It is a chorus of voices, in presence or at a distance, that today, on the occasion of the celebration of the day in memory of the victims of the pandemic, honors and celebrates the memory together with the commitment made by Italians in fighting the coronavirus and the crisis that has resulted.

In Bergamo, a city that has become a symbol of the many victims, where military vehicles paraded with the coffins of the many dead transferred outside the Lombardy Region that could not accommodate them all, today the memory of those days is vivid and lucid.

In the video we see the army trucks that, exactly three years ago, left the city carrying hundreds of coffins.

An episode that the mayor of Bergamo Giorgio Gori could not fail to recall in his speech at the inauguration of the Bosco della memoria dedicated to the victims of Covid.

"I wanted to invite today the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, because March 18 is a date inextricably linked to the Armed Forces. There is no person, not only in Italy, who does not link the martyrdom of Bergamo to the images of the army trucks that on the evening of March 18, three years ago, lined up along Via Borgo Palazzo to transfer the bodies of 80 of our fellow citizens to Bologna and Modena", said Gori.

"Those were days when the cremation plant of our cemetery, while operating without interruption, could not remotely fulfill the needs. In fact, even two hundred people died a day. We then asked for the help of other cities, I called my fellow mayors, and I asked the then Minister of Defense Guerini for the availability of the army for the transfer of the bodies - he added".

One of the things that the pandemic has shown and the way in which Bergamo and Italy have dealt with it is that "emergencies do not come out alone, but with the help of all", replied the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto in his speech for the ceremony in honor of the victims of the Coronavirus in Bergamo.

In the image of the military trucks taking away the coffins from the city, taken on March 18 three years ago, "there is everything of those days: the pain of the city, of a territory, of the internal nation" a pain that for many was a personal tragedy, but which showed "not only the pain of the catastrophe but, in embryo, the redemption of Italy. There is the best face of the State" that does not leave citizens alone. A State, recalled the Minister of Defense, made up of doctors and nurses, health workers, law enforcement agencies, a "State that has been able to be supported by volunteers", a State represented by law enforcement agencies, firefighters and, indeed, armed forces.

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Covid: in Bergamo the memory of the victims 18 03 2023

"Their action, together with the stability of the socio-economic fabric, of which Bergamo and Brescia are two of the best examples", added Crosetto, has allowed us to return to a "situation of normality".

"Defense is there and it is a heritage of the nation, a resource that is always ready", he underlined, explaining that to pain "we have the duty to attribute a function: that of committing ourselves" so that what happened does not happen again.

The Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci also presented in Bergamo who recalled the "immense effort" of doctors, nurses and health personnel, called the "heroes of Covid, who continue to be so discreetly" he added with a broken voice. "For this - he added while those present gave him a round of applause - it hurts when they suffer aggression".

"In its tragic nature - said the minister - the emergency has strengthened the awareness of how essential it is to protect the right to health that our Constituent Fathers have recognized as a fundamental right. Always having Article 32 of the Constitution as a beacon, we are committed to healing the wounds inflicted by the coronavirus to make the National Health Service more resilient and overcome inequalities that still exist. Covid has taught us that to strengthen the National Health Service, priority must be invested in staff, enhancing them both in terms of economic and professional treatment, making public health more attractive", underlined the minister.

In the morning, words of closeness were released to the families of the victims of President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Meloni. There were also many interventions via social media in honor of the Day of Remembrance by politicians of the government and the opposition.