Mama mia! Italy was outstandingly wonderful as usual. I was kept very busy by Gen Vinaccia and Col Enzo Grasso. It was a genuine pleasure to reunite with my old Neapolitan friend, Lt Col Daniel M. Lizzul in Italy at the Pizzeria La Notizia. And I only managed to get lost twice while returning to the NSA (Naval Support Activity) Capo, Naples! Upon my departure, I was overjoyed to receive this email:
Lieutenant Colonel Williams SIR … Tom, The PLEASURE was All MINE.
I very much enjoyed speaking with you, BOTH a highly successful United States Marine Corps Officer AND the Paragon of a MAN to emulate in any Walk of Life, be it military or civilian, on the farm, in the corporate world, or with pen in hand, providing all with the wealth of your experience, the wisdom stemming from a Lifetime of Service to Country and Corps, and the Courage and Audacity to engage—and oft times to confront—others with TRUTH in the face of Risk and Grave Personal—and Professional—Loss. Tom, as you can see from the above, I admire you beyond words. In fact, there is insufficient time, words in the Dictionary, and trees in the forest to extol the virtues that you both maintain in your Heart and put into Action to Accomplish the Mission and to Inspire others to take the Initiative in ways that are BOTH Noble AND in search of and support of The Good.
Finally, thank you for your Kind Invitations BOTH to keep in touch AND to visit you in CAMELOT …
Most Respectfully, Dan
Daniel M. Lizzul Lieutenant Colonel United States Marine Corps (Retired)
It would be remiss of me not to mention some of the other encounters whilst in Italy. In Naples, I met a MGen Sofge in the lobby of the Navy Lodge. He told me that he is the CG of Marine Forces Europe and Africa. When he started telling me where his HQ is located in Stuttgart, Germany, I said, "I know General, as the first G3 for that HQ, I helped move it there from London in 1993." We both had a good chuckle and pledged to catch up for coffee.
Besides the opportunity to reunite with former Italian Workmates, another reason for returning to Italy was to refresh my memory about things I intend to include in my third book, Antiquity and Amphib.
While it is always my intent to provide meaningful military lessons learnt, it is also my desire to tantalize the reader with some of the many side benefits of service in the military.
My assignment In Italy as the amphibious OpsO? For commander sixth fleet’s NATO staff Fm 87 to 90 was a gift from heaven.
Since I had previously worked closely with the occupant of that assignment (1976-78) plus having completed three other amphibious assignments, one to Norway and two in the Western Pacific, I couldn’t have been better qualified for the assignment in Naples.
But from a more personal perspective, this Neapolitan assignment meant that I would be able to, rhetorically speaking, dig deeper into Ancient Roman history, which is a subject I hold in high regard.
Overall, I have to say that my Italian friends are still full of spirit and vitality, in fact I think they just plum wore me out. Now as I sit here on my looking back on my recent travels, I chuckle at the comments received by my Italian comrades:
“Who’s the stud on the front cover?” referring of course to my Book 1: Doorsteps of Hell.
My response? “It’s the young Hercules … me of course!”
That got them going.
So on that note, it’s over and out from me for now.
Semper Fidelis.
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