My Grandfather fallen in the Great War in Italy

By Submitted by: Antonetta Clemente
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Hi, I’m from Italy and I read the magazine (special Edition The Great War 100) in the Senior Center of N.Buffalo Drive Las Vegas, NV. My Grandfather died in the Great War in 1916. He was born in a small city (Penne) located in the Italian region of Abruzzo. In the occasion of the anniversary of Italy entrance in world war (1915) the city of Penne did a ceremony dedicated to its soldiers died in the war. The Prof.

Hi, I’m from Italy and I read the magazine (special Edition The Great War 100) in the Senior Center of N.Buffalo Drive Las Vegas, NV. My Grandfather died in the Great War in 1916. He was born in a small city (Penne) located in the Italian region of Abruzzo. In the occasion of the anniversary of Italy entrance in world war (1915) the city of Penne did a ceremony dedicated to its soldiers died in the war.
The Prof. Candido Greco and the Music Master Antonio Piovano published a booklet where there is the italian translation of the “In Flanders Fields” of John McCrae and a musical composition (per basso, male choir and 4 wind instruments) dedicated to the Flanders Fields. I will attach only some pages of the booklet.

The name of the booklet is : “Nei campi di Fiandra” (In Flanders fields)”. In the presentation (pages 2-3) there is the Italian translation, by Prof. Candido Greco, of the “In Flanders fields” of John McCrae. In the pages 4-8 there is the musical composition of the Music Master Antonio Piovano with italian lyrics based on the McCroe poem.
In the second to last page there is the Monument that the city of Penne built in the year 1934 to honor its fallen soldiers of the Great War.
In the last page there is a Celtic Cross drawn by Candido Greco that contains the names of the 181 fallen soldiers of Penne. For each name there is a poppy symbol just above the name. The name of my Grandfather (Maggiore Antonio Di Oreste) is below the first poppy on the top left
I would like just to add a small note related to the poppy flowering. Mr. Luciano Gelsumino is an historian of Penne and he told me that the poppy was the only flower that could sprout on the fields previously treated with quicklime (calce viva) used as disinfectant.
I will post also the photos of my Grandfather. He received a Silver Campaign Medal. He also deserved a special mention for his support to the people of Messina (Sicily) devastated by the awful earthquake of 1908.
Many thanks to the “American Legion” magazine that gave me the chance to speak about my Grandfather and all the Italian soldiers of the Great War. The estimate is 650000 fallen and 947000 wounded.

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