The 40th ceremony of the “Scudi di San Martino” Award was concluded, involving personnel from the Technical and Operational Support Department for Electronic Warfare of the Italian Air Force.
Last November 11th, the awarding ceremony took place at the evocative Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. “Scudi di San Martino” Award” which saw among the award winners the Second Class Marshal Saverio Luce, young Sub-Lieutenant serving at the Operational Technical Support Department for the Electronic Warfare Exercise of Pratica di Mare.
Since 1983, the Scudi Institute in San Martino has set itself the goal of rewarding those citizens, associations and public or private entities who have distinguished themselves particularly in meritorious works of altruism ed Human solidarity, These values, developed both within the national territory and in other countries, are typical and established values of those who work on a daily basis to support the community, such as the personnel of the Italian Air Force.
Specifically, the recognition consists of medallions bearing in bas-relief the image of Saint Martin on horseback, depicted in the act of cutting his own cloak with a sword to give it to a poor person in need.
The ceremony took place in the presence of numerous Military, Civil and Religious authorities. The Air Vice-Marshal Giovanni Francesco Adamo, As a representative of the Blue Army, he personally presented the award to the awarded Sub-Lieutenant. To the Military, accompanied to the event by the Commander of the Department, Colonel Paolo Papiri, and by the President of the Sub-officers, Graduates and Military Personnel, First Lieutenant Antonio De Bei, it was awarded the Bronze Shield, As a recognition of the commendable and extraordinary meritorious work he has performed.
In particular, the reasoning related to the award shows that Second Class Marshal Saverio Luce was involved in a rescue operation at sea when, free from operational requirements, while in the vicinity of the coast of Costanza, he was called by the apparent agitation of a woman present on the beach. He then noticed the presence in the water of a person showing difficulty in swimming. Without hesitation, and in the presence of adverse weather conditions, the Marine jumped into the water to intervene in an attempt to save the man in difficulty, managing, despite the presence of a considerable sea current, to reach the unfortunate person, who had now reached the limit of his survival capabilities. Thanks to his outstanding physical abilities and the rescue actions carried out, he managed to keep the man afloat, approaching the shore and securing him for the subsequent interventions of the Romanian rescuers and medical personnel who arrived on site. Therefore, with his own exemplary temperament, combined with an admirable sense of civic duty and the ability to manage emergencies in a balanced and professional manner, he succeeded admirably in rescuing a person in extremely grave danger, thereby saving their life..
