Working at home, U.S. Marine deploys to Italian hometown

Photo By Sgt. Luke Hoogendam | Cpl. Steven P. Signorello, a rifleman assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response – Africa, relishes the opportunity to work for his country underneath the Italian sky, so close to home at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, Nov. 18, 2016. Cpl. Signorello was deployed to Sigonella, to serve his country and had the added benefit of re-experiencing the culture of the place he once called home. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Luke Hoogendam/released)  

SIGONELLA, ITALY

11.22.2016

Story by Lance Cpl. Luke Hoogendam 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

A man who was raised adventurous left home to become an United States Marine, only to discover himself deploying back to where he first called home.

Cpl. Steven P. Signorello, a rifleman assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response – Africa, and a native of Sicily, deployed to Naval Air Station, Sigonella, to serve his country and had the added benefit of re-experiencing the culture of the place he once called home.

Signorello grew up in a small town called Belpasso, only a few miles away from Mt. Etna, where he spent his childhood riding his bike, playing soccer on the street corner, and enjoying a six-course meal of pasta and ravioli.

While Signorello was growing up he and his family were already intertwined with the American military. Both his mother and father worked, and still work, for the naval base in Sicily. His mother works for the Child Development Center on Naval Air Station 1 and after retiring from the Italian Navy, his father got a job working for the Fire Department, at Naval Air Station 2.

“The first interaction I had with the Marines was when I was a young adult working as a bartender in front of the naval base,” said Signorello. “During that time I learned how to speak English to communicate with the Marines who came to the bar.”

In 1987 Italian law enacted a draft, requiring young men to join the military. Following in his father’s footsteps, Signorello joined the Italian navy. Since he had experience speaking English with the Marines, the Italian navy employed him as a translator. After he finished his two-year contract with the navy he went back to bartending in front of the base.

He ended up in the United States when his sister asked if he wanted to travel there, where she was earning her college degree. Initially, he declined.

“Two weeks later I received a call from my sister who was already back in the states,” said Signorello. “She continued to talk to me about joining the Marines, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

“After convincing me that I couldn’t bartend for a career, the very next day I bought a ticket and headed to the United States with my sister and started the process of joining the Marine Corps.”

Now a Marine, and deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella, Signorello got the opportunity to spend time with his high school friends after not seeing them for five years.

“My friends see me like a rock star, especially for being a rifleman in the Marines,” said Signorello. “They relate everything about Marines to the movies they’ve seen, and who am I to tell them otherwise?”

“I told my friends that the Marine Corps helped me build character and a future for myself, and it made me into who I am today.”

Now, Signorello has the chance to once again go to work every morning under the Italian sky, play soccer with his fellow Marines and sometimes make it home in time to enjoy a six-course meal of pasta and ravioli.

• Date Taken: 11.22.2016
• Date Posted: 11.28.2016 10:05
• Story ID: 215835
• Location: SIGONELLA, IT