Thursday 27 June 2024, in the Piazza d’Armi della Non-Commissioned Officers School of Taranto, the commemoration ceremony was held for the extreme and heroic sacrifice, made 84 years ago now, by Lieutenant Commander Lorenzo Bezzi, commander of the Submarine – Gold Medal for Military Valor – to whom the training institute is dedicated.
Solemnly lined up in front of the Bezzi monument, the student marshals of the normal and complementary courses and the attendees of the VFP (volunteer on fixed-term service) courses, after the daily flag-raising ceremony, followed with respectful silence and participation the moment of the laying of the laurel wreath by the commanding admiral, rear admiral Francesco Milazzo.
Lieutenant Commander Lorenzo Bezzi, on 27 June 1940, in command of the submarine Liuzzi, during a war mission immersed in the waters of the eastern Mediterranean he was subjected to harsh hunting by five English units, suffering very serious damage which forced him to surface. Having seen every possibility of defense in vain since the failures had caused the blocking of the on-board weapons, he took steps to have the crew rescued and prepare the unit for scuttling, then following its fate into the abyss.
The ceremony that is celebrated annually does not only want to remember the deeds and the historical event but the man who was its creator, not only the heroic action, therefore, but the identity, the iron will and the indomitable spirit.
Being lined up in the square to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the heroic death of Commander Bezzi made all the participating students and attendees particularly proud, making them even more aware of the professional choice made.
