The ceremony was presided over by the brigade commander, Rear Admiral Pasquale Guerra and by the prefect of Brindisi, Nicola Prete. In addition, local civil, military and religious authorities, the Leone del San Marco Group, fighting and weapon associations participated.
The prefect of Brindisi, underlined the importance of the temporal coincidence between the celebration of the conferral of the name SAN MARCO with the day of the Unification of Italy, of the Constitution, of the Hymn and of the Flag to seal the territorial link between the territory of Brindisi and the department that for more than forty years has established its home in the sediment.
During the celebrations honors were given to the staff on duty. Moreover, and Dr. Dell'Aquila, newly graduated in law at the University of Bari with the highest grades, she donated her thesis to the "San Marco" entitled "The repression of maritime piracy and the case of the Italian marines" ".
At the end of the celebrations the amm. Guerra sent a greeting from him and all those present to Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, authentic interpreters of our values and the highest expression of civic sense and love for the homeland.
A bit of history...
At the end of the 1 World War, Venice, mindful of the value shown by the sailors of the marine regiment who had defended it with their blood, wanted to offer to the regiment the combat flag that was solemnly delivered in Piazza San Marco on 19 May 1918.
Subsequently, the 17 March of 1919, with decree nr. 444, Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy officially established the brigade as a naval infantry department.
Thus the San Marco was born.
Since then, among a thousand vicissitudes, the sailors with the winged lion have fought on multiple fronts against countless adversaries always following the destiny of the navy and of Italy, crossing with them the troubled period of the Second World War, and the years of reconstruction that have saw the department first grow and then downsize, reaching the dark bracket in which it was "closed" for a few years.
In 1965 the Btg San Marco was reconstituted.
Not a new battalion but the son of the old regiment who, with unchanged vigor, keeps those symbols that have engraved his name over time, who, under the banner of the winged lion, has dedicated his life to the homeland, sometimes choosing, no doubt some, to offer it in sacrifice.
Over the years the original battalion has grown and become a regiment and then other regiments and other structures were born to form the current brigade.
Proud of its glorious tradition, the fusiliers of the navy have always operated in numerous missions, from Lebanon to Somalia, from Bosnia to Iraq, from Kosovo to Afghanistan, from Albania to Libya, in Sinai, in Antarctica and in all seas of the world aboard our ships.
Today, like yesterday, the San Marco Marine Brigade continues to serve the homeland with the same courage, sense of duty, spirit of sacrifice, honor and loyalty to free institutions.
Source: Military Navy
