Italian Armed Forces Day was celebrated on Wednesday in Bucharest by a commemoration ceremony for the soldiers who died for their country.
The Italian Ambassador in Romania, Marco Giungi, pointed out that it is a duty to commemorate those who died for the country, reminding that Horace said: “Dying for the country is sweet and beautiful”.
“The message (of Horace – e.n.) is actually a memento for those who live, all of us have the duty to remember respectfully our heroes and to comfort their loved ones, ” the Ambassador said at the ceremony held at the Italian Military Cemetery from Ghencea.
He also spoke about the civic virtue. “We don’t know if Elysian Fields or Valhalla, or the various equivalents of all the classical cultures, and we are rightfully despising those who are willing to seek death in suicide actions for a post-mortem reward. (…) instead, civic virtue is what we remind today, that virtue that makes the soldier not to seek, but face the risk and which truly makes death to be ‘dulce et decorum’, ‘sweet and beautiful’ in the memory of those who live” Giungi said.
The Ambassador mentioned that this is a virtue that goes beyond national borders and flags when the conflict is over, which is why winners and losers are honored in the same way.
“The day of 4th of November is a very important day, because it is the Italian Armed Forces Day. It is a day in which Italy commemorates the Italian soldiers who died in the two world wars. (…) There are 1,700 Italian soldiers in total, who died on both the Macedonian and Romanian front” stated Andi Grosaru, MP of the Italian minority.
The Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Victor Micula said that Italian heroes who died on duty and were buried on the territory of Romania are commemorated at the Wednesday event.
“It’s an opportunity to remember all the heroes who died in uniform, regardless of the country they defended, as well as an opportunity to show to the young people what the wars in the past meant” Micula added.
Wreaths have been laid by several institutions at the monument dedicated to the Italian heroes, including the Romanian Presidency, the Ministry of National Defense, the embassies of Italy, Austria, France, Germany, UK and Hungary.
Two wreaths have been also laid by MApN and the Embassy of Italy at the Cemetery of Heroes 1916-1919, at the monument dedicated to the Romanian soldiers
According to the Embassy of Italy in Bucharest, more than 1,700 Italian soldiers are buried on Romanian ground. “Many of them are heroes who died on duty during the World War I, who belonged to the Italian Division and who were part of the Allied Army of the French General D’Espery, participating in the offensive on the Macedonian front in September 1918, as well as heroes who died on duty during the World War II, who lost their lives while going to and coming from the Russian front”, states the quoted source.
Photo source: Agerpres