Mattarella’s homage to the unknown soldier: “Peace is a value to be cultivated”

On November 4, Italy remembers the Armistice of Villa Giusti – which came into force on November 4, 1918 – which allowed the Italians to return to the territories of Trento and Trieste, and to complete the process of national unification begun in the Risorgimento. That day the First World War ended and three years later, to honor the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers, the burial of the Unknown Soldier took place in the shrine of the Altar of the homeland in Rome. It was a ceremony that the website of the Ministry of Defense remembers as follows: “The then ministry of war gave a special commission to explore all the places where they had fought and to choose an unknown and unidentifiable body for each of the areas. of the front: Rovereto, Dolomites, Plateaus, Grappa, Montello, Basso Piave, Cadore, Gorizia, Basso Isonzo, San Michele, taken from Castagnevizza to the sea “.

Of these eleven corpses, only one would have been buried in Rome at the Vittoriano. To choose the one that today paid homage to President Sergio Mattarella, a commoner from Trieste, Maria Bergamas, was called, whose son Antonio – a deserter from the Austrian army and a volunteer in the Italian ranks – had fallen in combat without her body being identified. The Unknown Soldier was buried on November 4, 1921: “More than three hundred thousand people flocked to Rome for that day from all over Italy and more than a million Italians massed on the streets of the capital”, reads the website of the Ministry of Defense .

Here is the message of the head of state Sergio Mattarella

On this day we intend to remember, in a special way, all those who, even very young, have sacrificed the supreme good of life for an ideal of homeland and attachment to duty: values ​​unchanged over time, for the soldiers of that time and those of today. .

Today we celebrate National Unity Day and, on this day, we honor the Armed Forces who, with their dedication and contribution, have allowed Italy to become a united, free and democratic state.

November 4 reminds us, with renewed emotion, of the many lives broken during the bitter fighting of the First World War, a conflict that tore and devastated the whole of Europe.

It was a great test for the many who, coming from every corner of the country, united under the Tricolore, with courage and heroism brought to fulfillment the dream of the Risorgimento, reuniting Trento and Trieste to the nation.

Even today, our security, the safeguarding of our institutions, of peace, of freedom are entrusted to women and men in arms, operating, on behalf of the Parliament and the Government, even in distant lands torn by terrible conflicts to bring , under the flags of the international community, stability and respect for human rights.

Peace is a value to be cultivated and preserved and, more than ever, today’s aggression unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine calls us to the responsibility of concretely testifying our convictions, underlining the need to preside, with our allies, the principles on which international cooperation is based.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen, carabinieri, financiers and civil defense personnel, the Republic is grateful to you for your self-denial and for your commitment.

A special thought goes to those who are employed abroad, from Europe to Central and Northern Africa, from Asia to the Middle East and in the Mediterranean Sea, and to those who operate on the national territory, in collaboration with the police forces.

With these sentiments, I address a warm greeting to all of you and your families.

Long live the Armed Forces, long live Italy!