The ceremony to name a facility after Captain Sironi, recipient of the Silver Medal for Military Valour and the War Merit Cross, took place at Pratica di Mare Airport in the presence of the officer's relatives.
On Thursday 10 November, the ceremony to name the Main Infirmary in memory of Captain Doctor Luciano Sironi took place at Pratica di Mare. He was a distinguished doctor and pilot, awarded a Silver Medal for Military Valour, who went missing on a rescue mission over Pantelleria on 23 November 1942.
The event was chaired by Air Force General Roberto Comelli, Commander of AM Logistic Command.Also present at the ceremony were the Head of the Air Force Medical Corps and Health Service, Air Brigadier General Giuseppe Ciniglio Appiani, the Head of the Air Force and Space Experimentation Division, Air Major General Alessandro De Lorenzo, and numerous military, civil, and religious authorities.
Particularly touching was the moment during the ceremony when the Director of the Main Practice Nursing Home of Pratica di Mare, Colonel Federico Cerini, received Captain Sironi's photograph from a family member and presented the parchment with the justification for the decree attributing the decorated officer's name to the Establishment, in recognition of his exceptionally high ethical-military, professional, patriotic, and aeronautical values, establishing him as an eminent figure in the field of air rescue.
Colonel Cerini then wished to recall in his speech the importance of “to look at our history as the foundation of our identity. The figure of Captain Sironi is a strength of example that, by transposing the past into our present, also allows our fallen healthcare workers to be remembered and elevated to the universal rank of our moral heritage and thus a model for educating and growing.
General Giuseppe Ciniglio Appiani then took the floor, and in his address expressed his gratitude for what had been demonstrated by the personnel of the Main Infirmary, “who with great passion and determination has chosen to sacrifice their families and the comforts of a planned and regular life to respond promptly and always to the operational needs of the Armed Force.
In his speech, General Roberto Comelli, after thanking Captain Sironi's relatives, who attended this very significant and emotional ceremony, focused on the value of “people whose names remain indelible through time, because in them the sense of justice, the spirit of sacrifice, and the pursuit of the common good have prevailed. Sironi's sacrifice for the Fatherland is precious. “why we need examples to present to our young people and role models to inspire our daily lives”.
Captain Sironi combined the daring of military aviation pioneers and the wisdom of a doctor in his life ideals. Enlisted in the Royal Army, in 1937 he chose to become a pilot officer in the Air Force; subsequently recognised as unfit for flying, he transferred to the Air Force Medical Corps in 1941. Assigned in 1942 to Marsala airport, he volunteered for numerous search and rescue flights until 23 November 1942, when, during a violent air and naval engagement, he volunteered to join the search for his unit commander, who had not returned from a mission, and was never seen again.
The’Main Ward at Pratica di Mare is a healthcare organisation operating under the authority of the Logistics Command Healthcare Service, which provides support for out-of-area operations through specific advanced healthcare and aeromedical evacuation activities, ensuring the urgent or scheduled transport of patients requiring a high level of biocontainment, for national and international needs, for military or civilian personnel, carrying out local healthcare service, health verification, and consultancy activities for the AM Bodies/Departments of Pratica di Mare Airport.
