I'll come visit you for a game of cards

A truly special birthday for Ivo Castellucci from Cisterna. First of all for his age, 103 years old, and then for the greetings personally received from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Born on November 4, 1921, the very day in which National Unity and the Armed Forces are celebrated, Ivo was on the front line in the Second World War engaged as a soldier of the Army Sappers in Northern Africa until , in Tunisia, was not seriously injured by numerous splinters from the explosion of a grenade.

For this reason he was taken prisoner by the English soldiers who nevertheless treated him and then transferred him first to a concentration camp in Egypt and subsequently to India, until the end of the war, when Ivo returned to Cisterna and spent almost the entire rest of his life the profession of bricklayer.

Honorary member of Anget – National Association of Engineers and Transmitters of Italy of Cisterna, yesterday Ivo, on his 103rd birthday, was visiting the Defense Village taking place inside the Circus Maximus in Rome, when he was a surprise was organised: the meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The president wished him a happy birthday and complimented him on his age and his personal history. They then entertained each other jokingly, inviting each other to lunch. “I'll come”, said the Prime Minister, “we'll drink a glass of wine and play a game of cards”.