All'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale, Tony e la sua generazione furono chiamati ad arruolarsi nell'esercito. A quell'epoca, aveva 18 anni ed era classificato come un “enemy alien” perché era nato in Italia, " not only me but anybody else, Hungarians, Germans, polish and anyone born in Europe, we were classified as enemy aliens because these countries sided with the Germans instead of the British ". Tony non fu in grado di arruolarsi nella seconda guerra mondiale. Questo perché gli era stato chiesto dall'ufficiale arruolare a quale paese giurava la sua fedeltà; Italia, o Canada? a questa domanda Tony aveva risposto "both", ha poi proceduto a spiegare menzionando che anche se ama il Canada e ha amici e familiari canadesi, aveva familiari e parenti italiani ancora in Italia, quindi semplicemente non stava scegliendo un paese rispetto all'altro. L'ufficiale rispose fissando Tony e dicendo ad un altro ufficiale: "give him his fair back home." Doveva, tuttavia, ancora recarsi alla stazione di polizia una volta al mese in un luogo chiamato Wesley Barrington a London, Ontario, come tutti gli “enemy aliens” allora facevano: "Once a month, they finger printed us, just like criminals" disse Tony. Va notato che c’è una targa sul retro della Chiesa del Sacred Heart qui a Guelph che ha i nomi di tutti i nomi dei membri della congregazione che erano nell’esercito canadese; 62 di loro erano di origini italiane, tutti conosciuti da Tony. Tony parla con Ironia di come il cattivo trattamento che gli “enemy aliens” avevano ricevuto, li aveva in modo di più vicini, rendendo piccole comunità che erano in grado di sopravvivere e prosperare per generazioni.

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When the second world war had started, Tony, and his generation had been called to report to the army. At that time, he had been 18 years old and was classified as an enemy alien because he was born in Italy, “not only me but anybody else, Hungarians, Germans, polish and anyone born in Europe, we were classified as enemy aliens because these countries sided with the Germans instead of the British”. Tony was unfortunately unable to enlist in the second world war. This is because he had been asked by the enlisting officer about which country he swears his allegiance to; Italy or Canada? to which Tony had replied “both”, he then proceeded to explain this by clarifying that even though he loves Canada and has Canadian friends and family, he has Italian family members and relatives in Italy as well and therefore was simply unable to choose one country over the other. The officer had replied by staring at Tony and telling another officer to “give him his fair back home” Tony said. Although he still had to report to the police station once a month in a place called Wesley Barrington in London, Ontario, like all enemy aliens had to do at the time. “Once a month, they finger printed us, just like criminals” Tony said. On a side note, there is a plaque at the back of Sacred Heart Church here in Guelph that has the names of all its attendants that were in the Canadian military, 62 of them were of Italian heritage, all of whom Tony knew or was acquainted with. Tony speaks of the Irony of how treating the enemy aliens badly caused them to become closer to one another, making small communities that were able to survive and thrive for generations.