Soar Like an Eagle
Guardian Corps of America
PO BOX 603
Lombard, IL 60148
United States
ph: 630-415-3281 Home Office
info
HISTORY
GUARDIAN CORPS of AMERICA (GCA)
Inpired by his Mother EDDA CONTE- La Piana, ANTHONY E. LA PIANA created Guardian Corps of America. March of 2012 Guardian Corps of America was born.
EDDA CONTE - La Piana was an italian immigrant who survived World War II in Italy, came to the United States, sacrificed, raised a family and made countless contributions toward the national development. On November 05th, 2011 EDDA passed away from Kidney cancer.
Since its Inception GCA has amassed an impressive record of accomplishments!
Listed below are just a few accomplishments since 2012.
1. IN 2012 GCA created and launched community based programs to specifically help Americans who are Poor, Homeless, Less Fortunate, and Disadvantaged. Our representatives work on a direct outreach basis with the needs. Since its inception GCA distributed thousands of Homeless Persons Survival Kits, a mobile (care package) to homeless veterans, and homeless people living on the streets and in shelters throughout the greater Chicago land area.
2. IN 2013 and since GCA increased visibility in the public, business, and corporate sector establishing itself as an organization dedicated to helping the poor, homeless, less fortunate and disadvantaged.
3. IN 2014 Launched the GCA adult and childrens reading Book Program. Todate over 11,000 reading books and activity materials have been donated to hospitals, nursing homes, community centers, and other locations across the Chicagoland area.
4. IN 2015 GCA founder and president Anthony E. La Piana created the OPERATION EDDA - Homeless Persons Survival Kit for Americans who are homeless. The campaign started January 16th, 2016 and will continue for as long as necessary. Several corporations, small business owners, veteran organizations, and individuals are currently sponsoring this GCAcampaign. Currently there are a total of FIVE (5) Operation EDDA - Homeless Persons Survival Kits available. (UK) = Universal Kit which includes products that can be used for both the adult male and female. (FK) = Female Kit which includes female products for the adult female. (CK) = Childrens Kit which include clothing for a child. Recently added to the menu of kits are homeless veterans kits, a female and male kit.
5. IN 2016 GCA distributed over 800 Homeless Persons Survival Kits to the homeless population in the Chicagoland area. Todate over 12,000 Homeless Persons Survival Kits have been distributed to homeless veterans, and this does not include the amount distributed to the non-veteran homeless population.
6. IN 2016 - 2017 - 2018 GCA worked with Walgreen Pharmacy of Glen Ellyn and Walmart Pharmacy in Villa Park, IL., bringing to our veterans, and non -veteran population the FREE FLU SHOT program. The FLU SHOT Program was conducted at the VETS FEST - in Countryside, IL., under the direction of the American Legion Robert E. Coulter Post 1941 in La Grange, IL. And in 2019 GCA worked with CVS Pharmacy and organized a FLU SHOT community program for veterans and citizens.
7. IN 2016 GCA opened its first Service Center (drop off and pick up) site, with tremendous support and help from Thomas E. O' Brien of O' Brien the Cleaner in Berwyn, IL., GCA was able to secure a location for its supplies in storage.
* Currently GCA has a total of EIGHT (8) Drop Off and Pick Up sites. See Contact Us page for details.
8. IN 2017 GCA established the "SWEATERS for WARM HEARTS" program. This is an OPERATION EDDA campaign. Hundreds of winter sweaters were donated and distributed to homeless people throughout the Chicago land area. GCA works on a joint basis with DIGNITY FH on this program.
9. IN Februrary of 2017 Anthony E. La Piana, Founder and President of GCA successfully acted as a broker to secure a passenger vehicle for the American Legion Post # 888 in Northlake, IL. The vehicle will be used to transport veterans from a nursing facility to VA hospitals.
10. IN 2017 GCA volunteers distributed a total of 3,106 Homeless Person Survival Kits to homeless veterans and the homeless population in the Chicago land area. GCA participated in a total of three ( 3 ) veteran stand downs, and distributed 923 Kits in fourteen ( 14 ) hours at those three ( 3 ) stand downs. In addition GCA distributed another 1,953 Kits to homeless veterans living on the streets, shelters, and community centers, and another 1,143 kits were distributed to the homeless population living on the streets, shelters, and community centers. This was accomplished because GCA works on a direct outreach basis only. Whereby GCA engages the homeless person directly. IN Addition to the above GCA distributed another 336 Kits to various veterans organizations.
11. IN 2017 GCA increased visibility for the organization on a local, state and national level.
12. IN 2018 the first six months of the year GCA distributed 3,091 Homeless Person Survival Kits to both homeless veterans, and the homeless in the Greater Chicago land area.
13. IN 2018 and since GCA is operating in Cook, DuPage and Kane counties where GCA volunteers directly distribute Homeless Person Survival Kits to the homeless population.
14. IN 2018 GCA increased the number of Area Representatives serving the greater Chicago land area.
15. IN 2019 GCA increased production of distribution of Operation EDDA - Homeless Persons Survival Kits to both homeless veterans, and the homeless population. An increase of 45 % from the previous year in 2018.
16. IN 2019 GCA is NOW offering a total of five (5) Operation EDDA - Homeless Persons Survival Kits (care packages) to its portfolio of products. See this website for more details regarding the Operation EDDA Homeless Persons Survival Kits (mobile) care package.
17. IN 2020 GCA increased the direct outreach distribution of the number of Operation EDDA - Homeless Persons Survival Kits to both homeless veterans and homeless citizens by 58% in comparison to the previous year.
18. IN 2020 GCA increased the volume of IN - KIND donations received from the general public by 79% in comparison to the previous year.
19. IN 2020 GCA included a volunteer classroom and field training program for new and existing GCA volunteers joining the organization.
20. IN 2020 GCA opened additional service centers for distribution of supplies to the homeless population.
21. IN 2020 GCA aquired NEW member "Babe" service dog for street organizational activity. See photo below of Babe at a homeless distribution project organized by Guardian Corps of America.
22. IN 2020 and currently in 2021 GCA representatives have worked through the COVID-19 Pandenmic supporting homeless veterans and homeless citizens by directly distributing supplies.
23. IN 2021 GCA is one (1) of a few organizations that worked through the COVID-19 pandemic.
24. IN 2021 GCA increased visibility throughout thestate of Illinois and greater Chicago land area.
25. IN 2021 GCA began donating homeless persons essential supplies directly to homeless shelters for homeless veterans and homeless citizens.
26. IN 2021 and currently GCA increased its distribution of essential supplies which include non - perishable food, clothing, sleeping gear and other items on a direct outreach basis to homeless veterans and homeless citizens by 81 % over 2020 totals.
27. IN 2021 GCA added and increased its volunteer base and increased its Area Representatives throughout the greater Chicago land allowing for more direct engagement with the homeless population.
28. IN 2021 GCA was interviewed by WGN News Channel 9 REGARDING a major coat drive organized by the Canaryville Veterans Riders Association and 11th Ward service organization.
IMMIGRATION can lead to homelessness!
HISTORY of IMMIGRATION in America
Women from EUROPE suffered GREATLY during World War II.
Upon arrival to America the AMERICAN WAR BRIDE from WWII in europe, especially from Italy, fought hard for women rights in America. Italian Woman from Italy, and other parts of Europe were poor and in need of help following world war II. Back then there were no safety nets in the system to help those from Europe coming to America. The immigrants worked hard and abided by the laws and rules.
Photo Left: Originally much of the west shore of Upper New York Bay consisted of large tidal flats which hosted vast oyster banks, a major source of food for the Lenape population who lived in the area prior to the arrival of Dutch settlers. There were several islands which were not completely submerged at high tide. Three of them (later to be known as Liberty Island, Black Tom Island and Ellis Island) were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the first European colony in the region. The oyster beds would remain a major source of food for nearly three centuries. Landfilling to build the railyards of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey would eventually obliterate the beds, engulf one island and bring the shoreline much closer to the others. During the colonial period Little Oyster Island was known as Dyre's, then Bucking Island. In the 1760s, after some pirates were hanged from one of the island's scrubby trees, it became known as Gibbet Island. It was acquired by Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker and merchant possibly from Wales, around the time of the American Revolution. In 1785 he unsuccessfully attempted to sell the island.
In the 35 years before Ellis Island opened, more than eight million immigrants arriving in New York City had been processed by New York State officials at Castle Garden Immigration Depot in Lower Manhattan, just across the bay.The federal government assumed control of immigration on April 18, 1890, and Congress appropriated $75,000 to construct America's first federal immigration station on Ellis Island. Artesian wells were dug, and landfill was hauled in from incoming ships' ballast and from construction of New York City's subway tunnels, which doubled the size of Ellis Island to over six acres. While the building was under construction, the Barge Office nearby at the Battery was used for immigrant processing.
Between 1905 and 1914, an average of one million immigrants per year arrived in the United States. Immigration officials reviewed about 5,000 immigrants per day during peak times at Ellis Island. Two-thirds of those individuals emigrated from eastern, southern and central Europe. The peak year for immigration at Ellis Island was 1907, with 1,004,756 immigrants processed. The all-time daily high occurred on April 17, 1907, when 11,747 immigrants arrived. After the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies, the only immigrants to pass through the station were those who had problems with their immigration paperwork, displaced persons, and warrefugees. Today, over 100 million Americans—about one-third of the population—can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in America at Ellis Island before dispersing to points all over the country.
During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island was used to intern German merchant mariners and "enemy aliens"—Axis nationals detained for fear of spying, sabotage, and other fifth column activity. In December 1941, Ellis Island held 279 Japanese, 248 Germans, and 81 Italians removed from the East Coast. Unlike other wartime immigration detention stations, Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility and was used to hold foreign nationals throughout the war. A total of 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be ultimately detained at Ellis Island. It was also a processing center for returning sick or wounded U.S. soldiers, and a Coast Guard training base. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants a year during this time, but many fewer than the hundreds of thousands a year who arrived before the war. After the war, immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels. Noted entertainers who performed for detained aliens and for U.S. and allied servicemen at the island included Rudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, and Lionel Hampton and his orchestra.
A myth persists that government officials on Ellis Island compelled immigrants to take new names against their wishes. In fact, no historical records bear this out. Immigration inspectors used the passenger lists given to them by the steamship companies to process each foreigner. These were the sole immigration records for entering the country and were prepared not by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration but by steamship companies such as the Cunard Line, the White Star Line, the North German Lloyd Line, the Hamburg-Amerika Line, the Italian Steam Navigation Company, the Red Star Line, the Holland America Line, and the Austro-American Line. The Americanization of many immigrant families' surnames was for the most part adopted by the family after the immigration process, or by the second or third generation of the family after some assimilation into American culture. However, many last names were altered slightly due to the disparity between English and other languages in the pronunciation of certain letters of the alphabet.
The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore, a 17-year-old girl from Cork, Ireland, who arrived on the ship Nevadaon January 1, 1892. She and her two brothers were coming to America to meet their parents, who had moved to New York two years prior. She received a greeting from officials and a $10 gold coin. It was the largest sum of money she had ever owned. The last person to pass through Ellis Island was a Norwegian merchant seaman by the name of Arne Peterssen in 1954.
EDDA CONTE, American War Bride married William J. La Piana, American Army soldier on December 8,1945 in Grosseto, Italy. It was during world war II that EDDA and William met at a converted school building used to house homeless Italian citizens who lost their homes from destruction. EDDA'S family home was destoyed in the war. Therefore EDDA and her family were forced to move to a school where EDDA and her family members lived in a one room classroom. EDDA was approximately 19 years of age when she met her future husband William. After the war ended EDDA, and her baby girl Mary Teresa travelled to the United States of America to be with her husband William. EDDA waited approximately nine (9) years before becoming a U.S. Citizen.
War Bride is a term used in reference to foreign women who married military personnel in times of war or during their military occupations of foreign countries, especially–but not exclusively–during World War I and World War II.
One of the largest and best documented war bride phenomenons is American servicemen marrying German "Fräuleins" after World War II. By 1949, over 20,000 German war brides had emigrated to the United States. Furthermore, it is estimated that there are "... 15,000 Australian women who married American servicemen based in Australia during World War II and moved to the US to be with their husbands". Allied servicemen also married many women in other countries where they were stationed at the end of the war, including France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Philippines and Japan. This also occurred in Korea and Vietnam with the later wars in those countries involving U.S. troops and other anti-communist soldiers. As many as 100,000 GI war brides left the United Kingdom, 150,000 to 200,000 hailed from continental Europe, 15,500 from Australia and 1,500 from New Zealand, between the years 1942 and 1952.
HISTORY of Immigration in AMERICA
Immigrant inspection station.
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In the 35 years before Ellis Island opened, more than eight million immigrants arriving in New York City had been processed by New York State officials at Castle Garden Immigration Depot in Lower Manhattan, just across the bay.[28] The federal government assumed control of immigration on April 18, 1890, and Congress appropriated $75,000 to construct America's first federal immigration station on Ellis Island. Artesian wells were dug, and landfill was hauled in from incoming ships' ballast and from construction of New York City's subwaytunnels, which doubled the size of Ellis Island to over six acres. While the building was under construction, the Barge Office nearby at theBattery was used for immigrant processing.
The first station was an enormous three-story-tall structure, with outbuildings, built of Georgia pine, containing all of the amenities that were thought to be necessary. It opened with celebration on January 1, 1892. Three large ships landed on the first day and 700 immigrants passed over the docks. Almost 450,000 immigrants were processed at the station during its first year. On June 15, 1897, a fire of unknown origin, possibly caused by faulty wiring, turned the wooden structures on Ellis Island into ashes. No loss of life was reported, but most of the immigration records dating back to 1855 were destroyed. About 1.5 million immigrants had been processed at the first building during its five years of use. Plans were immediately made to build a new, fireproof immigration station on Ellis Island. During the construction period, passenger arrivals were again processed at the Barge Office.
Edward Lippincott Tilton and William A. Boring won the 1897 competition to design the first phase, including the Main Building (1897–1900), Kitchen and Laundry Building (1900–01), Main Powerhouse (1900–01), and the Main Hospital Building (1900–01).
Primary inspection
Between 1905 and 1914, an average of one million immigrants per year arrived in the United States. Immigration officials reviewed about 5,000 immigrants per day during peak times at Ellis Island. Two-thirds of those individuals emigrated from eastern, southern and central Europe. The peak year for immigration at Ellis Island was 1907, with 1,004,756 immigrants processed. The all-time daily high occurred on April 17, 1907, when 11,747 immigrants arrived.After the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies, the only immigrants to pass through the station were those who had problems with their immigration paperwork, displaced persons, and warrefugees. Today, over 100 million Americans—about one-third of the population—can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in America at Ellis Island before dispersing to points all over the country.
Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. Arrivals were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money carried. It was important to the American government that the new arrivals could support themselves and have money to get started. The average the government wanted the immigrants to have was between 18 and 25 dollars ($600 in 2015 adjusted for inflation). Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time. More than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected because they were considered "likely to become a public charge." About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity. Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island" because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage. The Kissing Post is a wooden column outside the Registry Room, where new arrivals were greeted by their relatives and friends, typically with tears, hugs and kisses.
Detention and deportation station
During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island was used to intern German merchant mariners and "enemy aliens"—Axis nationals detained for fear of spying, sabotage, and other fifth column activity. In December 1941, Ellis Island held 279 Japanese, 248 Germans, and 81 Italians removed from the East Coast. Unlike other wartime immigration detention stations, Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility and was used to hold foreign nationals throughout the war.A total of 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be ultimately detained at Ellis Island. It was also a processing center for returning sick or wounded U.S. soldiers, and a Coast Guard training base. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants a year during this time, but many fewer than the hundreds of thousands a year who arrived before the war. After the war, immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.Noted entertainers who performed for detained aliensand for U.S. and allied servicemen at the island includedRudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, and Lionel Hampton and his orchestra.
The Internal Security Act of 1950 barred members of communist or fascist organizations from immigrating to the United States. Ellis Island saw detention peak at 1,500, but by 1952, after changes to immigration law and policies, only 30 detainees remained.
Detention and deportation station
After 1924, Ellis Island became primarily a detention and deportation processing station.
Records
The life of an Italian Immigrant:
Where do they go when they leave their homeland? Who would want them? They come and hope for a better life, they come so they can feed their families hundreds and hundreds of miles away. They come to work and many hope to return to the home they left behind with more then what they left with. They come to find themselves, to flee persecution from brutal dictators, criminals prey upon them, they come to seek better with hope they may find the paradise they heard so much about.
Some find what they are searching for, some find nothing, many find disappointment and heartache, but still they come to find the dream of a better life.
Loneliness and heatache fills their bodies, sadness and pain fills every fiber of their being. But they come to seek better, not necessarily for themselves, but for their children and families left behind.
The immigrant is a powerful force. Often used and abused in any system in every land they set foot on.
I am the son of an Italian Immigrant from Italy. My MOTHER left her homeland after world war II ended. She became an American War Bride at the young age of 20 when she married an American GI named William La Piana, a Military Policeman stationed in Grosseto, Italy. The place where my MOTHER and Father met and eventually married.
They had a baby girl named Mary Teresa (decesed in 2021 from COVID-19). After the war ended EDDA and William left Italy and came to Chicago where they settled with their new born baby girl. Life wasn't always easy for them. As a matter of fact it was difficult, filled with challenges, testing EDDA througout the early years living in America.
Despite enormous odds EDDA and William didn't give up on their dream to have a family. EDDA was especially determined to succeed, allowing nothing or no one to prevent her from accomplishing what she set out to do, to raise her children in a safe healthy enviornment, free from barriers and stale ideas.
Because of EDDA's teachings her children would become alot like her.
EDDA never forgot what it was like when the war broke out in Italy. She was just 14 years of age. The war lasted 6 years- her childhood was stolen from her and she experienced tremendous pain and hardship. As if that wasn't enough and then having to leave her family to go off to live in some far off place - called America. What it must have been like for a young innocent beautiful warm hearted woman searching like so many others for that special place in her life. A place she could call home for herself, for the children she would care for.
Life hurt EDDA. During world war II the home she lived in with her family was destroyed and the entire family was forced to relocate to a school building converted into a shelter for displaced families. Her Father fought for the partisan Italian Army and was often off fighting against the Fascists from the northern hills of Italy. There was a time EDDA and her family members thought their Father was dead. Not seen or heard from for months Enrico Conte was missing, unknown was his whereabouts. It was said he was executed by the Nazi SS for his involvement with the Italian Partisans. It wasn't until sometime later when the Fascists were driven from Grosseto that Enrico re-appeared.
All her life following world war II EDDA would make it a point to teach her children about America and how fortunate they were to have been born in a country that offered so much hope and opportunity for all people. EDDA would instill in her youngest son Anthony how important it was for him to understand that life in America was like living in paradise in comparison to other places around the world where citizens were often mistreated by hostile forces. EDDA taught her youngest son never to forget that he is and always will be an AMERICAN! An IDENTITY no one can take from him. _________________________________________________________________
#1 Its a FACT!
The Mentally Ill are often abused.
PRISON IS NOT THE ANSWER!
The Hollywood Media and the mentally challenged. http://psychcentral.com/lib/2009/medias-damaging-depictions-of-mental-illness/all/1/
The American penal system and how the mentally challenged are treated. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57572686/patients-as-prisoners-jails-new-mental-health-institutions/
Statistics behind crimes comitted by those diagonsed with mental illness. http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/consequences/1000-homicides.html
Approximately 14% of the prison population in America are individuals suffering from a mental disorder. http://www.citypaper.net/blogs/nakedcity/Disability-group-sues-state-DOC-for-abuse.html The State Department of Corrections sued over abuse of mentally challenged prisoners.
funding.html Chicago Sun-Times article regarding funding for the mentally challenged. http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/06/2875261/the-mentally-ill-should-be-treated.html
Are the mentally ill the cause for the massive increase in state prison populations?
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/lockup/
Recent claims regarding the difference between grief and depression. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/fight-over-grief-means-181209787.html.
Mental illness is not a crime! It is a disease and it can be cured with proper medical treatment and care.
Millions of Americans suffer from some type of mental illiness.
Know the difference between Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Mental Illness.
#2 HEALTH CARE
Photo Center: A proud moment and GREAT accomplishment for America. To land a person on the moon is a tremendous feat. "If we worked at it finding a cure for cancer can be done.
Experts Forecast Cancer Research and Treatment Advances in 2016 http://blog.aacr.org/experts-forecast-cancer-prevention-and-treatment-advances-in-2016/ The Future of Cancer Research: Five Reasons for Optimism https://www.mskcc.org/blog/future-five-reasons-optimism. Dozens of new cancer drugs do little to improve survival https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/09/new-cancer-drugs-do-little-improve-survival/97712858/
#3 The Muti- BILLION Industry.
Is deposting a loved one in a Nursing Home the Right Thing to do?
GCA wants YOU to Take CARE of MOM and DAD AT Home!
The nursing home industry has become one of the most lucrative industries in America with annual revenue's exceeding $80 billion dollars.
The link below (article) explains the death of an 87 year old resident living at an Assisted Living facility.
Nursing Home Rating's. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-10/nursing-home-federal-ratings/53031094/1
Nursing home abuse. http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2013/02/17/law-conceals-records-of-abuse-neglect-in-nursing-homes/ http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/5-741.pdf This brochure is from the State of Illinois. It helps explain what to do if nursing home abuse strikes a loved one.
Nursing Home Abuse should always be reported to the Illinois Department of Aging. http://www.state.il.us/aging/1abuselegal/ombuds_survey.htm.
GCA wants You to protect MOM and DAD from the BOOGEYMAN
#4 The SAD Truth about the homeless in America!
America's homeless population is in need of a major fix. More must be done to cure this disease that is causing more and more Americans to live in homeless shelters and on the streets. American citizens, and military veterans are finding themselves one pay check away from being homeless.
There are approximately 1,000 veterans who go homeless and hungry every evening in the greater Chicagoland area. Across America there are approximately 61,000 veterans who go homeless and hungry every evening, and this figure does not include the homeless citizen popluation.
Approximately .23% percent of all homeless people in the United States of America are American military veterans. Many war veterans suffer from PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and treatment: http://www.helpguide.org/ment /post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm What is the cause for so many veterans being homeless? http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/03/ptsd-vets.as
SAVE THE CHILDREN!
The average age of a homeless child is nine (9) years old.
SAVE OUR TROOPS and the INVISIBLE CITIZEN!
AMERICAN WAR BRIDE
EDDA CONTE La Piana and William J. La Piana
Married December 8, 1945 During WWII in Grosseto, Italy
The INVISIBLE Citizen!
Children in war
WAR is a major factor causing homelessness in the world today.
A major factor causing homelessness in the greater Chicagoland area is poverty and lack of resouces.
Guardian Corps of America offers Community Justice Programs helping homeless Americans.
The establishment of the United Nations after World War II raised hopes of a new era of peace. This was over-optimistic. Between 1945 and 1992, there were 149 major wars, killing more than 23 million people. On an average yearly basis, the number of war deaths in this period was more than double the deaths in the 19th century, and seven times greater than in the 18th century.
War and political upheaval have been tearing whole countries apart—from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Cambodia to Rwanda. And this vortex of violence is sucking in ever-larger numbers of children. Entire generations have grown up in the midst of brutal armed conflicts. At the end of 1995, conflicts have been running in Angola for over 30 years, in Afghanistan for 17 years, in Sri Lanka for 11 years and in Somalia for 7 years.
Photo above: One of the rights of children is to be protected from military conscription, but children have participated in a number of recent conflicts.
Above photograph shows Young soldiers recruited into the military from Myanmar.
Yangon, also called Rangoon, city, capital of independent Myanmar (Burma) from 1948 to 2006, when the government officially proclaimed the new city of Nay Pyi Taw (Naypyidaw) the capital of the country.
Children have, of course, always been caught up in warfare. They usually have little choice but to experience, at minimum, the same horrors as their parents—as casualties or even combatants. And children have always been particularly exposed. When food supplies have run short, it is children who have been hardest hit, since their growing bodies need steady supplies of essential nutrients. When water supplies have been contaminated, it is children who have had the least resistance to the dangers of disease. And the trauma of exposure to violence and brutal death has emotionally affected generations of young people for the rest of their lives.
Recent developments in warfare have significantly heightened the dangers for children. During the last decade, it is estimated (and these figures, while specific, are necessarily orders of magnitude) that child victims have included:
- 2 million killed;
- 4-5 million disabled;
- 12 million left homeless;
- more than 1 million orphaned or separated from their parents;
- some 10 million psychologically traumatized.
The increasing number of child victims is primarily explained by the higher proportion of civilian deaths in recent conflicts. In the wars of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, only about half the victims were civilians.
In the later decades of this century the proportion of civilian victims has been rising steadily: in World War II it was two thirds, and by the end of the 1980s it was almost 90 per cent.
This is partly a function of technology. Aerial bombardment has extended the potential battle zone to entire national territories. World War II saw a massive increase in indiscriminate killings, with the bombings of Coventry and Dresden, for example, and the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And this pattern was repeated in the Viet Nam war, which is estimated to have cost 2.5 million lives.
A further cause of the rising death toll for civilians is that most contemporary conflicts are not between States, but within them. Rather than being set-piece battles between contending armies, these are much more complex affairs—struggles between the military and civilians, or between contending groups of armed civilians. They are as likely to be fought in villages and suburban streets as anywhere else. In this case, the enemy camp is all around, and distinctions between combatant and non-combatant melt away in the suspicions and confusions of daily strife. In 1994, the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 13 countries had ongoing "complex emergencies" of this type, and it classified over 20 million people as "vulnerable"; it also listed 16 other countries with potential emergencies.6
Families and children are not just getting caught in the crossfire, they are also likely to be specific targets. This is because many contemporary struggles are between different ethnic groups in the same country or in former States. When ethnic loyalties prevail, a perilous logic clicks in. The escalation from ethnic superiority to ethnic cleansing to genocide, as we have seen, can become an irresistible process. Killing adults is then not enough; future generations of the enemy—their children—must also be eliminated. As one political commentator ex-pressed it in a 1994 radio broadcast before violence erupted in Rwanda, "To kill the big rats, you have to kill the little rats."
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
Under international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute, the death of civilians during an armed conflict, no matter how grave and regrettable, does not in itself constitute a war crime. International humanitarian law and the Rome Statute permit belligerents to carry out proportionate attacks against military objectives, even when it is known that some civilian deaths or injuries will occur. A crime occurs if there is an intentional attack directed against civilians (principle of distinction) (Article 8(2)(b)(i)) or an attack is launched on a military objective in the knowledge that the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage (principle of proportionality) (Article 8(2)(b)(iv).
When Civilian's Suffer!
The Invisible Citizen
Italy was ravaged by war during world war II. Thousands of poor innocent Italian citizens were caught up in a war they did not want. The Italian people were dragged into world war II by Benito Mussolini AKA - Il Duce - meaning the leader. MONTE CASSINO will never be forgotten. Justice must be served to those guilty of war crimes targeting poor innocent Italians, especially women.
SAVE The INNOCENT!
Povery is the main cause of children becoming homeless in America. The city of Chicago has it's fair share of homeless children. The average age of a homeless child is 9.
WE demand a better life for our people!
SAVE The Innocent from VIOLENCE and HUNGER!
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Guardian Corps of America is strongly committed to building a better society for all good Americans.
AMERICA: Many people througout the world have come to America and helped make it a great nation. People from all walks of life, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia to name a few places.
The good citizens of America must come together to help those who are poor, homeless, less fortunate, and disadvantaged.
The American Flag in the photo above was picked up by me Anthony E. La Piana founder & president of GCA at a cemetery where my Father is buried. There was a time in America when an American Flag was never found lying on the ground outside and it was almost impossible to find an American Flag in the condition the one in the photo above is in.
"One day I was visiting my Father where he is buried. As I walked toward his grave I noticed this piece of material near my shoe. When I figured out what it was I cringed, then knelt to pick it up. I immediately placed the Flag in my pocket, brought it home to rest near a photo of my MOTHER EDDA CONTE-La Piana, American War Bride WWII and my FATHER William La Piana U.S. Army WWII. I felt this poor AMERICAN flag belongs next to my parents photo who gave so much to make this nation GREAT!
REMEMBER THOSE WHO GAVE SO MUCH! 
Photo Left: The Brave American Women who served this country in every war and conflict since the founding of our Nation.
American Women have sacrificed for the cause to "Fight the Good Fight"
For nearly two hundred years American Women have dedicated themselves to protecting, defending and caring for America. Let us acknowledge our brave American military women who stand united with our military brothers to defend freedom, liberty and justice for all Americans.
"He GAVE! and didn't complain about it!"
GCA
"FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT"
EDDA CONTE- La PIANA, American War Bride passed away November 05th, 2011. EDDA was a brave and courageous woman who survived world war II in Italy, came to America, sacrificed, raised a family and made countless contributions toward the national development.
EDDA was an advocate for orphan children without familes, the mentally challenged, the poor, homeless, less fortunate and disadvantaged.
I LOVE YOU MOM!
Forever in my heart! forever together!
Love Anthony 
GCA is the lighthouse pointing in the direction toward a brighter future, where endless possibilities exist for all good American citizens!
STOP!
THINK, take Positive ACTION, make a Difference!
The American Flag.
GCA wishes to Thank those who made America Great!
PROTECT AMERICAN VALUES!
We Can Do It!
Rosie Bonavita -aka Rosie the Riviter. During World War II America was at war and Rosie the Riviter was known for her work done in a GM riveting plant where she drilled over 3,000 rivets in a torperdo bomber, not one had to be re-done.
This poster reflects how America's women went to work in factories across the country to fill jobs left behind by the men called to fight at the war front.
Let this poster with its powerful message demonstrate that we as a nation can and should work together to end homelessness in America.
Support an organization that Supports You!
Guardian Corps of America
"FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT"
When you join GCA you'll soar like an eagle!
Soaring is to travel great distances at a higher level; to continually move onward and upward; to rise to majestic stature.
Guardian Corps of America has the BEST volunteers working for the cause!
" The volunteers at Guardian Corps of America Soar Like an Eagle."
Guardian Corps of America
PO BOX 603
Lombard, IL 60148
United States
ph: 630-415-3281 Home Office
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