As the son of the late John Cappelli, who aided John Slinger in the mountains of Abruzzi, Italy after his escape from the Nazis, I was heartened and moved by the honours paid to “Jack” by his comrades in the Royal Engineers, the people of Brighton and your newspaper upon his passing (The Argus, January 6, 14, and 15).
I grew up with the legend of Jack’s exploits in defence of his country and the world at a time when civilisation itself was threatened, and I can assure you that his loss is being mourned by those who knew him and his deeds, not only in Britain but in the US and Italy as well.
The anecdote of Jack’s dog greeting him with wagging tail after his return from six years of war (Letters, January 14) has been known to me since my childhood; my father would always say that it was just like Argus greeting Odysseus upon his return to Ithaca in Homer’s Odyssey. So your newspaper has been well named.
May all our true heroes likewise receive the greetings, the honour and the rest they deserve in this life and that to come.
Vanni Cappelli, New York, United States
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