When Dominic D. DiFrancesco was campaigning for American Legion national commander, one of his stops was in Massachusetts. It was there that Past National Commander John P. “Jake” Comer, knowing DiFrancesco’s Italian heritage, took his guest to the North End, known as Boston’s Little Italy.

“He was a great lover of Italian pastries, and when he came to Massachusetts … we took him down to a pastry shop that was one of the best in the country,” said Comer, who served as national commander four years prior to DiFrancesco. “He really loved the pastry. So when he became (national) commander, I brought to the (national convention in 1991 in Phoenix) quite a bit of the pastries. When I walked into his room, he and his wife and family all thought it was the greatest thing. He loved it.”