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224 of 233 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was there!, March 13, 2002
Review of Miracle at St.Anna by James McBride, Riverhead Books. When I saw the title of the James McBride book Miracle at St.Anna I thought to myself : "could that be the same Sant'Anna di Stazzema that I described in my 1998 book Trapped in Tuscany, Liberated by the Buffalo Soldiers? " I purchased the book and discovered that it was the same Sant'Anna and that the McBride story takes place in the same area of Tuscany in which I, as a young American boy, found myself trapped for the duration of World War II.
I read the story with much interest hoping to have a better understanding of the relationship between the African-American soldiers of the 92nd Infantry division and the Italian people from Tuscany. During WWII I was located in the village of Diecimo, 10 miles from Lucca, in the Serchio River valley leading to the Garfagnana region and the towns of Barga, Sommocolonia, and Castelnuovo. Diecimo was located in the widest part of the valley, which became part of the German Gothic Line of defense. My mother, father and I arrived from Boston in Diecimo the first of August 1939 for a short vacation. My mother and father emigrated to Boston in 1920. Both were native of Diecimo and each had parents living in the village. Shortly after our arrival my father suffered a life threatening heart attack, thus we remained trapped in Italy for the duration of the war.
In mid July 1944 the German command forced the evacuation of the valley. We managed to escape, carrying what we could, and hid out in the village of Convalle, a short distance from Sant'Anna di Stazzema, until we were liberated on September 30 by the Buffalo soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division.
James McBride describes the relationships between the African-American soldiers and their white superiors in a very realistic way. He also explores the relationship between the Italian citizens, the Partisans and the American troops so that the reader has a very good understanding of the feelings between the various groups during the time of war.
When the Negro soldiers (as they were called then) arrived in Diecimo I was 14 years old. As a child I lived in Brighton, which is a suburb of Boston, and it was very common to associate with people of various races and ethnic backgrounds. The people of Italy had been exposed to people from the African Italian colonies of Somalia and Ethiopia via newsreels, magazines and newspaper articles and photographs . It was common knowledge that the people from Africa were black skinned people. One of my teachers had spent time in Somalia with her husband, both were teachers in Africa. When the black soldiers arrived in Diecimo the villagers thought that they were simply Americans and that they were the ones who liberated Italy from the Fascists and the Germans. The soldiers were greeted with open arms, and the people were relieved that the was would be over soon. The soldiers were very comforting to the people and gave them food and clothing. In exchange people offered soldiers rooms and beds in their houses, which were far better than sleeping in tents during the cold and wet winter.
As soon as the 92nd Infantry Division soldiers arrived I made myself available to them as an interpreter and helper. I helped them unload supply trucks coming from Leghorn and helped them deliver the supplies to companies and squads stationed in the nearby areas. The front line was established in the Barga area, about 8 miles from Diecimo and there was always the danger of bombardments. During the evenings many soldiers visited our home because we spoke English and we reminded them of an American household. Soldiers brought food supplies and often my mother prepared a nice hot dinner for them including fresh vegetables and eggs which they craved. We also offered plenty of wine for the soldiers. There was no electricity; the only available light was derived from filling a coke bottle with American gasoline, stuffing a cloth wick in the bottle, then carefully lighting the wick with a match. We were fortunate that the "Molotov cocktails" did not explode!
On Christmas Eve 1944 we hosted a Christmas dinner for several African-American soldiers. My mother prepared a good dinner using available food from the village, supplemented by U.S. Army food. We had a candle lit dinner, drank wine, sang Christmas carols, and the soldiers danced to American music with my mother, our teacher friend and another lady. This was a memorable and unforgettable evening that I will never forget.
At that time, unknown to our guests, the Germans were planning a major battle near Barga and during the night began to push theAmerican soldiers back into the valley. James McBride describes the battle in his book and the Americans suffered many casualties.
The massacre at Sant'Anna di Stazzema occurred on August 12, 1944. Five hundred and seventy persons, mostly women, children and old people were killed in the piazza, not in the church of Sant'Anna. It was a reprisal towards the Italian people who helped the Partisans. The German soldiers were under the command of Major Walter Reder, a 29 year old from Austria. Miracle at St.Anna evolves around Sant'Anna and brings together soldiers and a small Italian boy. A relation ship develops between the boy and a giant chocolate soldier named Train. I enjoyed the book, the story give me a better understanding of how the African-American soldiers felt about the war, a better understanding than I had from my first hand experience with the Buffalo soldiers. I questioned a few technical things in the story. The electricity in Italy was different than U.S. electricity during that period of time U.S. electricity was 60 cycles and 120 volts. Italian electricity was 50 cycles 240 volts not compatible with U.S. electrical devices. It would not be proper to plug in a telephone or radio to charge the batteries. At that time telephone or military radios were operated on D.C. provided by non-rechargeable batteries. Electricity was not available for a long periods of time during the time period in the book because generating stations and transmission line were destroyed by the war.
I highly recommend Miracle at St.Anna along with my book Trapped in Tuscany, Liberated by the Buffalo Soldiers. One can better understand the relationship between the Italians and the liberating U.S. Army troops.
Tullio Bertini
...
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buffalo soldiers in wartime Italy and a magical story, May 12, 2002
Based on a historical incident of a massacre in a small village in Tuscany during WW2, James McBride's novel deals with the role of African-American soldiers, sometimes called the Buffalo soldiers, commanded by white southern officers. I expected this story to be about this and to also learn more about the Italian campaign. I was unprepared, however, to find myself in the middle of a tale constructed with magic realism, introducing some very memorable characters, the background for the story being just that - a background. Because of the stupidity of their commanders, four of these soldiers find themselves far behind enemy lines. One of the men is a simple-minded giant who has rescued a small Italian boy from the rubble; one of the men is graduate of Howard University; one is a small-time preacher and outspoken hustler; and one is a Puerto Rican who can speak Italian because he has grown up in an Italian neighborhood. Eventually they find their way to a town that has known its share of sadness. Throughout the book, there are unexplained miracles, such as rabbits that mysteriously multiply under the floorboards of an elderly Italian's bedroom. And there are also some silly editorial mistakes, such as a man of 67 thinking back to his relationship with a lost love 40 years before when he was 17. It made me wonder if the author did this on purpose or whether he just couldn't do the arithmetic. However, the strength of the story did make up for my doubts, and I was swept along with it, especially as it neared the end. Even though it's about war, there are good and bad people on all sides. And, actually, it is a German soldier who performs a vital act of heroism and compassion. A mystical quality pervades everything and the writing is strong and evocative. It put me right there in that village of Tuscany and yet there was something about it that made me know that these people and the village could never really have existed the way they were described. This was such a contrast to the author's former best selling memoir, "The Color of Water" that I had to readjust my thinking and let myself be placed into this magical world he took such a risk to create. I applaud him for his efforts.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A touch of divinity in war torn Italy, December 25, 2005
James McBride's "Miracle at St. Anna" is a tenderly written, marvelously manufactured and historically and socially relevant story about an incredible incident is a small Tuscany village during World War 2. The story commences with a brief description of an inexplicable present day murder committed by a Puerto Rican postal worker Hector Negron against one of his customers. We then flashback to Italy in December 1944 in the waning days of the war. A group of 4 American soldiers, members of the fabled Buffalo Soldiers of the 15,000 all black 92nd Division find themselves lost miles away from their lines in the Tuscan mountain valley village of St. Anna di Stazzema. The multilingual Negron is a member of that group including Train, a simple giant of a man, Bishop, a shifty hustler and the cerebral Lt. Stamps. Train, confused after an aborted skirmish in which he was wounded ambled off into the village and the other men went to find him. Train discovered a dazed and confused young boy injured very badly due to a building collapse and became his guardian, believing the boy was imbued with sacred mystical powers. The men were welcomed by the local villagers who shared their meager provisions with their dark skinned saviors. Little by little we examine the characters both American and Italians through McBride's insightful prose. The men are cut off from their command but after receiving radio contact are ordered to stay put and if possible capture a German prisoner. A group of Italian partisans known to the villagers enters the town lead by a man called Peppi and his lieutenant Rodolfo, with a German deserter. We learn from the young boy, who gradually recovers from his injuries and begins to talk that the Germans had massacred more than 560 innocent villagers in the church of St. Anna, in reprisal for partisan activity. This fact is corroborated by the partisans. Peppi believes that the slaughter was precipated by a betrayal and endeavors to use the American soldiers to uncover the traitor. Meanwhile the ragged German troops are mobilizing a huge force to forge a last ditch offensive within this Italian valley region. As the battle reaches the village a startling series of events occurs which makes us believe that there was divine intervention. The reasons for Negron's slaying of the customer become crystal clear. McBride's novel is an important piece of literature because it accurately describes the prevalent social mores of the time. The black soldiers, while allowed to die for their country, are discriminated against by their superiors. They are for the most part lead by white commanding officers, many of whom are Southern racists. Any black officers are that in just name only and are prevented from making command decisions. McBride successfully integrates his social commentary, with history and spirituality to create a deeply moving tale.
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