Thirty members of the Alpini, were in Barga Vecchia this afternoon to give their last salute to one of their most loyal members – Lido Adami who died this week at the age of 83, after a long battle with illness.
These men are probably the last of the Alpini as national service has now been abolished in Italy and where once upon a time many of the younger men in the city would have been sent off to join the Alpini regiment, now they only take volunteers.
The funeral of Lido was held in the SS.Annunziata church in front of members of his family, friends and members of the various associations with which Lido had participated in over the years.
On his coffin was his beloved Alpino hat and a large flag for the ACF Fiorentina – the football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons and Lido had supported his club for many of those years.
The Alpini are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command.
Formed in 1872, they are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. Their original mission was to protect Italy’s northern mountain border with France and Austria.
They distinguished themselves during World War I when they fought a three-year-long campaign in the Alps against Austro-Hungarian Kaiserjäger and the German Alpenkorps in what has since become known as the “War in snow and ice”. During World War II, the Alpini fought alongside Axis forces principally on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans Campaigns.
Due to the reorganization of the Italian Army after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, three of five Alpini brigades and many support units were disbanded. Currently, the Alpini are permanently engaged in Afghanistan. – source
Il Gruppo Alpini di Barga
Il Gruppo Alpini di Barga è fra i più numerosi e i più anziani della sezione di Lucca, essendo stato fondato nel 1936 durante la guerra per la conquista dell’impero, alla quale parteciparono molti nostri alpini inquadrati nel Battaglione “Saluzzo” della “Pusteria “.
Durante i conflitti bellici, oltre 80 penne nere di Barga sono cadute per la Patria e fra queste una medaglia d’oro e due d’argento alla memoria
Attualmente compongono il gruppo 140 associati, una parte dei quali svolge con grande impegno attività sociale rivolta particolarmente alla scuola, ai disabili, agli anziani.
Il Gruppo collabora, in piena autonomia, con l’Amministrazione Comunale, con il Clero, con Enti e Associazioni di volontariato.