I am ashamed to be Italian

[pdmccool]

Marco,

It's no reflection on you or anyone else in Italy. The vessel's Captain screwed the pooch, and then ran away from the mess he created. Incompetence and cowardice are as universal as any other human failings, and far more common than we would care to believe. I only hope that the missing passengers and crew will be found and that the ship can be removed without causing further damage to the surrounding area.

[outersketcher]

What about that coastguard officer, Captain Gregorio De Falco? He is an Italian. And a fine example of Italian courage, leadership and honor in my opinion.

[Thomas Meek]

Marco;
Every nation has produced its share of great people and fools as well. Italy is no exception, but I think that as an Italian you have more to be proud of your people than to be ashamed.

[Ron Caudillo]

Originally Posted by marco1971

Yes! I am ashamed to be Italian due to poor figure who made the captain of Concordia. For the uninitiated, in Italy, a cruise ship is wrecked, Concordia fact, What we can accept is the human error but to escape their responsibilities, NO! I felt the communication between the captain and the chief of rescue operations and the drama of the event, almost put me to laugh at the way the captain abandoned the sinking ship while they were still many passengers on board. Sorry but not everyone is so cowardly! Sorry for the outburst.

Marco

Hi Marco,
One (or even more!) cowardly action does not condemn a race or country. Italy has a long and rich history that you can be justifiably proud.

Don't let the actions of one diminish your heritage.

I salute you!

Best Regards,

[doctormax]

Marco do not feel ashamed I know of plenty of Italians who for example rushed to the aid of people the Italians for example who rushed after that earthquake and started digging with their hands for people a few years ago. Can't remember the name of the city in Italy right now and there is lots of Italians that work in mountain rescue and rescue people every single day when they are sking.

[marco1971]

Hello everyone, my view on this tragic episode is that as usual here in Italy you do not put competent people in key positions, but go ahead only recommended and ass-licking. The captain is just the final straw that proves the rule. And all this makes me very angry

Marco

[alex]

Captain DeFalco (the guy who told the ship's captain to go abaord, d** it!) is Italian too. So are the people on Giglio who opened their houses to the passengers. I mean, if we go on and are the first despise ourselves, there's no hope...

[Uyraell]

An example of courage, on the part of an Italian.
The story comes down from late 1944.

It may not be widely known that many Italian Prisoners of War from the Western Desert campaigns in 1942 and 1943 were transported to Australia. Once there, they were offered the chance to work on local farms, as paid labourers. Many returned to those same farms, post-war.

The story in question takes places in late 1944, shortly after wool shearing and baling had finished.
As a "treat" three of the farmer's children were sleeping in the woolshed, above the bales of wool.
Wool when baled is extremely compressed. It also retains sufficient heat as to constitute a very serious fire risk.
And so it happened that at about 10pm that night, the wool erupted in flames.
A wool fire is thick with smoke and toxic gasses, impossible to see through with any clarity of vision, and so hot as to be nearly impossible to move in.

One Italian POW woke to the smell of smoke, and entered the woolshed, emerging with one of the farmer's children.
He re-enters the fire, and emerges with the second child.
A third time the Italian POW enters the flames and blinding, choking smoke, and emerges with the third child.
He then collapses onto the ground, gasping for air, skin scorched, and barely recognisable as a human being: so damaged is he by the flames and smoke he has endured.
Four agonising days later, the Italian POW is dead from the injuries caused by the fire.

As was said at the time: "...few would have braved such a fire twice. That this man braved the inferno three times says much of his great courage, and says still more of his humanity." The quote is from his obituary, apparently written by the Camp Commander of the POW Camp the Italian had been housed at before volunteering to work on the farm.

So, Marco; take from this little piece of history that there are those of whom your Italy should rightly be proud. The POW in the above event is one of many.

Kind and Respectful Regards Marco, Uyraell.

[doctormax]

I like Italians myself I was hitchiking many years ago and i got a lift after my Fiat panda broke down off of this family of Italians who were rushing back to leave back a rented car to Dublin. So we are talking all the way up from Galway and they are going to me do you think we make it and I said sure we will. So they are going Martin well they had found my name out anyway after the chat and the jokes. we got ten minutes to leave the car back are its another day we need to pay and i say well your three minutes from the place. they were stunned how we going to do it there is no way we are going to get there in time and I say ah yeah see you turn up this road here it goes straight to the place rather than go the reckomnended way they had picked out on their map. So we get to the place and with seven minutes to spare. and we didn't break any laws on speeding are jumping lights are anything. I have to admit at the time i worked with the brother delivering furniture all over Dublin so kind of knew every little quick route around Dublin

[Zathros]

3000 people on that ship and around 1000 crew members, I don't mean to sound harsh but, I don't think that's really all that bad, that many people evacuated from a listing ship, it could have been much worse from people panicking and trampling each other. That can happens at Soccer games, religious events (trying to be non-specific here), anywhere we're there are large groups of people. We have had more die from people running out of a burning bar in this country, (U.S.A.). The captain's idiotic maneuver is another issue, that would be like blaming all of America for some of our recent Government officials. It's not like we voted them in, well, actually we did, but at least a lot less people got injured, or killed.