Il Centro
10th July 2005, page 6, Avezzano.
The Widow of General Troilo has Died.
SULMONA.
Last night Letizia Piccone died in the Capital; she was the widow of
Ettore Troilo, Commandant of the Brigata Maiella (Maiella Brigade). She
was 96 years old. The Town is in mourning for the death of this lady who
was closely linked to Sulmona. She was granted honorary citizenship in the
1990’s when Bruno Di Masci was Mayor. By an irony of fate, this title of
honorary citizenship had also been given in 1923 to Benito Mussolini.
Letizia Piccone’s body will go back to Abruzzo. The widow of the
Commandant of the Maiella Brigade died in Rome, but her funeral will take
place in Torricella Peligna, Troilo’s village of origin. The funeral will
take place on Monday at 10 o’clock. The Town Hall Administration has sent
condolences to the Piccone-Troilo family, in remembrance of the General’s
widow, whose history is deeply linked to that of Sulmona. Mr. Troilo was
one of the founder members of the partisan formation, the Maiella Brigade,
that was born in December 1943;
he also did much to save many English
prisoners detained in the camp at Fonte D’Amore, who were trying to join
the South, beyond the Sangro. Today one of the officers of the Brigata
Maiella, Gilberto Malvestuto still lives in Sulmona. He too has expressed
his closeness to the family for the loss of Mrs. Troilo, remembering the
part that, together with the General, she had played during the
resistance. The epic deeds of the Maiella ended in May 1945 at Asiago. The
flag of the Brigata Maiella is the only one from a partisan troop to have
been decorated with a Gold Medal for Military Valour. With the passing of
Letizia Piccone Troilo, another piece of this history has gone but it will
forever remain an integral part not only of Sulmona. (A.C.) |