Alessandro Sabbadini papers

Alex Sabbadini (1916-2004) was born Alessandro Sabbadini in Rome, Italy on October 26, 1916 as the youngest of nine children of Umberto and Silvia Sabbadini. Alex traveled to New York as an exhibitor to the World’s Fair in New York in 1939. He anticipated America’s entrance into World War II and planned to volunteer for the U.S. military to fight fascism. His first attempt, after Pearl Harbor, was initially rejected because of his enemy alien status. Eventually, he was accepted into the U.S. Army and was sent to G-2 Intelligence School. He was enrolled in one of the first classes of the Camp Ritchie Military Intelligence Service Training Center, making him an Italian “Ritchie Boy.” He first landed in Casablanca, Morocco then moved on to Tunisia and fought the Italians and Germans. As a Tech Sergeant in the document section, he used his Italian language skills to translate captured enemy documents with advanced troops to decipher troop strengths and movements and other strategic information. He was naturalized an U.S. citizen on the battlefield in North Africa in 1942. He then landed in Sicily and participated in the Sicilian campaign, where he was wounded when his jeep struck a land mine. He was awarded the Purple Heart and sent back into battle for the invasion at Salerno, the battle of Monte Cassino, and the Anzio beachhead. Sabbadini was assigned to a specialized G-2 Advanced Document Section (ADC). When the Anzio landing happened to take place at the same beach where he spent his childhood summers, his Section took up residence in the Sabbadini villa in Nettuno, thereby preserving the home from potential destruction. Sabbadini and the 5th Army fought their way to Rome, where Sabbadini’s family remained in hiding. The Sabbadini family living in Europe continues to view Sabbadini as a war hero and liberator of Italy. He fought in several other land-based campaigns in Northern Italy and France. He and his team captured Mussolini’s headquarters shortly after Mussolini’s narrow escape towards Austria. Sabbadini took the opportunity to sit at Mussolini’s desk and examine his documents. Sabbadini returned to America after the war, met and married Elaine Judy Dreyfus, and had two sons, Roger and Steven.