In 1943, Sicilian immigrant Vito Scaletta is arrested during a robbery and opts to join the United States Army to avoid jail, enlisting as a jeep driver in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Vito first experiences the power of the Mafia when an operation in Sicily goes awry, and Don Calò arrives and orders the Italian soldiers to stand down.
In early 1945, Vito returns home on leave to Empire Bay and reunites with his childhood friend Joe Barbaro, who has joined the Clemente crime family in his absence, and supplies Vito with counterfeit discharge papers. Learning that his late father left the family in debt to a loan shark, Vito seeks work with his father's former employer Derek Pappalardo, who has ties with the Mafia and recommends him to Henry Tomasino, a Clemente made man, after learning of Vito's connections with Joe.
