Yesterday morning, the traditional "parade" of about 10.000 feathered infantry along Via dei Fori Imperiali, in Rome, officially concluded the 68th national gathering of the "Rome 2020" bersaglieri.
The day began with the deposition of a crown at the Sacello del Milite Ignoto, at the Altare della Patria, by the president of theNational Bersaglieri Association (ANB), General Ottavio Renzi.
The event should have taken place last year, but the contingent epidemiological situation forced the organizing committee of the ANB to postpone the meeting and adapt it to today's provisions on combating the spread of Covid-19.
The army chief of staff, general of the army corps Pietro Serino, presided over the parade in via dei Fori Imperiali, also present many civil and military authorities, including the mayor of Rome, lawyer. Virginia Raggi, the commander of the Southern Operational Forces of the Army, general of the army corps Giuseppenicola Tota, senior soldier, among those present, for the Bersaglieri specialty and the military commander of the Capital, general of the army corps Rosario Castellano.
General Serino, during his speech, wanted to emphasize that today's bersaglieri "They demonstrate with their tireless work that they are worthy heirs of a glorious past and stand out for their enthusiasm, professionalism and empathy". He then wanted to recall the silent and constant commitment of the Bersaglieri and the whole Italian Army in this period of pandemic, "An important contribution, which has led to merit the applause of the many citizens of our country". "This year's gathering" concluded the head of EMS, "it represents something more, because it brings to Rome the best hope that the running pace and the engaging music of the Fanfare can give the ideal impetus to the national recovery".
The entire event began on Friday with the flag raising ceremony at Porta Pia, in the courtyard of the Historical Museum of the Bersaglieri, and with the deposition of a crown at the monument that today remembers the events of September 20, 1870, when the Bersaglieri, supported by the artillery shots of the Italian Army, entered Rome through the famous "breach", took the city and they gave Italy a new capital.
The other morning, however, the military ordinary for Italy, Monsignor Santo Marcianò, celebrated a solemn mass in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. During the liturgical celebration, the ANB was given a reproduction of a painting of the Madonna del Buon Cammino, declared patron saint of the Bersaglieri by Pope John Paul II.
Yesterday afternoon, Bersaglieri departments changed the honor guard at the Quirinal Palace and the Altare della Patria, while in the evening, numerous villages and squares of the Capitoline city came alive to the notes of 20 Bersaglieri fanfares, who they cheered the citizens and tourists of the capital with songs and music of the Italian military and bersaglieresca tradition.
The program of celebrations culminated this morning, with the parade, "at the running pace" of over 30.000 bersaglieri on duty and on leave, who, gathered in the early hours of the morning in the shadow of the Arch of Constantine, paraded along via dei Fori Imperiali to the rhythm of the music of 20 fanfares, reaching Piazza Venezia to the applause of the people.
The parade was opened by the Army Band, followed by the Banner of the metropolitan city of Roma Capitale and by various representatives of the Other Armed Forces and Police Forces. The next group, made up of soldiers on duty, saw the Fanfare, the Flag and a company in arms of the 8th Bersaglieri regiment of Caserta, a department of the Army framed in the "Garibaldi" brigade. To follow, the Fanfare of the ANB - sect. of Rome, together with the presidency and the national council, have given way to the running pace of the regional sections. During the parade of the echelon made up of veterans and decorated ones, one of the cannons of the Italian artillery that in 1870 helped to open the breach on the Aurelian Walls, near Porta Pia, traveled via dei Fori Imperiali.
The final act of today's event was the traditional "Passage of the stick" between the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi and the lawyer. Federico Borgna, mayor of Cuneo, a city that next year will host the 69th national gathering of Bersaglieri.
