Fiorello's Foggiani
By John T. Correll
"The indomitable La Guardia led American airmen on the Italian Front in World War I.
When Fiorello La Guardia died in 1947, the New York Times called him "the little firebrand"—he was 5 ft. 2 in.—and "New York's most colorful mayor since Peter Stuyvesant." La Guardia was elected to an unprecedented three terms and served as mayor from 1934 to 1945. He wrested control of the city from the Tammany Hall political machine, which had dominated New York politics for more than 80 years. In 1934, he hefted a sledge hammer and led a search-and-destroy mission against mob boss Frank Costello's slot machines.
He is fondly remembered for reading the Sunday comics to kids on WNYC radio during a newspaper strike in 1945. La Guardia Airport is named for him. There was even a Broadway musical, "Fiorello!" It ran for 795 performances and won the Pulitzer prize for drama in 1960.
La Guardia (center) in front of a Caproni bomber in Italy.
But all of that came later. In 1918, he was, concurrently, a member of Congress and a captain on active duty with the Army Air Service in charge of American airmen on the Italian Front in World War I. In between his military duties, he made speeches and had dinner with King Victor Emmanuel III. He constantly upset Army bureaucrats on behalf of his airmen and more often than not, he prevailed. It seems unlikely that anyone other than La Guardia could have done it."
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