Commander Giuseppe Rossi - Was born May 15 1881 in Carpaneto Italy.

As a young man he practiced numerous sports such as gymnastics, weight lifting, boxing and cycling. In fact, the 100 kilometer provincial championship race which ran from Piacenza[1] to Ponte Taro and back was considered truly legendary since Giuseppe Rossi beat his opponents by more than 10 whole minutes to win the race. He later moved up to racing motorcycles and automobiles where he came to know Umberto Cagno a racing and aviator ace. “Pippon” (friends and family gave Giuseppe Rossi this nickname) could not be sheltered from this strong fascination for airplanes. So he enrolled in the aviation school of Pordenone[2]  and one of the airplane pilots was indeed Umberto Cagno and it turned out that they would fly together for many years to come.

Giuseppe Rossi would brilliantly pass all of his pilot exams which on October 10, 1910, allowed him on to earn his pilot license; No. 27. The following two years
turned out to be very busy for Giuseppe Rossi. Between 1911 and 1912 Giuseppe Rossi would fly both in the skies of Piacenza as well as the skies of Africa. 

At the end of March 1911, during the festivities to celebrated the 50 years of the unification of Italy, the City of Piacenza hosted an event called “Giornate di aviazione”. Present at the event were the President of the “Aviation Committee” Vittorio Bassi, the secretary Riccardo Scotti Douglas, the Mayor of Carpaneto, the members of the Chamber of Commerce of Piacenza as well as the members of the City of Piacenza. The event proved to be very popular and many people from the surrounding areas came to see the brave pilots fly the skies. In order to properly commemorate the event postcards were printed. Two of the pilots that partook in the event were the two friends, Umberto Cagno and Giuseppe Rossi. Unfortunately mother nature was not very collaborative and during the 5 day event there were very strong winds. During one of Giuseppe Rossi’s flying maneuvers the strong wind caused him to crash as it was reported by a local newspaper. “A strong gush of wind cause the airplane of Giuseppe Rossi to dangerously oscillate and notwithstanding the brave attempts of its pilot, caused it to hit the top of a building and later with the wing of the plane it clipped the roof of Armory Building. This caused the plane to go crashing to the ground seriously injuring pilot Rossi to his right foot. The Mayor of Carpaneto, Count Scotti, later went to visit pilot Rossi at the “Hotel San Marco” where his was recovering in order to embrace him and wish him well to a full and speedy recovery. In addition to his personal wishes, Count Scotti also awarded Giuseppe Rossi with the Gold Medal of the Interior Ministers of Industry and Commerce as well as the Gold Medal on behalf of the City of Carpaneto for his valiant performance during the event of the aviation days “Giornate di aviazione”.