Retired General Alberto Ficuciello died in a hospital in Udine yesterday afternoon after a sudden illness that took him last Saturday. Born in 1940 he began his military career attending the Military School "Nunziatella" of Naples and, subsequently, the Military Academy of Modena, at the end of which he was promoted to Lieutenant of the tankmen. The most prestigious positions held in Italy and abroad include the Military Attaché at the Italian Embassy in the United Kingdom, the first Deputy Commander of the Rapid Reaction Corps of the Allied Command in Europe (ARRC), Sotto Capo of the General Staff of the Army and Commander of the Allied Inter-Force Command of the South and of the Army Land Operative Forces. He was also military adviser at Palazzo Chigi.
The funeral will be celebrated in the coming days in Novara, where his second son Massimo, officer of the Lagoons, buried in the fulfillment of his duty, is buried on November 12 2003, in the attack on Nassiriya which involved the Italian contingent in Iraq . Moreover, on Saturday 12 November in Rome will be celebrated the "Day of remembrance of the fallen military and civilians in international missions for peace", a day set up to celebrate, every year, the memory of those Italians who, engaged in different countries of the world in missions abroad in support of international peace and security, they lost their lives in fulfilling their duty.
The son Massimo, moreover, was entitled the International Journalism Award entitled "Captain Massimo Ficuciello", given the role he held in the public information sector, which the General personally delivered every year to the distinguished Officer in this sector.
The Chief of Staff of the Army, Army Corps General Danilo Errico, and the Army all, express the deepest condolences and feelings of closeness to the relatives of the High Officer who, with his brilliant work, has brought prestige to the Armed Forces in Italy and abroad.
