Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-10-26
Wins Highest Military Recogni-
ton That Can Come to Sol
dier of His Country.
SAVES NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
francesca Mario GuardabassI Gives
Graphic Picture OF One Of the Most
Thrilling and Romantic Epl-
sodes Of the War.

-
most thrilling and romantic episodes
Of the entire war; n which. In fact.
may be said to have had a distinct
and definite bearing upon the success
Of the Italian arms.
The cable message announcing the
award. and which was published In
America a few days ago, read:
Awarded to First Lieut.. che later
received his captaincy) Francesca
Mario G~uardabassi Of Perugia, while
on the staff of the commander Of divi-
sion. Energetic co-operator OF the
high command Of the division, First
Lieutenant Guardabassi gave an adj
mirable proof Of determination. energy
and bravery In a very dificult circum-
stance during the drive from the Car
so to the Piave, firmly checking a sud-
den and threatening panic aroused
among the troops. Carso-T agliamento.
Bridge Of Latisana, 20 October, 1917"
Captain tthen first lieutenant)
Guardabassl, by his action. prevented
the Italian retreat from the Carso to
the Piave from becoming a ~disorderiy
rout and transformed II into an or
derby retirement, which enabled the
italian forces to reform and to make
their position on the Piave impregna-
BILE It was Captain G~uardabassi who,
standing virtually alone or the bridge
head of Latlsana. inspired the troops
Of the Third army to hold their ground
xvkon uarpuhaynna uvtfh fnoR md
panic.
10 Here on Special Mission.
Captain Guardabassi. who at the
time was aid-de-camp of General Pc
tillo. divisional commander In the
Third army of Italy. in the last few
months has become a familiar figure
In New York. Following his achieve
ments on the Tagliamento he was
called to Rome and. because Of his
wide knowledge of America and Amer
leans, was sent to the United States
on a special mission from the italian
government. Captain Guardabassi
was persuaded to tell the story of how
he won the decoration. 1t is best told
In his own words:
"You can imagine the spirit Of our
army last October" said he. "when
u generals OF the Third army an
nounced that we were to fall back.
We had worked so hard to establish
N line IN the Taaliamento. and we
were SO proud. Now the orders came
that we were to get back on the Pr
Ave There were no finer fellows In
the world than in the Third army. but
a "a Of discouragement swept
through the ranks. We're we to be
beaten?
"The Pfave line was stronger-it
was u natural line. There we could
hold OF the Austrians coming down
from the north and prevent their
breaking into the italian plains. II
was only 40 miles back yet our army.
none of us. could realize this. 1t was
a retreat. And 1t became more and
more difficult to keep up the soldiers
morale. 10 hold them together.
"The Third army numbered 100000.
It was reduced during the campaign
from 100000 10 10000. but that was its
size when the retreat was ordered.
There were complications In the re-
trent. for down from the northwest
began to come detachments from the
Second army. mingling with our men.
tending to produce disorder.
Rain Makes Retreat Difficult.
81 shall never forget how It rained
I,,~ta. fh4ua l,rc 1rhN Cora4 To ella
mento region is a marshy country.
Where we were was not far from the
sea. In the retreat we had to keep to
the roads. This made our falling back
all the harder.
81 could never have done what I had
to do had 1t not been for my general.
General Petillo. and the fact that
was his aid-de-camp. Remember
that. besides the hurriedly ~retreating
soldiers pouring along the roads ev-
'erywhere. d~lsheartened and fearful. the
country people by thousands were re-
treating. Nobody knew what might
happen. The feeling was growing that
the war WINS lost. That we would soon
make a new stand and a brilliant one
along the Piave and later retrieve ev.
erything nobody realized. You could
not have told them that.
Fortunately. my general and / were
close to a very important crossing OF
the Tagiiamento. the bridge at Latis
ano. Marshes were on every hand. II
reality there were two bridges, q rail
road bridge and one for foot passen'
gers. Soldiers and people were pour
ing over the latter. It was sever
o'clock In the morning. The rain
driven air was filed with a sense Of
the unexpected aud Of gloom. At any
moment our men were likely to break
into panic.
Diplomacy Wins.
Frank speakers Cor whatever they
may term t~hemselvss) should remem-
Der that certain kinds Of frankness
bring a lot Of unsaslness and often pain
to others, and those OF rs who stop to
think at all win admit that 1t Is by
FAR the better part Of valor to refrain
from telling everyone at all times just
what we think. We should study the
t~empsraments Of the persons with
whom we come In contact and while
-.-A.T--u