A ceremony was held yesterday, in the "Salvatore Pisano" barracks in Teulada, to commemorate the heroic figure of the Army Major Giuseppe La Rosa, Gold Medal for Military Valor in memory, who died on 8 June 2013 in Afghanistan following of a terrorist attack.
The soldiers of the 3rd Bersaglieri regiment of the “Sassari” brigade erected a bronze bust, depicting the young officer, which was positioned in front of the command building of the barracks.
The work, created by the sculptor Claudio Bugatti, was discovered during a brief but significant ceremony at which, in addition to the commander of the "Sassari", Brigadier General Giuseppe Bossa, and the commander of the regiment, Colonel Carlo Di Pinto, they attended by the mayors of Teulada, Daniele Serra, and of Sant'Anna Arresi, Anna Maria Teresa Diana.
After the reading of the “Prayer of the Bersagliere”, the fanfare of the 3rd regiment, directed by the chosen caporal major Massimo Pia, performed some of the typical pieces of the Bersagliere tradition.
Colonel Di Pinto during his speech to remember the officer's sacrifice said: “Major La Rosa is a reason for inspiration and reflection for everyone. A soldier dies only when he is forgotten and we will never forget him ".
General Bossa, who at the time was the battalion commander of the "Genius" Task Force of the Italian contingent in Afghanistan, in his greeting address, underlined how, with the sacrifice of Major Giuseppe La Rosa, the number of Gold Medals for Military Valor of the “Sassari” brigade had risen to eleven. Referring to the tragic day of the attack, he also recounted the dismay and pain of hearing the news and urged the soldiers of the "Third" to remember the heroic gesture of Major La Rosa as an act that must indicate the way to go in the moments of difficulty and bewilderment.
Major Giuseppe La Rosa was engaged in the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission in Afghanistan when, "during a logistic tactical movement", we read in the motivation for the awarding of the Gold Medal for Military Valor, "was made the object of a vile terrorist attack. With heroic gesture, showing uncommon courage, unparalleled generosity and conscious contempt of danger, he immolated himself as a shield for the lives of others, protecting them with his own body from the explosion of a bomb thrown inside of the vehicle in which he was traveling. Very high testimony of noble human qualities and heroic military virtues, pushed to the point of supreme sacrifice ".
The high honor, conferred on 6 February 2014 by decree of the President of the Republic, was given to the relatives of Major La Rosa on the occasion of the 153rd anniversary of the establishment of the Army.
