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| Europe |
| Now I'll show you how an Italian dies! |
| 2007-04-15 |
| Fabrizio Quattrocchi. May 9, 1968 – April 14, 2004. They showed the hostages on video, and threatened to kill them if their demands were not met. To demonstrate they were serious, they took Quattrocchi to a field, and had him dig a large hole. They then put a hood over his head and forced him to kneel by the grave, preparing to murder him. But Fabrizio did not cooperate. He stood and tried to pull off the hood, shouting, "Now I'll show you how an Italian dies!" The terrorists shot him in the back of the neck I was reminded of the story of William Logan Crittenden, of the Kentucky Crittendens, a West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran. He went to Cuba in 1851 with Spanish General Narciso Lopez to try to foment revolution. Things went terribly wrong, and Crittenden found himself with 50 other Americans standing bound beneath the walls of Castle Atares in Havana, awaiting execution. They were taken before the firing squad in groups of ten. Crittenden led the second group. Spanish custom at the time was to have the condemned kneel with their backs to the executioners. A Spanish officer ordered Crittenden to comply. "A Kentuckian never turns his back on an enemy," he said, "and kneels only to God." The Spanish struck his legs with their rifle butts, forcing the young American down and turning him, but before they could fire he stood and faced his killers. A bullet hit Crittenden above his nose, tearing his head open. Shortly before he went to meet his fate he had written to his uncle, John Jordan Crittenden, then the US Attorney General, "I will die like a man." He did. The enemy we face today would have to rise far to earn even our contempt. Fabrizio's captors wanted not just to kill him, but to humiliate him, the true mark of the savage. However, they needed his cooperation, and Fabrizio knew it. He was beyond help, but not helpless. He was alive. He could still choose, if only to choose the manner in which he would die. Consider the bravery, the nobility, the strength of that act. In his final moments, facing eternity, willfully discarding the shred of hope that maybe it would not happen, maybe he would get out of it alive, shouting defiance in the masked faces of his captors and denying the barbarous cowards intent on murdering him the satisfaction of his complicity in their crime. Fabrizio Quattrocchi showed us how an Italian dies, and how a hero lives. Lest we forget. 3 year anniversary - and what a contrast to the incidents in Iran |
| Posted by:OldSpook |
| #12 The enemy we face today would have to rise far to earn even our contempt. This is something Bush needs to remember each time he opens his yap about the Religion of Peace [spit]. If you're going to die, die standing up! Better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees. Another thank you to Old Spook for remembering a man who would not let the terrorists win on their terms. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-15 21:16 |
| #11 Death is only the end of this part. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-04-15 14:28 |
| #10 In similar circumstances, knowing I was to die, I would weave a tale to my captors that would haunt them to their dying day--if they still had the nerve to kill me. The reason being that many such brutes are highly superstitious, and readily believe tales the weirder the better. Djinns, curses, zombies, vampires, anything is fair game to leave the SOBs trembling in their boots. This is in no way wrong. In fact, some military personnel are trained to do just this if they are captured, as resistance in any form keeps up your morale and dampens the enemy morale. It should begin as soon as possible after you are captured, and hopefully you won't end up in a position of last minute defiance while facing death. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-15 13:43 |
| #9 If you're going to die, die standing up! I salute Mr Quatrocchi! |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-04-15 12:00 |
| #8 Isn't a mitake one of those small korean cars? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-04-15 11:47 |
| #7 No, That was an errorrer. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-04-15 11:45 |
| #6 Glad we got that mitake cleared up. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-04-15 11:43 |
| #5 Fixing a mitake in previous post: If my memory is any good the idea of the expedition to Cuba and similar ones in Central America was to have them enter the Union as pro-slavery senators and get N pro-slavery electors for the vote on president. Had the plan worked (and resistance of Northerrn states to such acquisitions been overcome) Lincoln would have never been elected and abolition would have been delayed for at least 50 years. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-04-15 11:42 |
| #4 If my memory is any good the idea of the expedition to Cuba and similar ones in Central America was to have them enter the Union as pro-alavery states able to elect two pro-alavery states and get N pro-slavery electors for the vote on president. Had the plan worked (and resistance of Northerrn states to such acquisitions been overcome) Lincoln would have never been elected and abolition would have been delayed for at least 50 years. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-04-15 11:18 |
| #3 Truly a Man! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-15 07:40 |
| #2 We're all going to die. The question is, "in what way will we choose to live?" Quattrocchi lived and died like a man. He may have had a lot of things to answer to St. Pete for, but the way his life ended wasn't one of them. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-04-15 07:07 |
| #1 Fabrizio Quattrocchi is a hero and model for each one of us. Let's hope his life and death will inspire a new younger generation of Italians and free peoples everywhere. RIP thanks OldSpook for reminding us. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-04-15 06:21 |