|
Red Cross, His Way to Serve in WWII
Deborah MacSwain, Special to RedCross.org
Friday, February 10, 2006 — Sixty years ago Joseph Cappiello drove his Army jeep into a cactus patch while trying to avoid a German Fighter plane in Italy. He may have been able to laugh about it years later, but at the time he and his assigned driver were not amused. Besides being scared of being shot, they later spent a lot of time pulling out painful cactus needles.
Born and raised in Chicago, Cappiello wanted to join the war effort and serve overseas. He tried to enlist, but because he was born without fingers on his right hand, he was not considered. He heard that the American Red Cross was looking for men to work as field directors, who would be assigned to U.S. military units and provide the soldiers with messages from home. This was a way to serve. He interviewed and was accepted, and so from 1942-1945 he served the Red Cross as a field director.
His first assignments in 1942 and 1943 took Cappiello to Ft. Bliss, Texas, where he experienced the “brown outs” as the wind storms were called, then to the frigid winters at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, where driving on icy roads was frustrating. He was able to help Hawaiian soldiers – who had never seen snow – adjust to the harsh Wisconsin weather, and he learned the Red Cross messaging system that was used to communicate family problems back home.
Cappiello’s stateside work was short lived. In April 1943, he was shipped overseas and assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment in North Africa. A year later, he was promoted and moved to 4th Corps Headquarters in Italy. Most of the time, Cappiello served with the soldiers that were engaged in combat.
When asked how he felt about being so close to the action, Cappiello quickly replied, “Even after all these years have passed, I remember I was frightened to death hearing the cannon artillery, big guns and retaliation by the enemy. Just like everyone else, I felt some gratification in talking with the servicemen, helping to calm them down, standing by their side and helping with their personal problems. If I could help one out of ten people, it made me happy – that became my motto, even after I returned home.”
Red Cross messages for servicemen came to him via ticker tape “yellow-grams” and letters directly from Red Cross chapters. Often the messages would be what are known today as health and welfare inquiries, advising that the family had not heard from the soldier in some time and were concerned for his “health and welfare.”
Locating the serviceman could be challenging; with little or no communications, Cappiello would go on a search and find mission, talking with military officials to try and locate the service member. Once located, Cappiello said that he would find a quiet space, sometimes under a tree, to give the soldier his message and copy down any response.
Commanders and the soldiers respected him and his fellow Red Crossers, knowing they cared about the welfare of the troops and those all-important dispatches from home.
“Once an Army General asked me why I was not in the Army,” Cappiello said. “I held up my right arm. The General looked aghast and then told me, ‘Welcome, I have heard nothing but great things about you’.”
Cappiello was so well liked and his Red Cross work was so successful that the Army provided him a huge hospital-sized tent, which he made into a multi-purpose area, including a library with a phonograph and records and a canteen-like area where they stowed five-gallon water containers, cookies from home that soldiers donated and candy bars to provide the troops with a little respite.
“We did not have coffee – there was no time for it – we moved often,” he said. “I used two boxes and two crates for my office area in the tent and a foxhole outside to sleep in ‘just in case of enemy fire’.”
Cappiello spoke Italian by virtue of having been raised by Italian born parents. This served him well as he moved through Italy. He acted as interpreter for the military, helped scrounge supplies for the troops, made friends with the Italians and even brought some entertainment to the troops.
“When we were in Milan, Italy, I arranged for ballerinas from the Scala Theatre to perform at the camp. The men loved it, so, I arranged for other singing and dancing groups to come,” he said, adding that he even entertained them himself by singing songs such as “O Solo Mio” in Italian.
He also had a few unusual experiences.
“One day I was on the street and 45 or 46 Italian soldiers walked up to me and surrendered. They had no guns – just did not want to fight,” said Cappiello. “I took them to the compound and turned them in.”
On another occasion, Cappiello had just pulled up in his jeep at a river crossing. It was early morning, and he noticed some reporters trying to shave with very old, used razors.
“I gave them some razors I had, and they were so happy they wrote an article about it,” he said.
Cappiello’s picture and article was published in a 1944 or 1945 edition of Life Magazine. He never did get a copy of that magazine.
Joseph Cappiello passed away last year, the day after Christmas. He was 95 years old and still singing. After receiving his advanced degree in social work from Loyola University in Chicago, he went on to a distinguished and interesting 40-year career specializing in psychiatric and geriatric work. Yet his Red Cross years of service during WWII are tremendously important to him, and he has asked that American and Red Cross flags be displayed at the time of his memorial service.
“The Red Cross did an excellent service in World War II [and] should be honored for its service to the military,” he said. “No other agency could have come closer to providing services to the military as the American Red Cross.”
While history books laud the work of the Red Cross during WWII, people like Joseph Cappiello made it possible. The American Red Cross continues to provide family emergency communications and services to the United States Armed Forces thanks to many dedicated individuals. Last year more than 1,500,000 phone calls and emails were sent on behalf of family and service members worldwide.
The American Red Cross is not a government agency. We rely on the assistance of caring supporters like you to deliver our critical services. You can support U.S. military members and their families through the American Red Cross as we provide assistance and comfort. Your gift will support the nationally coordinated Red Cross services provided to military families across the country and to American service men and women located throughout the world. Please make a financial donation to Service to Armed Forces by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions may be sent to the American Red Cross Service to Armed Forces, P.O. Box 91820, Washington, DC 20090. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
Related Links:
Related Content:
|
