Italian President Sergio Mattarella attended the ceremony in Florence marking National Unity and Armed Forces Day. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, Chief of the Defence Staff General Luciano Portolano, the service chiefs and civilian, military and religious authorities were also present.
At Piazzale Michelangelo, Mattarella and Crosetto reviewed the troops assembled for the event before taking their places in the official stand. Crosetto and Portolano delivered speeches during the ceremony.
Mattarella presented a posthumous Gold Medal for Military Valour to the mother of David Tobini, a paratrooper corporal in the Folgore Brigade who was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2011.
The ceremony also featured three flyovers by the Frecce Tricolori. It concluded with 21 blank rounds fired from three field cannons positioned on the piazzale’s balcony.
Sources: ANSA Politica.