History, culture at heart of annual Italian POW chapel reunion

Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, delivers the homily during the Aug. 16 Mass at Camp Atterbury. The Gospel reading was proclaimed in both English and Italian. (Photo by Mike Krokos)

By Mike Krokos

EDINBURGH—David Pagnucco didn’t look any worse for the wear after getting up before dawn and driving 360 miles from Rochester Hills, Mich., to Camp Atterbury on Aug. 16.

An Italian-American who in recent years has spent time researching his culture and roots, Pagnucco, 56, was eager to attend the 20th annual prisoner of war chapel commemoration, rosary, Mass and picnic at Our Lady’s Chapel in the Meadow at Camp Atterbury in southern Indiana. (See a photo gallery from this event)

His 5½-hour trip had special meaning because his father, Fioravante Luigi Pagnucco, was a prisoner of war at Camp Atterbury, and the younger Pagnucco wanted to learn more about his father’s life in Indiana. It was the younger Pagnucci’s second visit to Camp Atterbury this year in pursuit of family history, but the first time he has attended the annual Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel in the Meadow.

“I’m interested in Italian culture, what my father went through [at Camp Atterbury], and to see where he was stationed,” he said.

Pagnucco said his twin sister found out about the annual POW chapel Mass on the Internet, and passed the information on to him. The event is sponsored by the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana and the Indiana National Guard.

“We’re just very interested in our heritage,” said Pagnucco, who is a product researcher and member of St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Like many of the Italian prisoners at Camp Atterbury, Pagnucco’s father was Catholic. He may have attended Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel, but Pagnucco said he has been unable to locate any records to verify if that is the case. His father, who died in 2007, did not talk to him about his life as a prisoner of war, Pagnucco said.

Italian prisoners of war held captive at Camp Atterbury built the chapel in 1943 and dedicated it to Mary, Mother of Our Savior. Despite being thousands of miles from home, they never wavered in their faith, said Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.

“Where did they get the strength to continue to believe? They got it from the ‘living bread that came from heaven,’ (Jn 6:51) given to them from their priest-chaplain,” he said in his homily during the Aug. 16 Mass at Camp Atterbury.

“Christ was truly present to them when they needed him. The same Lord they had come to know in Italy was present to them here far away from home.”

Like the prisoners of war, we, too, must realize that believing in Christ’s presence requires faith, Msgr. Schaedel said.

“Never lose sight of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist—the bread is his flesh for the life of the world,” he said. “If you are really a Catholic, it means everything.”

Faith, a devotion to the Blessed Mother, his Italian heritage, and the annual Mass and its accompanying events have meant a great deal to Salvatore “Sol” Petruzzi, who has served as the POW chapel event chairman for all 20 years of the program’s existence.

Petruzzi, 85, is a member of the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana and St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese. He has been slowed in recent years by a series of strokes, and is also dealing with cancer, though his wife, Martha, said the illness is currently in remission.

This was Petruzzi’s last year as the event chairman, and his love for the POW chapel and his 20 years of service to the event were recognized after Mass by Army Col. Jorg Stachel, retired commander of Camp Atterbury, who worked with Petruzzi to rededicate the chapel in 1989 and begin the annual POW Mass in 1990.

“The one person that definitely stayed with me throughout the period that we did these annual events was Mr. Salvatore Petruzzi,” he said. “Every year, about June or July, he would contact me to make arrangements for this huge event at the POW chapel.

“Hopefully, we’ll have enough people coming forth in future years to keep the history going, and the event going.”

Ralph Tambasco, a past president of the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana and current board member, said Petruzzi’s unwavering commitment to the annual event has been the key to its success.

“I don’t know if this ever would have reached the level that it has without Sol at the helm,” said Tambasco, who is a member of Holy Spirit Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, and Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.

“Hopefully, we can honor what he’s done by continuing it in the future.” †