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rks after being relieved gedoftothe flag ceremony during a NAS Sigonella. y photo by MR2 Kyle Drummond.
September 20, 2019
Sicilians, Americans Share 9/11 Ceremonies
The town of Nissoria holds a ceremony to remember Sicilian and American victims of the 9/11 attacks. U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Rashaan Jeffery.
Sicily Remembers
By Staff Sgt. Elissa Pedelty , SPMAGTF-CR-AF 19.2 and Janine Scianna, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
Throughout the island, Sicilians empathize with the attacks on the United States. Many see them not as an insular attack on the country, but as a metaphorical attack on freedom and the western world. But Nissoria, a small town of less than 3,000 people in the province of Enna, has a pointed connection to the attacks. Two of their own were working in the World Trade Centers that fateful day and died when the towers collapsed. In Nissoria stands the “Parco 11 Settembre,” one of the first public spaces in Italy dedicated to the September 11th attacks. Mario Chiara, who at the time of the attacks was a Sicilian-American living in New York, is the man behind the memorial. A twist of fate caused his cousin, who worked at the towers, to be late getting
to work that day, which ultimately saved his life. Since then, Chiara and his family inspired the former mayor, Marco Murgo, to establish the memorial in remembrance of the Nissoria victims, Vincenzo di Fazio and Salvatore Lopez. Every year, the town of Nissoria holds a joint ceremony with NAS Sigonella service members to honor the Sicilians and Americans who were killed in the attacks. This year, Marines deployed with the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force, Crisis Response—Africa unit and Sailors deployed with Patrol Squadron (VP) 9 were invited to participate. Mayor Armando Glorioso and Deputy Mayor Rosario Colianni, alongside town citizens and Sigonella
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