The Long Way Home Analysis

The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to The Great War is a riveting tell-all of the hardships twelve immigrants endured on their journey, arrival, and duration in America during the Great War. Author, David Laskin, a Harvard graduate with a degree in history and literature, expresses his take on the “forgotten” war, justly representing the traumatizing immigration over to America, the fight to survive upon arrival and the milestone in their journeys, with the conversion into a true American being marked by the fight of a lifetime (Laskin, 2010, p. 16-17). Laskin combines the cohesive progression of accepting the standards imposed on immigrants while introducing a new standard, to tell a grand American chronicle about the
At seventeen, Ottaviano’s father died of diabetes, thrusting Ottaviano into “man of the house” (Laskin, 2010, p. 75). With no husband and five children, Ottaviano’s mother sold all their belongings and boarded the boat to Rhode Island to create a “better life”; the trip over was very chaotic, however with Ottaviano there to provide protection and support, they made it through (Laskin, 2010, p. 75-76). Unlike Ottaviano, Michele Valente, an Italian native as well, experienced his journey alone. He came to America at eighteen, with the influx of people during the prewar immigration from the south of Italy; “though just a kid, he carried himself like a man”, similar to the role Ottaviano assumed on his journey (Laskin, 2010, p.
He began training at camp Wadsworth. He was subjected to long days of training and endless drills in tight formation. He stood in trenches and endured the pouring rain and taste of mud (Laskin, 2010, p. 173). His Infantry fused together with the 7th infantry, forming the 107th Infantry of the 27th division (Laskin, 2010, p. 171). In May they were ordered to pack and vacate Camp Wadsworth; after six months of training and five years in America, Valente returned to Europe to fight. He was assigned six months of drill and indoctrination (Laskin, 2010, p. 182). On September 29,1918, Valente stormed a German machine-gun nest, took a bullet to the wrist, proceeded on, killing five Germans and taking 21 prisoners with Joe Mastine; Valente became the only Italian-American to win the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War I (Laskin, 2010, p. 289). Tommaso was inducted on April 27th; having the option to decline enrollment, being the sole provider for his family, Ottaviano refused and accepted the invitation to serve his adopted country (Laskin, 2010, p. 186-187). He shipped out a few weeks after induction with the bare minimum training unlike Valente. He was assigned to Company I of the 310th Infantry. They left for France May 20th. In a letter home, Tommaso referred to the environment as “sconvolgimento”-devastation (Laskin, 2010, p. 296). He saw mass numbers of casualties the most strenuous being “zona di guerra”.