Commemorative day for the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, for the 60th anniversary of the Kindu massacre, a town in the Congo where on 11 November 1961 the killing of thirteen aviators of the then 46th Aerobrigata, on a peace mission on behalf of the UN, took place . The Military Ordinary HE Monsignor Santo Marcianò celebrated a mass of suffrage in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squad General Luca Goretti, of the General Commissioner for Honors to the Fallen, Division General Gualtiero Mario DeCicco, the Commander of the 46th Air Brigade, General of the Air Brigade Alexander DeLorenzo of the relatives of the Fallen and of the civil and military authorities of Pisa.
"An anniversary full of sacrifice and memory, which has a content not so much of tragic death as of the gift of life, of those who put the good of others at the center"he said Monsignor Marciano ' during the homily. "Between the lines of this tragic event, we read a martyrdom of love, an implicit faith of those who live for others, a faith that seals this gift as martyrdom. These are the Italian soldiers, who work in peacekeeping missions for justice, legality and freedom of peoples".
"Today we are not here to commemorate those who left us, but to revive these crews who never left. We want to remember them as they work alongside their aircraft, ready to leave for a new mission ", the words of general Goretti during the celebration.
“Peace missions, missions in which these thirteen aviators testified to the Italian ability to bring humanity and hope to the world. These aviators are within us, within the Air Force family. A team, a community that today comes together and must feel proud to have such examples of life in its history, in its family ”.
The day was enriched by the inauguration of a photographic exhibition, curated and illustrated by the historian Paolo Farina, which traces the facts of Kindu and the missions that the 46th Air Brigade has been carrying out for over eighty years all over the world with its aircraft from transport and a philatelic cancellation made for the occasion in collaboration with Poste Italiane.
At the end, a passage of three aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade sealed the inauguration of a C-119 brought back for the occasion to the coloring and insignia of the UN mission in Congo.
“A restoration done with the heart, which we hope will last for the next 60 years - said the Gen de Lorenzo in his speech.
The massacre
It was the morning of November 11, 1961 when two C-119s of the 46ª Pisa Aircraft with the UN insignia they land in the tiny airport of Kindu on the border with Katanga, where a bloody civil war is underway. At the end of the humanitarian aid unloading operations, the two Italian crews head towards the UN canteen where they are surprised by Congolese soldiers and immediately brutally murdered.
The massacre of Kindu is not only a sad story, it also has macabre outlines. The thirteen Italian aviators were savagely torn to pieces, thought for cannibalistic and witchcraft purposes.
The story. Suddenly about sixty soldiers broke in, some began to point to the Italians, ordering others these words "egorgez les cochons ”, or“ slaughter those pigs ”.
The thirteen are taken out of the canteen and massacred with kicks and punches and finished with blows of the cleaver.
The bodies were mutilated because cannibalism was practiced in the Congo, in the markets it was possible to buy "white meat" at a cost of ten francs a kilo. Probably other pieces of the bodies were destined for black magic rites, finding a place in the "dawa", that is, bags that pretend to be talismans for warriors. The reason why they were killed has never been completely clear, the most common hypothesis has always been that of an exchange of identity, it was thought that the Italians were Belgians, former occupiers of the African country.
In 1994, the thirteen aviators who were victims of this ignominious massacre were awarded the Gold Medal at the Military Valor, while the victims' families only received compensation in the 2007.
Our heroes
Crew of the C-119 India 6002 (Lyra 5 radio station)
Major Pilot Amedeo Parmeggiani 43 years, Bologna
Subordinate pilot Onorio De Luca 25 years, by Treppo Grande (UD)
Tenant doctor Paolo Remotti 29 years, in Rome
Maresciallo motorist Nazzareno Quadrumani 42 years, in Montefalco (PG)
Major Silvestro Sergeant Sergeant Possessed 40 years, by Fabriano (AN)
Electromechanical Sergeant Martano Marcacci 27 years of Collesalvetti (LI)
Marconist sergeant Francesco Paga 31 years of Pietrelcina (BN)
Crew of the C-119 India 6049 (Lyra 33 radio station)
Pilot Captain Giorgio Gonelli 31 years of Ferrara
Subordinate pilot Giulio Garbati 22 years, in Rome
Martial engineer Filippo Di Giovanni 42 years, Palermo
Major Sergeant Nicola Stigliani 30 years, of Potenza
Sergio Maggiore Armando Fabi 30 years of Giuliano of Rome (FR)
Marconi Sergeant Antonio Mamone 28 years old, of Isola di Capo Rizzuto (KR)
The remains were transported to Italy and buried in the Pisa Memorial, dedicated to the «Caduti di Kindu». On the doors there is this inscription: «Fraternity has named this Temple that the Italians built in memory of the thirteen airmen who died in a peace mission, in the slaughter of Kindu, Congo 1961. Here forever returned before the clear sky of Italy, with eternal voice, to the whole world warn. Fraternity».
We will remember you forever!
