ITALIAN WOUNDED WARRIORS HONORED
The Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society was well-represented at a dinner held recently at Casa Italiana to honor a delegation of Italian wounded warriors. The event was held on December 1, 2016, to honor these heroes who were wounded in recent wars.
While awaiting the arrival of the special guests, about 80 attendees chatted among their friends who included Holy Rosary parishioners, representatives of the Embassy of Italy, and members of AMHS and the Lido Club, among others.
Then everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner (and a scrumptious millefoglie dessert with fresh berries) catered by Sorrento restaurant of Bethesda. The wounded warriors sat among the attendees at the various tables so that everyone would get a chance to chat with them while enjoying the plentiful food and wine (and share a prosecco toast).
Maria Marigliano, Holy Rosary’s choir director and AMHS member, started off the festivities by singing the Italian and American national anthems. Father Ezio Marchetto, Holy Rosary’s pastor, gave the welcoming remarks, and afterwards General Luca Goretti introduced the members of the wounded warriors delegation, who were also honored the previous evening at an event at the Embassy of Italy.
Members of the group included Gianfranco Paglia of Caserta, a paratrooper wounded in Somalia (the leader of the group, who won the Gold Medal for Military Valor); Marco Iannutti of Rome, in the Air Force; Antonio Cicatello of Secondigliano (spokesman of the group, stationed in Avellino who served in Kosovo and Lebanon); Salvatore LaManna of Sicily; Rino Bonaventura of Salerno, in the Carabinieri; and Monica Contrafatto of Rome (who lost a leg in Afghanistan and then went on to win a bronze medal in track this summer at the Paralympics in Rio).
After the dinner, a short film about Italy was screened which highlighted the discipline of the armed forces, the beauty and diversity of Italy and its cultural heritage, while at the same time poking fun at some of the stereotypes such as “mommy’s boys” and hand gestures. The film was warmly applauded by the audience. Towards the end of the evening, there was a raffle of prizes including weekend stays at some of the leading hotels in Washington, and someone at each table won the beautiful flower arrangement.
(Note: AMHS members Maria D’AndreaYothers and Sam Yothers, Luciana Caleb, and John and Eileen Verna were lucky winners of raffle prizes). Casa Italiana looked lovely in a white and gold color scheme, with flowers and candles on each table and with Christmas trees twinkling in the background. Helping with the event were parish council members Simonetta Baldassari, Darlene DiBattista and Nancy DeSanti and also Concetta Goetzinger, and special thanks goes to General Goretti, for making the evening a big success.