The American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit meets to promote Italy

NEW YORK - The American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit serves as the chief reference point in the United States for all links between the chivalric world of the Italian state and its decorati resident in the United States.
Promoting Italian culture, language and heritage is central to the American Society of the Legions of Merit.

The members of this prestigious Society are recognized by the President of Italy for their contributions to the Italian culture and heritage and have been awarded an official title by the Italian government. These individuals volunteer their time, energy and resources for this endeavor. Lead by their president Dominic Massaro they meet regularly in their respective regions and annually here in New York City.

This year’s executive meeting was held at the Italian Consulate with a reception at the Columbus Townhouse. The dinner and awards ceremony was held at the Union Club of New York. New York in December may be fun if you are shopping or on vacation, but to travel to New York for meetings in December can be tiring. The cold damp weather, the imminent possibility of snow, blizzard or high winds can make traveling to the east coast a real challenge in the winter. However, many of the Legions’ officers and members have made the trek to meet and make plans on how to achieve their goals for the next year.

The central goal for the upcoming year is to promote Italian language in schools of higher learning. The method for achieving this goal is to fund grants for organizations that actively work towards this endeavor. The Legions has set out guidelines for the grants, they then accept, review and rate the applications received. When an award is given, it’s been thoroughly reviewed and studied to be sure that the funds will be used wisely.

The regional vice-president for the Pacific region is Commendatore Frank DeSantis, Sr. During his term he has been supportive in bringing Italian language courses to Chapman University, funding an Italian language chair and program at California State University, Long Beach and bringing Italian film and culture programs to Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

During the meeting, Mr. De Santis proposed that in addition to having a regional director, a deputy director be appointed to the region, as the Pacific area is geographically bigger than any other region. The board agreed and approved adding a deputy director to the Pacific region. The deputy director will opertate in northern California and primarily out of San Francisco.

As a bit of background, the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit has more than seven hundred members. They have been decorated by the Republic of Italy because of some personal quality or the rendering of some special service. There are five levels of award or “Ordini”. Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Order of Military Merit, Order of Labor Merit, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, and the Order of Vittotio Veneto. Awarded by decree of the President of the Republic each is internationally recognized.

The President is the “Head” of all Italian Order of Knighthood and the ranks are as follows; K- Knight (Cavaliere.) Knight Officer (Ufficiale.) KC - Knight Commander (Commen datore) KGO - Knight Grand Officer (Grand Uff.) KGC - Knight Grand Cross ( Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Order of Merit). For more information see their web site www. asilm.org.

FJ De Santis, Jr.