Armed Forces Day 2015
The Italian Armed Forces Day was commemorated in Washington, DC with a solemn mass at the Italian Church, Holy Rosary on Sunday, November 1, 2015, and on November 4, with a reception at the Italian Embassy. The Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, Defense Attache Major General Luca Goretti, and the Embassy diplomatic and military corps joined the Holy Rosary Church parishioners Sunday in a solemn mass in honor of the fallen soldiers. The mass was concelebrated by Monsignor Walter Erbi of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See and Fr. Ezio Marchetto, Pastor of Holy Rosary Church.
During the mass, U.S. Army trumpeter Todd Taylor, played “Il Silenzio,” an instrumental piece written in 1965 by Nini Rosso and Guglielmo Brezza. The Holy Rosary Church Choir directed by Maria Marigliano, sang the national anthems of Italy and of the United States.
At the end of the Mass, Amb. Bisogniero delivered brief remarks noting in particular the heavy debt that the armed forces, Italian men and women in uniform, have paid to secure liberty and security. A reception followed at Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center.
On Wednesday November 4, the Italian Embassy celebrated Italian Armed Forces Day with a reception at the Embassy’s Piazza Italia attended by military representative from NATO countries and other regions, and representatives of the Italian American community. Italian tenor Marco Fiorante, sang the national anthems of Italy and of the United States.
In their brief remarks, both Amb. Bisogniero and General Goretti underscored the extraordinary commitment of the Italian Armed Forces to peace missions throughout the world. General Goretti noted that he has directed the Italian military attaches to designate some of the funds provided for Armed Forces Day events in the U.S. to “our church, the Italian Holy Rosary Church” in Washington, D.C. Amb. Bisogniero, noted the many areas throughout the world where Italian soldiers work for peace and freedom with their American colleagues and other allies. He thanked the families of the military who “they are truly the backbone of our armed forces and their own sacrifices too often go unrecognized.”
Armed Forces Day is celebrated on 4 November to remember the Italian victory in the First World War. On November 4, 1918, with the entry of the Italian victorious troops into Trento and Trieste and after almost three years and a half of fighting, the “Great War” ended. Austrian-Hungarian forces agreed to a cease fire, thus ending the war on Italian front.
