By John Hersey
This story, published during the second world war, made me feel good about my country - especially at a time when our current president lacks ethics and honesty.
In 1943, American Major Victor Joppolo has been tasked with bringing democracy to Adano, a small Italian town where the residents have been intimidated into submission by a corrupt mayor and Fascist government. Joppolo sets up shop in the old city hall and earns the people's trust; he hires an office assistant and a translator, even though Joppolo (whose parents were born in Florence) speaks fluent Italian. He enlists the US Navy to remove land mines, so fishermen can get back to work and the people of Adano can eat. But Victor does manage to make an important enemy in Gen Marvin, the American leader of Italian ops, when he countermands an order restricting donkey carts from Adano. Marvin, in a fit of pique over a stalled cart, has them banned altogether, but Joppolo, knowing carts are crucial to supplying water and other necessities, changes the order so the townspeople can eat. This fateful decision plays in the background through the story, even as Joppolo works to replace the town's beloved old bell that had marked the hour for centuries until being melted down to make bullets. Maj Joppolo represents the best of the American military - not perfect - but working to restore faith and humanity to a town devastated by war.
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