From young Italian stowaway to 97-year-old American patriot
Salvatore De Angelis is a deeply patriotic American. His love for this country was evident even before he arrived here as an immigrant in 1947. He risked his life to get here.
De Angelis, who will turn 97 in October, recalled his journey to the U.S. during a recent interview with the Brooklyn Eagle in the Bay Ridge home in which he has lived in since 1956.
In 1947, he stowed away on a freighter, sneaking onto the ship in Calabria, Italy, and landed in Baltimore, not speaking a world of English.