A Gaetano in America: My unexpected journey from Gaeta, Italy to the United States

By Raymond A. Vaudo

This is the untold story of a proud Italian named Pietro Paolo Vaudo who was born in Gaeta, Italy, in 1915. Through his memoirs, he recalls his early years of schooling and some memorable misadventures that lured him into the workforce at an early age. He recounts his family’s fishing business and his contentious relationship with his oldest brother. Although he learned to fish as a young child, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with the prospects of living his whole life as a fisherman in the small town of Gaeta.
He joined the Italian Navy shortly before his twentieth birthday for a tour of 28 months. At that time, he had no idea of the true duration of his military service and of the harsh and perilous events that were to come. As World War II raged on, Italy extended his naval service, and he was subsequently captured by the Germans as a prisoner of war. He shares with us his unexpected travels and remarkable events as a prisoner of war with incredible detail. As his captors moved him from place-to-place, he shares with us his thoughts of survival as he holds out hope of returning home to his birthplace - Gaeta, Italy.
Not long after his return to Gaeta, he told his mother and family that he was “going to America.” He details his travels to America and his unusual “Italian style” courtship with his wife-to-be. The journey to America and his courtship were also not flawless undertakings. He persevered and made it to America, married, and had a son to carry forward the Vaudo surname and family lineage. He stayed in “America” the rest of his life but chose to remain an Italian citizen residing in the United States.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ali Ribelli Edizioni
• Release date: Jul 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9791222429939

Book preview

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A Gaetano in America.

My unexpected journey from Gaeta, Italy to the United States

by Raymond A. Vaudo

Publisher director: Jason R. Forbus

Graphic design and layout: Sara Calmosi

Published by Ali Ribelli Edizioni, Gaeta 2023©

Fiction – Memoirs

www.aliribelli.com – [e-mail]

Any reproduction of this book is strictly forbidden, even partially, with means of any kind, without the clear authorization of the Publisher.

A GAETANO IN AMERICA

My unexpected journey from

Gaeta, Italy to the United States

Raymond A. Vaudo

AliRibelli

Contents

Preface

Forward

Vaudo Family Background and Surname

Background and Setting

My School Years – 1922-1926

Working In the Family Business – 1927-1934

I’m in the Royal Italian Navy Now – 1934

Recalled to the Royal Italian Navy – August 1939

The Armistice Is Signed – Italy Surrenders to the Allies

Movement into Russian Occupied Territory – January 1945

Final Destination – Italy

I’m Going to America!

I’m Staying in America?

Working in the Meatpacking Business

When Are You Going to Get Married?

Beyond the Memoirs

Solving the Mysterious Time Gap

From Surprise Immigration Visit to Legal Resident Alien

A Gaetano’s One Way Ticket to America

APPENDICES

Map of Overall Prisoner of War Journey (Begins in Vlore – Bottom Center)

Pietro Paolo Vaudo Family Tree - Immediate Family

Preface

I am honored to have the opportunity to write the preface for this remarkable book, which tells the captivating story of Pietro Paolo Vaudo, or as I fondly called him, Paul. As I reflect on the events that brought us together and the experiences we shared, I am reminded of the indomitable spirit of the people from Gaeta, Italy (Gaetanos) who sought a better life in the United States.

I was born in Gaeta, Italy in 1932, and became part of a wave of Southern Italians who ventured across the Atlantic to improve their living conditions. At the age of seven, I traveled on a passenger liner with my mother to join my father, who had already established himself in Somerville, Massachusetts. We lived among the many Gaetano families that had already settled in the East Cambridge and Somerville areas of Massachusetts.

One evening in December 1947, my father traveled by train to Brooklyn, New York, to reunite with Paul, a relative from Gaeta who had recently been hired as a merchant seaman on a ship bound for foreign ports. When Paul routinely got off the ship that evening to have dinner, his co-workers told him to stay ashore as they had secretly arranged for my father to come pick him up and to take him to our home in Somerville.

The following morning, as a fifteen-year-old boy, I met Paul for the first time, a man over twice my age. Over the next several months we spent a lot of time together as he became acclimated to the surrounding areas. He shared with me aspects of the extraordinary life he had led—growing up in a family of fishermen, serving in the Italian Navy, and enduring two years as a prisoner of war.

When Paul first arrived in America, he did not expect to stay. However, with the urging of co-workers and my parents, he was soon convinced that he could pursue the American dream alongside his fellow Gaetanos. Guided by my father, who worked in the meatpacking business, Paul sought employment in the same industry. However, opportunities were scarce during the winter season, prompting him to join me in clearing snow from neighborhood homes to earn a few dollars.

Months passed, and Paul began to doubt whether his American dream would materialize. Yet, with my father’s persistence, he finally secured a job as a sausage maker—a role he quickly mastered. With stable employment, Paul was able to support himself, find lodging, and gradually build a life in American.

Over the next few years, my parents encouraged Paul to consider marriage to an Italian woman of Gaetan descent, preferably one born in the United States. While Paul initially brushed off the idea, fate intervened when he was introduced to Josephine, a woman of Gaetan descent working in the same clothing factory as my mother.

Their relationship blossomed and they soon decided to marry, but it was not without challenges from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, particularly during Paul’s seasonal work as a commercial fisherman in San Pedro, California. Eventually, in March 1952, they exchanged vows at St. Anthony’s Church in Somerville, with me serving as the Best Man. With his marriage to a U.S.-born woman, Paul secured permanent residency in the United States.

With immigration hurdles behind them, Paul and Josephine welcomed their son, Raymond, in April 1954. I was deeply honored when I was asked to be Raymond’s godfather, and I witnessed the joy of his baptism in June of the same year. Several years later, Paul and his family made the decision to relocate to San Pedro, California—a place that evoked memories of our beloved Gaeta. There, he resumed his work in the meatpacking industry, the trade introduced to him by my father.

Reflecting on Paul’s journey and the role I played in his assimilation to American life, I am reminded of the incredible resilience and determination displayed by the Gaetan people who crossed the ocean seeking a better future. Paul’s dedication and hard work enabled him to find satisfaction and success in America, all while leaving an enduring mark on his adopted home. Although he physically left Gaeta in 1947, it is clear that he carried a piece of our cherished hometown with him to the United States.

I am immensely grateful that this book now immortalizes Paul’s fascinating and extraordinary life story. Through the pages of this book, readers will come to know a man who overcame adversity, embraced opportunity, and became an integral part of two worlds—the one he left behind and the one he embraced with unwavering determination.

May Paul’s story serve as a testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit, the power of community, and the potential for dreams to take root and flourish, no matter where life’s currents may lead us.

Cosmo Capobianco

Civil Engineer, Retired

Arlington, Massachusetts

Forward

I assembled this book to capture and share my father’s story, a request that he made to me in the late 1990’s prior to his passing. It chronicles his personal stories about growing up in Gaeta, Italy in the early 1900s, his military and wartime struggles to survive, and the achievement of his post-World War II goal of venturing beyond his birthplace and going to America.

The vivid details and experiences are taken directly from my father’s written memoirs and audio cassette recordings. Since my birth, my father only spoke to me in the Gaetan dialect. Although it’s now commonly referred to as a dialect, it was essentially the language spoken in the Gaeta area, as Gaeta’s history pre-dates the establishment of the now standard Italian language. Our spoken dialect became somewhat frozen in time to the late 1940’s when my father departed his homeland for the last time. In our home, the Gaetan dialect was our only language. My mother’s family was also from Gaeta and my mother also grew up speaking the same dialect with her parents and other family members.

While growing up, my father would occasionally attempt to tell me interesting stories about his life. But the stories, filled with many geographical locations, details, and names of people, were complicated and difficult to understand. Throughout the years, I half-listened to bits and pieces of his stories when they spontaneously popped into his mind. Since I lacked the full context and understanding that he gained through his life experiences, I felt like I would have to put together a complex 500-piece jigsaw puzzle without having a reference image of the completed puzzle. Also, since only a handful of random puzzle pieces would be verbally given to me at a time, it was obvious that I would never be able to put together the full picture that he wanted to convey.

When he entered his early eighties, in the mid-1990s, he realized that his health and energy were beginning to wane. He told me that he really wanted to verbally share some events and experiences about his life with me. Most of his sharables were vivid memories and virtual images that had already been stored in his mind for over 50 years. I quickly realized that it would be difficult for me to listen, translate the information from the Gaetan dialect in my head, and write down my own detailed notes in English. Not only would it take many hours, the level of frustration