The widow of one of the four
Air Force pilots killed in a mid-air crash last month moved many
to tears on Tuesday with her reading from a poem at their
funeral service on a northern Italian military base.
"Death is nothing," read the wife of Paolo Piero Franzese,
one of the four killed in the August 19 disaster when two
Tornado fighters crashed in the air above a forested area of the
Marche region.
Mariangela Valentini, Alessandro Dotto, and Giuseppe
Palminteri were also killed in the crash during a routine
military exercise.
"I'm still me and you're still you...dry your tears and do
not cry if you love me: your smile is my peace," the widow read
from St. Augustine during the funeral service at the Ghedi Air
Base, about 80 kilometres from Milan.
About 2,000 people, including Defence Minister Roberta
Pinotti, attended the service held inside a hangar at the air
base, where the altar for the Mass was placed between two parked
Tornado fighters.
"You shine like stars," said Mons. Santo Marciano during
the funeral service, where he praised the pilots' "passion" for
flight and service to their country.
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