When American Tom Mandese traveled to Italy last September, he went with a dual purpose.

One reason for the trip was to attend the “Paths to Freedom” event in Servigliano and to see PG 59, the camp where his grandfather, Joe Mandese, had been interned during WWII. The other, equally important, purpose was to visit the descendants of Enrico and Rosa Cardinali, who had protected his grandfather from mid-September 1943 to early June 1944.

“One of my aunts, Aunt Rose—Rose Anne (Mandese) Serpa—had been to Italy a number of years ago and met some of the family,” Tom told me. “During that trip, she met the Cardinali granddaughters. So my family had already established a little bit of a relationship.”

When I saw Tom on the first day of “Paths to Freedom,” he had just come from the Cardinali home. He was aglow from the experience and keen to share it.

Tom’s story is below. First, here’s a little background on his grandfather:

Joseph Mandese

Joe Mandese was born in Tampa, Florida, on 6 March 1919. He moved with his family to New York in 1930. Joe’s education ended after one year of high school when he began work in the paper manufacturing industry. And then, at age 19, he was inducted into the United States Army.

Joe was sent overseas in 1942. After training and troop transfer prep in Ireland and England, he was deployed to North Africa, where he saw action in Algeria and Tunisia. He was captured by the Germans on 6 December 1942 near Tunis.

In Italy, he was first interned in PG 66 Capua, a transit camp; on January 1 he was admitted to Ospedale Caserta (Caserta Hospital), where he received medical care for three weeks; on January 22 he was transferred to PG 50 in Rome, where he was interrogated; and finally, on February 5, he was moved to PG 59 Servigliano.

After escaping from PG 59 in the camp breakout in September 1943, Joe and four fellow escapees—Peter Calvagno, Edmond Petrelli, Tony Spicola, and Phil Vacca—walked as far as Monte San Martino.

According to Phil Vacca, the five men first hid in a corn shed. When they were discovered by local farmers, widow Maria Virgili and her family took Phil in, and the other four escapees stayed close by with sharecropper families. Joe was cared for by the family of Enrico and Rosa Cardinali.

All five men remained in the area until June 1944, when they learned of the invasion of Normandy and decided it was time to head south. They crossed the Allied lines the following month near Foggia. By Joe’s own count, he had been in captivity and on the run for a total of 665 days.

On his return to the States, we know that Joe reached out to the Cardinalis. In a letter to Phil Vacca, dated 3 March 1945, Maria Virgili wrote: “Prisoner Giuseppe Montesi wrote twice, and wrote two long, long letters to Cardinali, where he says he’s been discharged and is home, and many more news.” (Although she referred to Joe by the Italian version of his name, Giuseppe, and she misspelled his surname, she was clearly writing of him.)

After the war, Joe found work as a film processor for the Army Pictorial Center in Queens, New York. It was a career that would span 30 years, with Joe retiring in 1970.

Tom’s Visit with the Cardinalis

Tom shared these memories of his visit with Cardinali family:

“Early on the day of my visit with the Cardinalis, I met with Enrico and Rosa Cardinali’s grandson Simone. It was like the meeting of two grandsons—one American and one Italian! 

“We spoke English, we had coffee, and then he said, “Hey, I want to give you a quick tour.” I was thinking, “Oh, I’m going to be with him the full day.” But then he added, “Oh, and my parents want to have lunch.” Then I realized—wow! They had a full agenda planned out for me. 

“The Cardinalis were excited to meet me—to meet someone new from my grandfather’s family. Simone’s parents don’t speak English, but they do know a few English words. They even made the visit more special by inviting cousins of Simone and his brother Andrea: Alessandro and Brianna. Of course, they all share the same grandfather, Enrico Cardinali, who helped my grandfather. 

“The family had lived in the same house for generations, you know, as they all had the same grandfather and great grandfather.

“The family owns the land that the original house is on. The old house is in the same exact condition it was in during the war. The house where Engina and Graziano now live is just up the hill on the same property.

“Enrico Cardinali had three sisters, two of whom were twins. Only one from that generation—one of the twins—is still living. She lives with her son, an hour or two drive from Simone’s family. I think she’s in her late eighties or 90—she would have been alive at the time my grandfather was in hiding, but she’d have been a child. 

“To me, being with the family in Italy felt really full circle—you know, we’re all like the next generation, these cousins and me. They’re a bit older than me, but also of the same generation. After lunch, they all showed me around the property. They said, “We’ll show you where your grandfather was hidden. We went up the hill, and one of them knew the exact spot where he hid, where their grandfather had been bringing food to my grandfather and another soldier.”

Although Tom’s fathers (Joe’s son Anthony) did not travel to Italy, Tom found a way to bring Italy to him at his home in the States.

“I was able to reach my dad in the U.S. on WhatsApp,” Tom explained, “so he could experience what we were doing. That was really special for him. My dad’s not really a big flyer, so it would have been hard for me to get him there.

”Because of the time difference, it was about six in the morning for him. He was overcome with emotion. My dad can speak a little Italian. But it was of kind of fun for me, because he was so excited that he started speaking Spanish instead. I’m like, ‘Dad, they’re not understanding you!’ I also took photos to show him later, but it was fun to include him and show him the spot in real time—at the same moment I was there experiencing it. 

“I was never able to get clarity from the Cardinalis on who the other soldier hidden on their property was. The guys were there upwards of nine months.

“My grandfather had contact with the family after the war, but he wasn’t the type that’d say, ‘Hey let’s visit,’ whereas my Aunt Rose was like, ‘Yeah—how do we arrange this?’

“It was more like he gave permission to her—‘If you’d like, go ahead and make contact.’ 

“My grandfather loved the Yankees. He’d watch the Yankee games with me. He loved horses and horse racing—he’d bet on the horses, even if it was only a dollar or two. And he loved gardening. It was the little things that made him happy.

“He was very quiet—I’d say stoic. He was always grateful, but he could be stubborn, too. I was young in the days when he was older, and so I was able to do things for him, like take to the doctor’s, or to the track, or other places.

“In my growing up, I felt he always held me in high regard. I think maybe sometimes I didn’t hold myself in such high regard—so he always did that for me. He would come watch my sports growing up. It was a big thing for him—like showing he loved me.

“I think he saw a bit of himself in me, so a special kind of bond formed between us. When I look at a picture of my grandfather, I’m impressed by how much I look like him. My grandmother was Italian, whereas he was Sicilian.

“My grandfather wasn’t all about accolades or medals. He didn’t want to discuss his experiences, but he knew about good and evil—that there has to be a common bond among nations—and that’s really what he devoted himself to. He lived to be 95. He died when I was 24. The biggest thing for me was that I had a lot of time with him, especially that when I was a kid I was able to do so much with him.

“I might have asked him for more details about the war—maybe not, you know, pushed for it, but just asked a few more questions. He was the nicest guy in the world and he would do anything for you, but there were times he was almost a scary presence in the way he’d look at you. If you look at what he experienced, you recognize that’s the kind of a casualty of war the vets carried. 

“My grandparents lived close by my home, and my grandfather was at every family event. We all grew up in towns that were five to ten minutes apart. We’re a very close family—we’re big, but we’re very close.  I live in Woodridge, New Jersey, and back then he lived in Lynnhurst, about ten minutes away. 

“My grandfather lived in a few different areas growing up: Tampa, Florida; Harlem in New York; and Jersey City. I think all the moving around played a major role in his early years. 

“My cousins and I always wanted to make him proud. So to continue his legacy—to really honor him—that’s the biggest thing.

”I think if he was still around to know that I went there to Italy, it would have meant a lot to him.”

See also “A Belated Bronze Star for Joe Mandese,” “Joe Mandese—The Burden of Remembrance,” and “Joe Mandese’s Longest Battle.”

SCHEDA PERSONALE P. G.
[PERSONAL CARD of PRIGIONIERO DI GUERRA, prisoner of war]

Cognome e nome [Surname and name]: Mandese, Giuseppe [ Joseph]
Paternità [Father]: Antonino
Maternità [Mother]: Rosa
Grado [Rank]: Pte [private]
Matricola [Service number]: 32188839
Arma-Corpo [Service unit]: Inf. [Infantry]
Data e luogo di nascita [Date and place of birth]: 6 March 1919, Tampa, Florida
Nazionalità [Nationality]: American
Stato civile [Marital status]: Single
Religione [Religion]: Catholic
Professione [Occupation]: Cabnoraio
Domicilio [Residence]: 186 East 111 Street, Harlem, New York
Data e luogo di cattura [Date and place of capture]: 6 December 1942 Nr [perhaps near] Tunis by the Germans

Giorno/Mese/Anno/Variazione
[Day/Month/Year/Change]
11 December 1942 CC 66 [Capua, a transit camp]
1 January 1943 Presente Ospedale Caserta [admitted to Caserta Hospital]
22 January 1943 CC 50 [Caserna Genova Cavalleria – storage centre, Rome]
5 February 1943 C 59

For other accounts of visits last September of escaped POWs’ families and the families of their Italian protectors, read ”A VanSlooten-Palmoni Family Reunion,” and “A Joyous Reunion—the David Garcia and Umberto Capannolo Families Meet.”