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Short Round
Enrico Toti, Bersagliero
Enrico Toti was born at Rome in 1882 to a prosperous family. As a young man he performed his military
service as an electrician in the Italian Royal Navy. But when he was 24 he lost his left leg in a railroad
accident. Determined to overcome his
handicap, Toti became a noted cyclist, horseman, and mountain climber, and an
intrepid world traveler, once crossing the desert in the Sudan on his
bicycle.
When Italy
entered World War I, in 1915, Toti decided it was his patriotic duty to join the
fight. It took a while to convince the
Italian Army that he was fit enough to serve. Meanwhile, he kept turning up at the front at the damnedest places,
often under fire. Eventually the army
gave in, and soon the 33-year old was serving as an officer in the 3rd
Bicycle Battalion of the elite Bersaglieri.
Toti proved an excellent combat officer, leading troops into
action with his crutch, and he soon he rose to major. He was mortally wounded while trying to storm
Hill 85, east of Monfalcone, on
August 6, 1916, during the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo. As he lay dying, he was seen to hurl his
crutch at the enemy.
Toti was awarded a Medaglia
d’oro for his courage.
In later years, a new submarine was named after Toti. The Enrico
Toti, commissioned in 1928, accumulated an impressive war record. Her most spectacular moment occurred on October 15, 1940. Skippered by Lt. Cdr. Bandino Bandini, the Toti
engaged the British submarine Triad in
a surface action in the Gulf
of Taranto, and sank
her.
Presidents Who Went to West Point
Among the many thousands of graduates of the United States Military Academy,
at West Point, six have the status of Chief Executive. Most, however, did not become President of the
United States of America. In order of accession to office, these men
were:
- Jefferson Davis, of the soi disant Confederate
States of America
(1861-1865), Class of 1828
- Ulysses S. Grant, of the United States of America
(1869-1877), Class of 1843
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, of the United States of America
(1953-1961), Class of 1915
- Anastasio Somoza, of Nicaragua (1967-1972 and
1974-1979), Class of 1946
- Fidel Ramos, of the Philippines (1992-1998), Class of
1950
- José María Figueres, of Costa Rica
(1994-1998), Class of 1979.
Now of the six, five attained their offices by means of the
democratic process. One, Anastasio
Somoza Debayle, to give him his full name, did so by other means, going into
the family business, one might say; between 1937 and 1979, the Nicaraguan presidency
was held by either Anastasio, his father, Anastasio Somoza Garcia, or his
brother, Luis Somoza Debayle for about 33 years. Perhaps as a result, Anastasio was
assassinated soon after being ousted from power in 1979.
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