Five people died in the ambush of 16 March 1978, when the Red Brigades kidnapped Aldo Moro. Three police officers, Francesco Zizzi, Giulio Rivera, Raffele Iozzino, and two carabinieri, Domenico Ricci and Oreste Leonardi, the head escort of the president of the Christian Democrats. And it is precisely his story that we want to tell. A story that also passes through our municipalities, through our territory. A story that passes through Faleria.
But let’s take a step back, a step back almost a hundred years. Oreste Leonardi was born on 10 June 1926, in Turin. Father of him, Ernestois a brigadier of the Carabinieri and during the WWI he is wounded in battle: a bullet hits his lung. Half is removed, the other remains in the socket. He remains there and almost thirty years later makes itself felt again: it causes a tumor which takes him away in 1944. Oreste Leonardi is 18 years old, has finished studying and decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. In 1946 he enlisted, in ’49 he was deputy brigadier, in ’51 brigadier. As Pino Calabrese said in his theatrical monologue “The shadow of Aldo Moro“, Oreste Leonardi “has extraordinary aptitudes: powerful physique, breath, shoulders, legs, resistance, tenacity. Optimism and stubbornness. Even his intellectual gifts are no joke: he manages to become a translator from French without a vocabulary.” And again: certified as a physical education instructor, swimming instructor, parachutist and black belt in judo.
Oreste Leonardi and the other victims of the Via Fani ambush. Photo Source: Wikipedia
In 1973 he became a Major Marshal and it was precisely in these years that he passed through Faleria, where he served at the Carabinieri Station. An anecdote that came to light in 2015, when just Faleria, the Municipal Administration to celebrate the anniversary of the death of the former Prime Minister, contacts his son, Sandro. He and his sister Cinzia are children, in some way, also of this territory, of this part of the region. It’s at Viterboduring a carnival party, that Oreste Leonardi meets Ileana Lattanzi, his future wife.
Oreste Leonardi. Photo Source: Equilibrio Sicurezza
Viterbo, Faleria, but not only. Also They file away, where the Marshal was at home, as Luca Benigni had told in this article on our blog. A quiet, ordinary, simple life. Before the call, the kind that boosts one’s career, the kind to be seized upon: Aldo Moro’s escort chief. Almost 15 years of service, until March 16, 1978. The Fiat 130, via Mario Fani, Leonardi’s Colt 38 locked in a bag under the seat. 9 bullets on his body, one at heart level. Only time to turn around, to lower Aldo Moro, to try to protect him. “Chosen for many years by virtue of its outstanding qualities – states the motivation for the Gold Medal for Civil Valor – for the security service to an eminent political personality, he dedicated himself to his mission with profound self-denial and conscious contempt for danger. During a treacherous attack perpetrated with extreme brutality by a group of terrorists, while carrying out his task with responsible and courageous commitment, he was killed with numerous shots fired at close range, sacrificing his life to the noblest ideals of heroism and high sense of duty“. A forgotten story, hidden in books, among anniversaries, plaques. A story that is intertwined with our municipalities, with our areas. And it deserves to be remembered.
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2024-03-16 02:50:47
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