Commemorative day for the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, for the 60th anniversary of the Kindu massacre, a town in the Congo where on 11 November 1961 the killing of thirteen aviators of the then 46th Aerobrigata, on a peace mission on behalf of the UN, took place .
The military ordinary if Monsignor Santo Marcianò celebrated a mass of suffrage in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, air squad general Luca Goretti, of the general commissioner for Honors to the Fallen, division general Gualtiero Mario De Cicco, of the commander of the 46th air brigade, general of the air brigade Alessandro De Lorenzo of the relatives of the Fallen and of the civil and military authorities of Pisa.
"An anniversary full of sacrifice and memory, which has a content not so much of tragic death as of the gift of life, of those who put the good of others at the center", Monsignor Marciano said during the homily. "We read, between the lines of this tragic event, a martyrdom of love, an implicit faith of those who live for others, a faith that seals this gift as martyrdom. These are the Italian soldiers, who work in peacekeeping missions for justice, legality and freedom of peoples ".
"Today we are not here to commemorate those who left us, but to revive these crews who never left. We want to remember them as they work alongside their aircraft, ready to leave for a new mission", the words spoken by gen. Goretti during the celebration. "Peace missions, missions in which these thirteen aviators have witnessed the Italian ability to bring humanity and hope to the world. These aviators are within us, within the family of the Air Force. A team, a community that today comes together and she must feel proud to have such examples of life in her own history, in her family ".
The day was enriched by the inauguration of a photographic exhibition, curated and illustrated by the historian Paolo Farina, which traces the events of Kindu and some of the missions that the 46th air brigade has been carrying out for over eighty years all over the world with its planes. from transport and a philatelic cancellation made for the occasion in collaboration with Poste Italiane.
