Grandpa Fought Nazis (So F*ck Off MAGA)

On August 13th I put up a #ThrowbackThursday post on Facebook. It threw all the way back to March 22, 1946. That's the day Grandpa DiPoala was Honorably Discharged from the army. 

James DiPoala had been, in the parlance of his time, "shell shocked." That's a term that originated during World War I to describe PTSD, and my grandfather came back from WW2 suffering from anxiety, depression, tremors and the inability to speak. He didn't recognize my grandmother or his kids. He grew violent. So he had to go live at the VA hospital. My mother was just a baby at the time, so she has no memory of her father. After he went away my grandmother never once mentioned him or took the kids to visit him. He stayed at the VA until he died in 2001. 

I never met my grandfather. Never even saw a picture.

A few years ago I wrote to a guy who is an expert on WW2. He filled me in on some details. 

 

James DiPoala was in the 14th AIB, part of the 1st AD. From Wikipedia: "The 14th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army assigned to the Seventh Army of the Sixth Army Group during World War II. It remains on the permanent roll of the Regular Army as an inactive division, and is eligible for reactivation. The division is officially nicknamed the "Liberators."

 

The Liberators. Awesome.

 

Some people may not know that America was incredibly hostile to Italians back then. Society marginalized Italians as racially inferior. Deemed undesirable. There was harsh xenophobia and anti-Catholic sentiment, leading to violence, including lynchings. My grandfather fought anyway.

 

Before I researched all this I wrote in my blog about Grandpa DiPoala on November 11, 2018...Armistice Day. "I wonder what he was like. I hope he was nice. I know he was a soldier. I wish things had been different. A girl could use a grandpa and I didn't get to have one. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice, Grandpa D."

 

So, my grandfather was a Liberator in World War II. He gave up everything to defend America from fascism. Grandpa was the OG Antifa.

 

You're damn right I'm going to keep telling these MAGA losers to fuck off. I'm a DiPoala. Bring it.👊