Steve Mancini, the story that no one knows

How many of you have heard of Camp Letterkenny in Pennsylvania? I bet not many, yet it is a part of our Italian history.

Camp Letterkenny was the camp for Italian prisoners of war and its story came to me thanks to Steve Mancini, an American with Italian grandparents who fell in love with the church in the camp. Steve (Stefano for the Italian community) is of Calabrian and Abruzzese origins and made his journey of Abruzzese roots thanks to Letizia Sinisi (creator of the Rooting program).

Together with Letizia and the mayors of the municipalities of Ateleta (AQ) and Taranta Peligna (CH), the towns from which his grandfather left, we gave him the well-deserved Town Ambassador Award (www.townambassador.org). Today Steve teaches Cyber ​​Security at Robert Morris University and is committed to creating new bridges between Italy and its descendants in America.

First, we begin the journey with Steve's story and then we arrive at that of the camp and the AMPIL association that brings together all the descendants of its prisoners.

Steve grew up with his Calabrian grandmother, his parents divorced when he was only 3 years old and Grandmother Agnes took care of him. He spent his childhood playing with children from other families of Italian origin.

When he grew up, he enlisted in the American National Guard and spent a lot of time in Asia and other parts of the world. When he retired from military life, he felt the need to go back to find his elderly 94-year-old grandmother who, shortly after seeing him again, ascended to heaven.

The emotions were very strong, and Steve felt he had to recover the bond with his grandmother through the rediscovery of his 'Italian side' and finally come to visit Italy. His journey of discovery, even internal, starts from Calabria where his grandmother's words had remained in his heart, while for the Abruzzo side of his grandfather he asked Letizia for help.

Calabria, with the kindness of its inhabitants, heals his life's wounds and makes him want to discover not only his origins, but also to understand how to pass on these emotions to his 3 children. And today to his first grandchild, a few months old.

He starts a radio program dedicated to Italian Americans, which has now evolved into a series of podcasts, and studies Italian, which he speaks fluently. And precisely to practice Italian, he attends one of the clubs in Pittsburgh where he meets Antonio Brescianini, president of AMPIL - Association for the Memory of Italian Prisoners in Letterkenny, which hosted about 1,200 Italian soldiers.

The camp was also an important logistical hub for American troops at war and the Italians stood out for their industriousness. The life of the prisoners was decent and allowed many exchanges with civilians engaged like them in the management of the military base, and for this reason some Italians have 'started' families in the USA.

In fact, from the AMPIL website (https://www.ampil.it/il-campo/) we read: “In their free time, after work and on weekends, the cooperators could devote themselves to their favorite activities, including sports, music, and crafts. As for sports, soccer played a major role. Meetings were frequent and actual tournaments were also organized. As for music, an orchestra, a band, and a choir were created. On weekends, dance lovers could perform with the Italian American women who came with their families to visit the camp. Some spent their time building, with painstaking patience, model ships.

Some prisoners were involved in the construction of buildings and structures to use for their needs. The most important was certainly the Church, which still exists and has become a protected historical monument, but we should also remember the Post Assembly Hall, the building where Americans and Italians gathered to watch films, attend theater shows, and play indoor sports. They also built a semi-amphitheater, where the orchestra performed in the good season and the prisoners could dance with the female guests on the weekends and which was the favorite place to be photographed”.

And we come to the church because it is still the descendants who take care of it and this story fascinated Steve Mancini who wanted to make the documentary «Loyalty. Soldiers. Prisoners» thanks to Blacksheep’d Production. The docu-film has already been previewed at the University of Notre Dame in Rome in September and in Milan.

When Steve met Letizia (http://www.italyrooting.com) he didn't imagine that she would make him live a truly unforgettable experience, an immersion in the culture of the real Italy, that of the small villages, where people are still authentic. Together with the mayors, Letizia and Destination Italia searched for all of Steve's family connections still alive and transformed his discovery into a real event.

Letizia directed the day, helped on the territory by Antonio Corrado, Rooting Abruzzo delegate for the World, and in collaboration with Destination Italia Local Experts. Together they selected the most authentic experiences so that the reconnection to the roots would transform into a truly memorable event for Steve.

The mayor Francesco Piccone of Taranta Peligna and the mayor Marco Passalacqua of Ateleta managed to involve all the residents who participated in the demonstrations in the square in honor of Steve Mancini, their prodigal son. In Ateleta, an entire school was involved, and a video was prepared about his grandfather John Amedeo Mancini to get him into the spirit of the real Abruzzo.

Steve and his crew filmed everything and will soon make a film about his return and life in Abruzzo where the traditions of the festivals in the square with dances, folk songs and genuine food (including the Panicelle di San Biagio) blend with the image of a modern Italy tailored to young people.

At the end of the visit to the two towns, Steve was moved: "You didn't just give me back my roots: you brought me home!".