U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, commander of Southern European Task Force, Africa, speaks May 7, 2024, at a ceremony to name the Italian army base in Longare, Italy, Caserma Matteo Miotto in honor of an Italian corporal who died in Afghanistan in 2010. (Giuseppe Terrasi/U.S. Army)
LONGARE, Italy — The Italian military base in this town near Vicenza that hosts the U.S. Army’s 207th Military Intelligence Brigade never had an official name.
That changed Tuesday during an emotional ceremony christening the installation as Caserma Matteo Miotto, making it the first Italian base named after a soldier who died in a modern conflict.
Miotto, 24, was a corporal from nearby Thiene who served in the Alpini, the Italian army’s mountain infantry. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.
“We agreed on not choosing a name from the second or first world wars, which are inevitably linked to a bygone historical moment and society,” base commander Col. Michele Amendolagine said. “It was necessary to find someone who could be an inspiration, someone closer to U.S. personnel who live on this base, who walked on the same soil ... (in Afghanistan) but, at the same time, Italian.”
The lack of a name had created minor issues over the years, Amendolagine said. Americans would refer to the site as Longare Base, causing confusion between the town and the installation.
The military installation in Longare, Italy, is nameless no longer after a ceremony May 7, 2024. It is now called Caserma Matteo Miotto in honor of a soldier from nearby Thiene who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. (Giuseppe Terrasi/U.S. Army)
Anna dal Ferro and Franco Miotto, the parents of Cpl. Matteo Miotto, meet with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund on May 7, 2024, the day of a ceremony naming the base in Longare, Italy, after their son. The Italian base hosts the U.S. Army's 207th Military Intelligence Brigade (Theater). (Giuseppe Terrasi/U.S. Army)
Franco Miotto and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund hold up a portrait of Cpl. Matteo Miotto on May 7, 2024, in Longare, Italy. The Longare base, which hosts the U.S. Army's 207th Military Intelligence Brigade (Theater), had been without an official name until Tuesday, when it became Caserma Matteo Miotto. (Giuseppe Terrasi/U.S. Army)
Italians called it Site Pluto, a holdover from the Cold War that is irrelevant today but nevertheless has sparked conspiracy theories in local media that the base is a secret storage spot for nuclear weapons.
Miotto was killed in Buji Pass, Afghanistan, after he rushed to reinforce the area. The act earned him the Silver Medal for Valor from the Italian army and the Cross of Honor, which is given to victims of terrorism abroad.
“As legendary NATO allies we have stood together, we have fought together and we have sacrificed together, and Matteo Miotto is part of that legacy,” Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, commander of Southern European Task Force, Africa, said at the ceremony, which had a turnout of nearly 200.
“Every day, the United States Army is proud to serve alongside allies at bases that bear the names of fallen Italian heroes,” he said. “Whenever soldiers from the Army’s 207th Intelligence Brigade enter this installation, they will be told the story of Matteo Miotto.”
The naming ceremony also comes on the cusp of the 95th Alpini National Rally, taking place this weekend in Vicenza. The event is expected to draw 400,000 visitors to honor the Alpini, which Italy says is the oldest active mountain infantry in the world.
Miotto’s father, Franco, thanked both militaries for the posthumous honor given to his son.
“This means everything to me,” he said. “I feel like we put his name inside a safe and his legacy will live on.”
Col. Michele Amendolagine, the commander of the military base in Longare, Italy, speaks at a ceremony May 7, 2024. The formerly nameless base is now called Caserma Matteo Miotto in honor of a soldier from a nearby town who died in combat in Afghanistan 14 years ago. (Giuseppe Terrasi/U.S. Army)
