On Mar 5, 10:39 am, Gig 601XL Builder
wrote:

As a second generation Italian-American on my fathers side I've heard
plenty. But the reason you don't hear as many is because the Italians
don't think they are great warriors.

The best isn't really a joke though. When, during the first Persian Gulf
War, a bunch of Iraqis supposedly surrendered to an Italian news crew
the joke was that they had taken more POWs than the entire Italian Army
during WWII.

Keep in mind, Jay has a minor in History, but...

One reason the Italians had no great desire for battle wasn't a
particular lack of courage or combativeness -- Italians can be as
pusillanimous as any people.

The fact was the "Italian nation" was still in formation at the time
of WW2. The federation of City States that were united only after
Napoleon (A Frenchman, no less) completely reset the political
organization of the peninsula.

Italian nationalists pushed for unification all through the 19th
century, but what appeal this had for the common Italian is lost. All
we have are individual recollections, and those Immigrant Italians I
have known are very clear that they are from Naples or Sicily or
Calabria.

While Mussolini had grand fascist visions of restoration of the Roman
Empire, apparently -- in most cases -- his enlistees did not share his
grand vision, and fought with less than alacrity.

This does not mean Italians are "Unsuited for war." All men (in the
generic sense) are unsuited for war. What makes them suited is some
combination of impulse, desire, conviction, training, and purpose.

Provide that, and you can lead Frenchmen to Moscow.

Dan