Two men standing in front of two paintings. One of them holds a book, Mani da strapiombi by Tommaso Magalotti. It is 25 November 2007, the day of the annual meeting of the Salce Alpini Group, and Ennio Pavei, who is photographing the day, catches them just like this.
One of the two is Ezio Caldart, the group leader, who gave the annual report that year. The other is Giuseppe “Beppe” Giaccone, an Alpino of the San Damiano d’Asti group. The original caption does not say who stands on the right and who on the left, so we do not say it either.
Giaccone’s bond with Salce went back a long way. In 1964 he was in Belluno, doing his national service with the 7th Alpini Regiment, and the thread with the Group was never broken: in 2004 it was he who brought the greetings of the San Damiano Alpini to the annual meeting, and among his friends here was Mario Dell’Eva.
What happened that day, the sources tell in two ways. The report of the meeting in the December 2007 issue of the Col Maòr says that Giaccone was thanked. The March 2009 issue writes instead that he was “awarded by the group leader”.
It is in that March 2009 issue, on page 14, that the photograph appears for the first time. In the same issue Ezio Caldart signs the article announcing that “Beppe” Giaccone had passed away. And the caption under the picture remembers him in a few words: “our friend Beppe, always present at our Group meetings”.
The photograph
| Date | 25 November 2007 |
| Event | Annual meeting of the Salce Alpini Group |
| Place | not yet established |
| People | Giuseppe “Beppe” Giaccone, Ezio Caldart |
| Photograph | Ennio Pavei |
| First published | Col Maòr no. 1, March 2009, p. 14 |
The picture belongs to a set of about fifty photographs that Ennio Pavei took during the 2007 meeting; some appeared in the December 2007 Col Maòr, the others have not yet been published in this archive. The original digital file is kept in the Col Maòr archive, and what you see here is an identical copy.
Help us remember
Were you at the meeting on 25 November 2007? Can you tell who is on the right and who on the left, or where the photo was taken? Write to us: every piece of information is checked before it is added.
In the MEMORIA network
- Col Maòr — no. 4, December 2007, pp. 8-9, “L’assemblea annuale”; no. 1, March 2009, p. 14. Browse the Col Maòr archive.
- Mario Dell’Eva — a friend of Beppe Giaccone: his page.
- Friends of the Alpini — the friends who stood by the Group.
Sources of this story
- Col Maòr no. 4, December 2007, pp. 8-9 (report of the meeting, photos by Ennio Pavei).
- Col Maòr no. 1, March 2009, p. 14 (first publication of the photograph).
- Col Maòr no. 2, June 2005, p. 14; no. 3, 2004.
- Col Maòr photographic archive, 2007 annual meeting.
