>>> A SUCCESSFUL CAREER AS A PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT
JUDGMENTAL.
BORN TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY, HE WAS THE FIRST TO GO
TO COLLEGE AND REALIZE THE AMERICAN DREAM.
"CONNECTING POINT" PRODUCER TONY DUNNE SPOKE WITH JUDGE SACCO TO
TALK ABOUT HIS LIFE, HIS FAMILY AND THE ITALIAN TRADITIONS HE
HOLDS TO DEAR.
>> I WAS BORN IN PITTSFIELD.
MY FATHER WAS BORN IN A SMALL TOWN IN ITALY IN WHAT WE CALL A
COMPAGNA AREA OF NAPLES.
MY FATHER CAME OVER WHEN HE WAS 14.
THE PICTURE THAT YOU CAN DRAW IS GETTING ON A SHIP THREE WEEKS,
THREE WEEKS IN THE HOLD OF A SHIP.
CAN YOU IMAGINE?
YOU LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE, THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE NOT EVEN
SURVIVING.
THEY CAME OVER WITH $25, $10.
CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING A 14, 15-YEAR-OLD CHILD LEAVE YOU,
KNOWING YOU'RE NEVER GOING SEE THAT CHILD AGAIN?
>> THEY CAME OVER TO ELLIS ISLAND AND THEY WEREN'T TREATED
VERY ROYALLY.
IF YOU HAD A COUGH, YOU MIGHT BE DETAINED.
IF THEY HAD ANY REASON, THEY WOULD DENY YOU.
IF YOU WERE MET BY RELATIVES THERE, THEY HEARD ABOUT VARIOUS
AREAS AND HE HEARD ABOUT PITTSFIELD.
AMERICA WAS DIGGING FOR SUBWAYS, FOR ROADS, DIGGING TO BUILD
BUILDINGS AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE EQUIPMENT.
THE PROJECTS DEMANDED THAT THEY HAVE PEOPLE WITH A PICK AND
SHOVEL MENTALITY.
YOU KNOW, THE IRISH HAD A GREAT ADVANTAGE BECAUSE THEY COULD
SPEAK THE LANGUAGE.
THEY CAME OVER EARLIER IN 1920.
THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE IN PUBLIC OFFICE THAT WERE IRISH THAN ANY
OTHER NATIONALITY.
THE ITALIANS HAD NO LINGUISTIC ADVANTAGE.
THAT'S WHAT THE ITALIANS CAME OVER FOR, SHE CAME TO DIG AND
MADE A PITTANCE OF MONEY BUT THEY HAD A JOB.
THEY THOUGHT THE STREETS ARE GOING TO BE PAVEED WITH GOLD?
NO, NO.
THEY WERE PAVEED WITH OPPORTUNITY.
I WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 1927.
I WENT TO SCHOOL HERE.
AND THEN I WENT IN THE NAVY.
THE OFFICERS ARE BEHIND ME HAVING COCKTAILS, AND I'M
SLEEPING ON BOARD THE SHIP OUTSIDE.
THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND NO EDUCATION.
AND IT'S AFFORDABLE IN AMERICA.
SO ANYWAY, THERE WAS NO QUESTION THEN, I MADE UP MY MIND I WAS
GOING TO GO TO COLLEGE.
I ENDED UP AT BOSTON COLLEGE.
I SPENT MY FOUR YEARS THERE AND THEN WENT TO LAW SCHOOL.
THEN WITH MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE KAYE, WHO WAS MY INSPIRATION AND
WITH ME FOR 60 YEARS, AND WE CAME BACK TO PITTSFIELD.
THERE WAS NO ARGUING OR DISCUSSION, JUST GOING BACK TO
FITSFIELD, THAT'S MY HOMETOWN.
I PRACTICED LAW AND THERE WAS AN ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
MASSACHUSETTS ED BROOKS.
YOU CALLED ME AND SAID, LOOK, WILL YOU BE MY ASSIST AN STORAGE
IN WESTERN MASS?
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THAT WAS.
I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD ONE REALLY THAT, POSITION.
SO I SAID YES.
AND THEN I WORKED AT THAT JOB.
AND THEN ASKED TO BECOME A JUDGE, AND I DID.
AND I COVERED THE FOUR WESTERN COUNTIES THERE.
A LOT OF MY LIFE WAS INVOLVED WITH PUBLIC SURFACE.
I HAVE HAD A FULL LIFE, I'M GRATEFUL TO EVERYONE, TO PEOPLE
THAT KNEW ME AND TOOK ME UNDER THEIR WING.
IT'S NICE TO KNOW FROM WHENCE YOU CAME.
THERE ARE PEOPLE I WILL TALK TO AND ASK, JEEZ, I JUST DON'T KNOW
WHERE MY PARENTS CAME FROM OR WHERE THEY WERE.
IT'S DIFFICULT BECAUSE THERE MAYBE THREE OR FOUR DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES NOW.
BUT GET BACK THERE.
KNOW WHERE THEY WERE BORN.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU CONSIDER WHAT'S THE IMPORTANT THING IN
LIFE, YOU KNOW THERE'S A SAYING THAT I MADE UP, -- [IN ITALIAN]
THE FAMILY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
IN THE WORLD.