Some dreams happen that you don’t remember them. They crowd your mind at night and then vanish in the morning. She didn’t go that way with the Alpine troops’ dream of peace: the motto of the 95th National Gathering of the ANA has become a chorus, a symphony resounding in the streets of Vicenza to the rhythm of Trentatré. The cry for peace comes from 90 thousand voices, as many as the Black Feathers who gave life to the final parade of the demonstration. AND six thousand of those voices have a Brescian accentthanks to the Alpini of the Sections of Brescia, Salò and Vallecamonica who in large numbers arrived in the city of Palladio for the key day of the Gathering.
Popular festival
The festive atmosphere that had already been felt in recent days yesterday it reached maximum levels. Not a wild party, even with the convivial and playful moments typical of Alpine gatherings. Party for the pleasure of being together and remembering the values and commitment of the Black Feathers, proudly reiterated in the parade which ended in Viale Roma, in front of the statue of the writer Antonio Fogazzaro. Celebration for that truly “small ancient world” that is the Alpine universe, still capable of mobilizing its troops, although older than in the past, and of telling a story that today is enriched with new chapters, written in the communities of belonging. Chapters that can be condensed into some numbers of green book of alpine solidarity: in 2023 the Black Feathers gave away 2,392,096 hours, valued at over 65 million and 800 thousand euros, a figure to which must be added the sums collected and donated, which add up to another 5 million and 789 thousand euros, for a total of over 71 million and 500 thousand euros.
Solidarity
Those hours of work and those sums allocated to the needs of local realities are the way in which peace is built, the path to continue to follow so that peace becomes reality, always with a smile on the lips, a typical Alpine approach that creates sympathy and relations. All the Sections that marched said and wrote it, from those of foreign countries in the morning to those of Veneto in the evening, when the hot sun of an almost summer day had already set. They also reiterated this the Alpini from the Brescia area, who arrived in front of the authorities’ stand shortly before 5pm and took leave after 50 minutes. The parade of “our” six thousand Alpini was opened by Monte Suello Salò, led by president Sergio Poinelli, who also wanted to remember how “veterans teach that only those who have lived through war know the value of peace”. A tribute to the precious witnesses of a past that no one wants to relive, to strengthen the meaning of the day.
With many mayors
Then it was the turn of the Alpini of the largest section, that of Brescia, led to the rally for the first time by new president Enzo Rizzi. With them around eighty mayors wearing the tricolor band, in the front row that of the capital, Laura Castelletti, and the president of the Province Emanuele Moraschini. Together with the dream of peace, and closely connected to it, there is another: “The dream of the Alpine troops is to leave no one behind”, as demonstrated by the commitment in the Nikolajewka School. A concept also reiterated by the Alpini of Vallecamonica, who arrived in force with the president Ciro Ballardini and accompanied by around forty mayors: «Dreaming of peace, for the Alpini, means helping others in difficulty».
It’s getting dark, the last Alpine troops parade. Soon we will go to sleep: many here are convinced that the dream of peace will chase away the nightmare of war.
