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About
Donato De Simone
WORLD WAR II EVENTS NARRATED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHILDREN CAUGHT IN THE WEB OF ADULT INSANITY
A young boy . . . a beautiful town . . . stalked by the Nazis
bombed by the Allies . . . hiding Jewish refugees
Abruzzos mini-holocaust . . . meeting Padre Pio
escape to a new life in America
Growing up in the tranquility of the Abruzzo region of Italy, Donato De Simone, Danny to his friends, was abruptly plunged into the violence of war as the Germans and Allies contested for the Sangro River in a major World War II battle. Now, after decades of pondering the meaning of these events, Danny recalls the drama of his times.
Mixing humorous touches with his graphic descriptions, he creates for his readers a vivid picture of life in wartime: the nomadic journeys trying to escape the Nazis; the drama of a downed British airman sheltered by his grandfather in a barn; the little-known story of Jewish refugees hidden from the exterminators by sympathetic Italians; watching Allied bombers shot down by German antiaircraft batteries and sent crashing into the Adriatic Sea; finally finding his home destroyed. These are the circumstances under which Danny grew up.
His shrewd mothers planning enabling her family to escape German terror, the familys hardships as they slept in a hastily-constructed air raid shelter, titanic efforts to avoid stepping on personnel or anti-car mines, praying that bombs from both sides would miss themall are created anew by this masterful story-teller.
The normal educational patterns having been disrupted by war, Danny struggled to learn in makeshift classrooms. After finally succeeding in rejoining his father to America, Danny faced further challenges trying to adjust to a new life, a new culture and a new language.
Finally returning to Italy, he married Anna Maria, his childhood sweetheart and fellow war survivor. Returning to America at the urging of Anna Marias father, former U.S. Army private Ernesto Fantini, Danny sailed the Andrea Doriathe trip before she sank! Danny and Anna Maria raised their family in Norristown, Pa., and on June 2, 2006, they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. We must have done something wrong, Danny quips. In fifty years we never even had a serious argument!
Danny met Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, now Saint Pio, twice as a teenager before coming to America, and once in 1956 together with Anna Maria on their honeymoon. It was an unforgettable experience for both to go to confession and receive Holy Communion from the sainted man who bore on his body the signs of the crucifixion.
WORLD WAR II EVENTS NARRATED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHILDREN CAUGHT IN THE WEB OF ADULT INSANITY
A young boy . . . a beautiful town . . . stalked by the Nazis
bombed by the Allies . . . hiding Jewish refugees
Abruzzos mini-holocaust . . . meeting Padre Pio
escape to a new life in America
Growing up in the tranquility of the Abruzzo region of Italy, Donato De Simone, Danny to his friends, was abruptly plunged into the violence of war as the Germans and Allies contested for the Sangro River in a major World War II battle. Now, after decades of pondering the meaning of these events, Danny recalls the drama of his times.
Mixing humorous touches with his graphic descriptions, he creates for his readers a vivid picture of life in wartime: the nomadic journeys trying to escape the Nazis; the drama of a downed British airman sheltered by his grandfather in a barn; the little-known story of Jewish refugees hidden from the exterminators by sympathetic Italians; watching Allied bombers shot down by German antiaircraft batteries and sent crashing into the Adriatic Sea; finally finding his home destroyed. These are the circumstances under which Danny grew up.
His shrewd mothers planning enabling her family to escape German terror, the familys hardships as they slept in a hastily-constructed air raid shelter, titanic efforts to avoid stepping on personnel or anti-car mines, praying that bombs from both sides would miss themall are created anew by this masterful story-teller.
The normal educational patterns having been disrupted by war, Danny struggled to learn in makeshift classrooms. After finally succeeding in rejoining his father to America, Danny faced further challenges trying to adjust to a new life, a new culture and a new language.
Finally returning to Italy, he married Anna Maria, his childhood sweetheart and fellow war survivor. Returning to America at the urging of Anna Marias father, former U.S. Army private Ernesto Fantini, Danny sailed the Andrea Doriathe trip before she sank! Danny and Anna Maria raised their family in Norristown, Pa., and on June 2, 2006, they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. We must have done something wrong, Danny quips. In fifty years we never even had a serious argument!
Danny met Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, now Saint Pio, twice as a teenager before coming to America, and once in 1956 together with Anna Maria on their honeymoon. It was an unforgettable experience for both to go to confession and receive Holy Communion from the sainted man who bore on his body the signs of the crucifixion.