was the first day of the occupation of Mykistee, and everything went well.
This small Greek island is very remote and has no strategic value. I don't know how the gentlemen of the military will remember it here. In my opinion, this operation was more like an exile. My seven brothers and I were from different troops, all of whom were not able to fight but survived on the battlefield. Oh, and a donkey, it's Elicio's, the countryman has taken his donkey with him from the first day he's been on the battlefield, he named the donkey Sivana, and Sivana was his love, Sivana. Vana wasn't going anywhere if he didn't go. Our task is to occupy, observe, and maintain contact with the rear, where we will be stationed for four months.
The village on the island was deserted, except for a sign on the pier: "Greece is the grave of the Italians". This makes us a little nervous.
We just shot a hen, the only Greek creature to attack us so far, and Sergeant Lorenzo was making dinner with it.
Oh yes, one more thing to note, the Garibaldi, the troop carrier that brought us, was sunk on the way back, I saw it through the telescope, so 4 In a month or so we will return to Italy on another ship.
Most of the island was scouted today , June 2, 1941,
and still no one was found. I decided to build a lookout post on the top of the mountain, which made the Munalong brothers, who had been seasick, overjoyed. They insisted on staying together. The brothers grew up in the mountains, and their minds returned to normal only when the altitude was higher. Besides, brothers The two have been inseparable, so I had to put them on the top of the mountain and let the orderly take a group photo for us as a proof of mission.
The operator contacted the rear twice today. In the morning, the rear said impatiently, "We are very busy now and need to be quiet." When they contacted again at night, the mess was all in English, and no one paid any attention to us. I don't know who they were. I failed again in learning a foreign language. In any case, the British seem to be getting closer to us.
June 5, 1941
There was an accident today. Elicio's donkey took a walk at night and walked to the post. Because he couldn't answer the command, he was shot dead by the nervous sentinel. Elicio went mad and smashed the transmitter. We and the rear were completely lost. Disconnected.
On June 10, 1941, we were on
patrol today, and suddenly found that the village was full of people, old people were playing chess, women were gossiping, and children were making trouble, turning a blind eye to us. I found an Italian-speaking priest, and he told me that the Germans had come before and took away all the strong men in the village, leaving only the old, the weak and the sick. When the villagers saw us coming, they all hid in the mountains. Later, they found out that we were Italians. According to the priest, it was "the lesser of the two evils." It seemed that Italians were not as dangerous as Germans, so the villagers decided to return. Family. The priest finally stared at me and said seriously: "Greeks, Italians, the same face, the same ancestor." This sentence moved me a little, and we decided to live in harmony.
November 1, 1941
We had been stationed on the island for 5 months, no one came to pick us up, we were forgotten.
The most disappointing is the "bald head". He writes letters to his wife in Italy every day. Now he can only face the sea in silence and continue to write letters. I know that he is thinking about how to escape all the time. Due to the constraints of his position, I can only sympathize with him in my heart, but I cannot comfort him, nor do I want to comfort him. He used to be a deserter.
Yesterday , October 15, 1941,
a Turk came by boat from the sea, which excited us, especially the "bald head", who seemed to see hope of returning home. The Turks are very friendly to us and say "Turks, Italians, same face, same ancestors" as soon as we meet, although I don't agree with this sentence, but still very happy. In the evening we were drinking with the Turks and he brought us "forgetful cigarettes", aka big 痳, which is illegal in Italy, but who cares about that now?
Woke up this morning to find that our weapons and all our valuables were gone, the Turks were gone, along with the hope that the bald head would go home.
The priest said with a wicked smile, "Never trust the Turks."
I was seriously thinking, am I going to start looking for a job seriously?
It has been three full years since we came to this island on June 1, 1944.
My current job is to repair the murals in the church, but it is not really a restoration. Because of the serious damage, all the murals have to be repainted. I took the opportunity to repaint them. The characters in the painting were replaced by the faces of the brothers, as did the great painter Raphael. Although I put the Holy Ring on everyone's head, we're a bunch of little forgotten people. Small people can only survive by instinct rather than ideals, so we are no different from people in the village now. And I am happy every day.
Today , June 8, 1944,
my orderly Antonio and Facilisa got married. The priest presided over the wedding, and we all went to have a good time.
Facilisa is a prostitute left by the Germans in the village. After the Germans left, she lost her source of life and took the initiative to find us, hoping to resume her old business. In order not to cause disputes among the brothers, Sergeant Lorenzo arranged for everyone. A sequential list, of course, he came first, and the always cowardly Antonio came last. The sergeant thought I was painting something sacred for the church and automatically excluded me. Later, Antonio bravely came together with Faci Lisa, and took up Faci Lisa's gun like a real soldier, and shot every comrade who dared to approach his lover. War did not make him a brave warrior, love did. After their marriage, they plan to open a small restaurant called "Facilisa" in the village.
We have all changed a lot in the past three years, and the biggest change is that now no one can see that we were soldiers.
of course there are exceptions. Sergeant Lorenzo is. He is still full of ideals, full of "great Italy", and always feels that he is sorry for the motherland if he is far away from the smoke of gunpowder. Now his troubles don't stop there. It is said that the operator confessed to him yesterday that he loves him and wants to be with him. Lorenzo skipped dinner in shock.
Talk to other people.
"Countryman" Elisio found another donkey out of nowhere, which brought him back to life on earth, and now the energetic "Countryman" is in love with a lonely village woman.
The "Mountain Man" Munalong brothers fell in love with a shepherdess at the same time, and the shepherdess seemed to like the two brothers at the same time, and the three of them are now inseparable.
The "bald head" was gloomy every day, staring at Italy over the sea in a daze. Two things happened today
, July 12, 1944 . A plane made an emergency landing on a small island today. The pilot was an Italian soldier. He learned that we had been stationed on the island for 3 years, and his eyes were about to fall out. He told us that the outside world had changed. The British became friendly troops and landed in southern Italy, Mussolini fell, and now the Allies and partisans are attacking north. When he left, he said that he would notify the British as soon as possible to pick us up. Although I still have a lot of questions that I haven't figured out, the sunset is so beautiful, don't ask me any more, I know my vacation is coming to an end. The always melancholy "bald head" found a boat hidden by the villagers. He jumped on the boat excitedly and rowed to his home in Italy alone. On July 19, 1944, the British army came and sent back the villagers who were captured by the Germans, and picked us up by the way. Antonio is gone, and Lorenzo rushes to find him. Antonio is hiding in an olive oil barrel, but it doesn't bother the sergeant. The sergeant asked him to go back to Italy to rebuild the great country, saying it was our duty. "He (Italy) forgot me, and I forgot him now," Antonio said frustratedly. The sergeant was unable to persuade my orderly back and had to leave him on the island. Instead, I think Antonio is doing nothing wrong, he is with someone he loves. Today , June 1, 1986, I came to Mykistee again. This place has become a tourist island with many tourists. In the morning, I went to the cemetery to visit the priest and Facilisa. They slept here peacefully. From that pious and slightly cunning priest, I think it would be perfect if the Turks were also buried here, "Italians, Greeks, Turks, the same face, the same ancestor." The Facilisa restaurant is still on the island On, I walked in and saw Antonio fixing my clothes, he recognized me right away, and we hugged tightly. Then he pulled me into the backyard balcony and I saw Sergeant Lorenzo. It is said that Lorenzo returned here early, and the three old men of us were happily washing vegetables and drinking in the yard, and no one said anything about Italy. December 25, 1990
It's Christmas, I'm dying, and I was hoping to make it to Easter.
A young man came a few days ago and said he was a director. He was very interested in my experience during World War II and planned to make a movie. His words touched me, saying that he would dedicate this movie to those who are currently People who run away, I agree.
But I insisted that the title of the film should be called "Mediterranean" and not "Isle of Mykisty" or "One and Eight" and he asked me why? I said we were really in the Mediterranean, not in Italy, not in Turkey and Greece, and we weren't out of that war, and he looked at me questioningly.
Well, I admit that I am a person who has always run away, but in 1941, in Europe, those who chose not to run away, what were they doing?
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