I meet again with the Colonel of the army’s role of honour, Carlo Calcagni, after a year. The last time I hosted him on one of my radio programs dedicated to the “untold truths” in the diseases caused by depleted uranium (topic always covered with the testimony of Colonel Calcagni on L’Opinione).
That afternoon, the Colonel was, as always, available and determined to contribute to the search for the truth. In the past few days, those of the G7, which took place in Borgo Egnazia a few kilometers from his house, I contacted him again. This time we’re talking about his new record: with a time of 15.30 he ran the 100 meters in the Frame running discipline t72. A new category for the Paralympic athlete official. He achieved a new world record, the first Italian in history to win a world championship with a walker.
Colonel Carlo Calcagni, welcome back from Japan and welcome back, can you tell us about your new sporting feat and this new record?
Returning from Japan I can only be proud once again of the results achieved and of having represented Italy well. For me, every goal is never a point of arrival, but a new starting point to achieve new goals. It is this constant challenge, especially with myself, that allows me to live well, despite everything and despite the serious chronic, degenerative and irreversible disease.
In Japan I set a new world record, running in the T72 category, with frame running which allows athletes with serious neurological damage and loss of balance to compete with the aid of a walker, avoiding disastrous falls. I crumbled my own record of 15 and 39, a few days later, during the Fispes Regional Championships, in Lecce, completing the 100 meters with an amazing time of 14 and 60. This once again confirms the veracity of what I claim: I don’t I compete to win medals or trophies, but to improve myself and challenge my limits.
This allows me to live, just as daily therapies help me survive. On every occasion, sport becomes for me a tool for continuous improvement and growth. Through sport I affirm every day that I am there… I exist… I resist! Being there, despite everything and everyone, is a source of life for me. Knowing that I am a model, an example, a credible witness, gives me new lifeblood and recharges me with energy, making it possible to truly appreciate every new dawn that the Lord gives me.
Life is a priceless gift, which we received free of charge at birth and as such it deserves to be lived to the full, always and in any case, valuing every moment. I relive that wonderful gift every morning that I see a new dawn, but it is the actions that make our earthly existence wonderful.
He has always believed (and is a daily witness) of how sport can help and – often – overcome difficult pathologies. Is that so?
Sport has been my life companion since the tender age of three. Without sport I wouldn’t be who I am today. It is thanks to sports competitions, but above all to daily training, that I feel alive.
Sport, for those like me who suffer from serious pathologies, becomes an important psychological support, when it strengthens self-esteem and the awareness that limits are only mental, because nothing is impossible if you truly believe in it. There are no goals that cannot be achieved, as long as our actions are animated by tenacity, determination, willpower and faith. Always believe, never give up.
Together, a year ago, with the actor Gianmarco Tognazzi and the former Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta, we dedicated an entire radio broadcast to the unspoken truths connected to the soldiers who are ill due to depleted uranium. After a year, can you give us an overview of the situation?
Unfortunately, people still die from depleted uranium today, but don’t talk about it!
My friend Gianmarco Tognazzi also knows what it means to deal with this topic, after playing Colonel Moresco who, in the film “The Last 56 Hours”, in command of 12 soldiers, rebels to denounce the consequences of the use of uranium bullets impoverished and to do so he chooses an extreme act. I never thought I’d get this far but it’s certainly something to think about.
Alongside disabling, chronic, degenerative pathologies, like mine, there are also deaths of many who have paid the very high price of their lives for having carried out their duty with honor and love for the Tricolor and for their homeland. Our loved ones suffer next to us, often helpless and helpless, unable to provide support and support, because they are the ones who most need assistance. But despite everything, I am confident: I await the answer to the parliamentary question tabled a few weeks ago by the Honorable Mari.
I am convinced that the answers may be slow in coming, but that sooner or later someone will have to give them. This firm belief encourages me to move forward and not give up. I believe in the institutions, in the profound values of love of country, in the sense of duty and responsibility. A soldier remains a soldier even without a uniform.
My uniform was “ripped” off me, given that the Ministry of Defense revoked my recall to service in the Honorary Roll, after my complaint in the interview conducted by Luigi Pelazza for the television program “Le Iene” but I feel it stitched to my skin. However, I do my duty and I will continue to do so, for myself, for those who believe in me, for those who, through my daily experience, find the strength and courage to fight every day. I am sure that a new dawn will rise and bring with it the dazzling light of truth and justice.
There are many young people who have no voice and who, every day, make great sacrifices to carry out athletic activities, with its sports club it works alongside them. Can you tell us about them?
Young people are our future and it is, above all, them that I address in my daily missions to raise awareness in schools and civil communities. I have replaced the missions of a lifetime ago in war territories, in support of peace and in favor of the populations affected by war, with missions of “evangelization”, “civic education” and “education for life”. So I gave meaning to my life, suddenly turned upside down by the onset of the disease.
An illness that would have crushed and destroyed anyone, which destroyed me but did not defeat me. Speaking to young people, to those on my team, to those I meet every day, to those who draw inspiration from me, to encourage them to believe in themselves, to pursue their set goals, to commit themselves to making their dreams come true, gives full meaning and profound to my days.
In a liquid society, without fathers, credible witnesses are more than ever an urgent necessity. To be such, you need to act concretely and be coherent, aligning words with actions. I am committed and I strive to be a credible witness, for my children and for the children of a society that should protect them, protect them, support them and encourage them in their growth path. I always tell young people: “If you want someone to do something, do it first and show everyone how to do it.” We must not passively observe what is happening around us and wait for change. We must be the change we want to see in the world.
All great journeys begin with a first step. The important thing is not to stop: never give up! Faced with difficulties, with the inevitable moments of discouragement and discouragement, with small and large fragilities, each of us must find within ourselves the strength to move forward, to believe in a better tomorrow, to hope for a happy day. It’s never too late to make your dreams come true, because dreams have no age: my victories, which are everyone’s victories, and my latest record is proof of this!
Updated June 18, 2024 at 12:17 pm
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