifth grade at the local and only school in Pretare. He wasn’t a very good student so therefore he
didn’t like school. Back then you didn’t have to attend school K-12 grades
like we do in the present time. They had to tend to the fields and help the
family financially; that is why some children dropped out of school. As a
youth, my grandfather enjoyed skiing, hanging out with this his friends, and
working with his mules and cows. My grandfather was drafted in the Army when
he was 19 years old. He was excited to go because, in Pretare,
there was little to do; it was a change in everyday life. Being drafted in
the Army gave him and opportunity to travel and see different parts of the
world. The only part he didn’t enjoy was the fighting. My grandfather didn’t
think about serving in the military until he attended camp that prepared him
for war. The camp was called “Balilla.” and
that’s when he changed his mind about serving. When he was drafted the war had not
begun yet. My grandfather was called to serve twice. The first time was
during a time of peace. The second time was during time of fighting. My
grandfather received his basic training in two places. The first time he was
in Southern Italy and the second time was in San Severino, Marche for
two to three months. After his basic training, he went to He was placed in this department
because he had experience as a cook. They taught him how to prepare meals for
large numbers of people. He made a lot of friends during this time, because,
everyone wanted to be the cook’s friend. His day started out by him and his
crew preparing the meals for the day. Of course the food was good. My
grandfather and his crew prepared pasta, rice, soup, beans, and whatever food
there was that he could make a good meal out of. There was really no set time
schedule. They arose early and went to bed whenever the job was done. There
was no free time for them to do what they wanted. The color of my grandfather’s uniform
was green. During his military time, my grandfather lived in tents if they
were in fields, or if they were in a city in The weather was the same as we have in
They traveled by train to the war zone
which had sleeping quarters, and he always had his gun with him (My
grandfather didn’t remember the dates.) He first arrived in Battles were going on while the unit
was occupying My grandfather’s most frightening
experience was when he heard and saw the bullets whistling by him. He thought
he might get shot. My grandfather’s most exhausting experience was when he
was a prisoner of war (POW), and when the allies bombed them. His job was to
go and clean up the streets after the allies bombed. My grandfather was very
excited when he escaped from the prison camp. My grandfather hid in
trees. While in the trees, they heard
gun shots that were different than the Germans. They followed the gun shots and ran into
their allies. My grandfather called the commanding officer by a nickname, “Churchhill.” My grandfather shaved his head really short
because it was really bothering him and it was
falling out, and it was easier to keep clean. My grandfather served as a
support role for other men. My grandfather didn’t keep in contact with any of
his old friends since they were discharged. There would be times that my
grandfather lost friends because they would go into the mountains to go
search for the Greek insurgents. While he was a POW he met other POWs, the
only news that he heard of was what was going on with the war in The only food they ate was the food that
my grandfather prepared. My grandfather’s job as a cook was important because
if you gave the people good food they would fight well, if you gave them bad
food they would fight poorly, also if you gave them good food it would raise
their spirits. My grandfather saw Mussolini
in Guidonia. On a regular basis my
grandfather would receive and write letters to family and friends back home.
After the war ended, and after my grandfather went back home by a stock car,
he had nightmares of the gun fire and bombings. For a job well done, my
grandfather didn’t receive any medals. When my grandfather returned home,
there was a party in his honor. After serving his time in the war, my
grandfather’s duty was over. After getting back to everyday life,
my grandfather went back to working on his farm, and also worked for a
construction company. My grandfather met his future wife, Rosa, in |
