I die with the sole regret of depriving my dearest and most good children of their beloved father, but you have the Fatherland that will take my place. And by this Fatherland, swear, Nino, and make your brothers swear, when they are old enough to understand, that you will always, everywhere, and above all be Italians.

With just days to go until the Kingdom of Italy declares war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, irredentist Nazario Sauro, born in Koper on September 20, 1880, who fled to Venice when World War I broke out to avoid fighting in the Habsburg army, delivered to his friend, journalist Silvio Stringari, a letter addressed to his eldest son, Nino, containing this famous declaration of patriotism. Before the war, Sauro was part of that generation of young Mazzinians who braved the watchful Austro-Hungarian surveillance to reaffirm the Italian identity of Koper and Istria, but he also fought alongside the Albanians in their struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire.

Stringari was supposed to deliver the letter to his friend's son if Sauro had died in battle: like hundreds of other irredentist volunteers, the sailor from Capodistria had deserted so he could enlist in the Italian uniform and fight for the redemption of those lands that, at the end of the Risorgimento, had not yet been liberated from Austrian rule. Sauro carried out several raids as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, until he was captured during an ill-fated mission in the Carnaro and tried in Pola. Identified after a dramatic trial that culminated in a confrontation with his mother, who pretended not to recognize him, Sauro, awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor, was hanged on August 10, 1916.

To remember his sacrifice, the Nazario Sauro Honor Committee is organizing a commemoration in Trieste on Monday, August 10th with the following program:

6:00 PM PARK OF REMEMBRANCE – NAZARIO SAURO MEMORIAL MARK

• Laying a bouquet of flowers

Followed by SAN GIUSTO BASS

• Arrival of the vessels of the "Nazario Sauro" Merchant Navy Club and the "Saturnia" Rowing Club

7:00 PM MARINAI D'ITALIA SQUARE (Maritime Station)

• Reading of Nazario Sauro's spiritual testament
• Reading the motivation for the Gold Medal
• Intervention of the chaplain
• Reading the Sailor's Prayer
• Laying a laurel wreath at the monument erected in memory of the Hero
• Speeches by Fulvio Sluga, President of the Nazario Sauro Memorial Committee, Trieste Deputy Mayor Serena Tonel, and a representative of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.
• The flag is lowered by the National Association of Italian Sailors.

The ceremony will be accompanied by the Band of the Trieste Provincial Committee of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia. The program in Piazzale Marinai d'Italia may be subject to change due to the presence of cruise ships.