The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-09-07


 ourselves together in creating the Italian American World War Vet. eranS of the United States, Inc, the principles and purposes Of which shall be allegit nee to the United States of America and fidelity to is constitution and laws, To hold aloft the torch of true patriotism; 70 strive for better understanding between nations, that peace and good will may prevail: to eherish and preserve the memories of our military association; and to aid and assist veterans, their widows and or. phans." t...
 There Is no dlVision that has earned more glory, in the battie- fields of France than the Yankee Division, More than one-third of itS membership was made up of ItAlian-A Americana, ,., fs.
 The Italian Machine Gun com. pany of New Haven wat part Of that division. It's battle. .searred flag waves In every one Of our paradeS,
 Relations With naly
 By reason of the fact that three. louTthS. of the American veterans Of our extraction were born in Italy and still have relatives and dealings with their land Of birth and by reA. son of the fact thas more than 100000 of our comrades returned to Italy after the war and many of the Gold Star Mothers, widows and dependents Of our comrades also have thelr permanent abode In Italy, our connection with Italy ls there. fore closer than with any other country In the world,
 There are also more sentimental and commercial bonds with thaI country than with any other foreign country, A large number of our veterans, also aside from ties Of blood, have interests In property there, acquired by succession and purchase.
 Many of our comrades are also Interested and active In Italian American non veterans groups to a corresponding degree that many American citizens are bound with English, German, French, Irish and other racial affiliations.
 Therefore the interests Of our comrades bring us in contact with whatever Italian government exists in Italy, without however, In any way influencing or being directly involved In Italian politics, except In the event that the government ot the United States of America should adopt an interna ational policy dis' erimlnatory against Italy and the Italian race, 0,.
 The active contribution Of the Italian race to the discovery, explo" ration, development and defense oi America have given It . promineht place in It's impartial history, to such an extent that bonds of fTiend' ship between America and Italy ought to be maintained the same aS with other nations who have made possible the creation of our great America,
 Our organization being composed exclusively of American veterans who served In c common cause, where America and Italy were two Of the many allied nations, places US in q fortunate position of prestige and influence with America In that Americans love us for having offered our lives in her hour of need and Italy will never forget us for having behaved nobly and heroicaIly
 National Defense
 We believe In maintaining an armed force on land at sea and In the air adequate to defend oui- selves from foreign and domestic enemies.
 But neither our flag nor our national resources should serve to protect those who choose to ven. ture beyond our national domain.
 At great cost we now know the value of keeping out of fights that are not ours and that 1t does not pay to protect business en- terprises, when our citizens choose to go under foreign dominion to do business.
 When these venturers prosper they pay taxes to foreign nations, when they are in peril they want our flag, the blood of our youth and the resources of our nation to redeem them. ...s.
 This class of citizens is the first to object. when taxes are levied to pay for honoring our departed heroes, support, our Gold Star Mothers, provide decent living for our unfortunate comrades, and maintain our dependents.
 We, who fought. bled, and are the survivors of those who lost their lives heroically for the Stars and Stripes, will ever see that if ever again we must fight, we will fight and die for America and only for America.
 No organization could be of better service in endeavoring to promote and maintain cordial relations with the two great nations who have so much in common. =.
 Our Interest Tn Italian Veterans
 The 300.0O0 or more veterans of the World War, who served in the Italian army, and who with their families constitute almost 100000 of our citizens also look to our or- ganization to preserve the glorious traditions and pleasant associations created by being engaged lli a conl- mon cause, where the defeat of one nation meant the disaster of the other. l