Chapters 1 + 2

The book so far is based around the story of an Italian boy named Louie Zampernini and his family. Louie’s father and mother moved from Italy and brought themselves up in a half-acre field with a one-room shack. “If it was edible, Louie stole it.” This is an idea brought up constantly in these chapters about Louie’s daring and witty attempts and successes at stealing, fighting, and causing most other kinds of mischief. The book also says that “Confident that he was clever, resourceful and bold enough to escape any predicament, he was almost incapable of discouragement. When history carried him into the war, this resilient optimism would define him.” A foreshadowing of the next part of the book when he is brought into the Army Air Corps. As someone interested in the armed forces I can identify with that last quote because there are many occasions when I have seen people bring with themselves their outstanding qualities into the military, this is something that I hope I can do with traits that will better me in service.