With the lighting of the torches in Tarquinia, Tradate and ideally Castelbenito in Libya), the traditional "Relay of the ideals" begins, which winds along an 255 km route between Rome and Pisa and marks the beginning of the celebrations for the commemoration of the 74 anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein. Appointment at the Gamerra in Pisa, the 28 October, where the public ceremony will take place. The event will be chaired by the Commandant of the North Operational Forces Command, General of Corpo D'Armata Bruno Stano, by the Commander of the Division of the General Friuli Division of Carlo La Manna and by the Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" general of Brigata Roberto Vannacci.
We publish the speech given by the new commander of the General Vannacci Folgore Brigade on the occasion of the launch of the flags and the national medal table.
"Friends of Lightning,
thanks for being here. A special thanks to the National Parachute Association of Italy for the cohesion and friendship that once again shows us.
Paratroopers today formally begin the celebrations for the anniversary of the 74 anniversary of the "Battle of El Alamein". In a few days a public ceremony will allow us to honor our grandparents in a formal, open context, in the presence of the city authorities and our family members. On that occasion we will remember their deeds and retrace the past trying to keep alive the memory and the glory of those who made Great Thunderbolt great.
Today, however, we are in a restricted circle, we are among us, with our feet on a throwing area, a little sweaty, maybe even a little dirty. Today, the same fallen that we will celebrate the 28, are here in front of us, with their worn and patched uniforms. We look at them in the eyes, and we can ideally shake their hands. Today we are lined up with them! Today we are in the family! A beautiful family!
I will not remember and I will not bring to light their heroic deeds because we all know them, because they pervade every environment in which we live, because they inspire us every day and because we are the ones who have chosen to live on the footprint that the Lions of Lightning have drawn .
Today, in honor of our fallen, we launched ourselves with our glorious flags, we pulled them out of their message boards and we took them with us on our aircrafts ... ... and then in the void ... .. true, impetuous, happy ...
Today, we renew our commitment and our willingness to die for our flags, but - above all - we express our happiness and pride in living in respect and pride in the ideals they represent. Our flags are a hymn to life! The extreme sacrifice is an eventuality that can be requested, it is a step that we are ready to make but it is not the end of our existence.
Today we are here to demonstrate to our dead brothers that they are not dead, that they have not left their loved ones, their loved ones and their family, because there is someone who continues the work they started, every day, every hour, every minute, with passion and resilience, without getting tired, without becoming discouraged, without losing heart by following the path of value that they themselves have traced.
This is what I ask of you today, paratroopers! To operate every day and even in the most modest actions you perform, with determination and pride, with strength and honor, without ever giving up!
Even if our conditions are infinitely better than those in which our grandparents found themselves, without food, without ammunition, without gasoline to fight against an immensely larger and more equipped enemy than them, when every day, with scarce resources available , with few training areas and with few launches we strive, without ever giving up, to reach our goals at any cost, we honor those who preceded us.
I don't want to sound blasphemous but I think this is the best way to respect our fallen.
Dear Lions of Lightning, La Folgore is present! It's here! With his flags! She is alive and in good health! Thunderbolt! "
(photo: ANPd'I)
