Source: United States Navy
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, a native of Rochester, N.Y., was presented with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame (RIIAHF), in Providence, R.I., Nov. 2.
RIIAHF, a non-profit organization, honors individuals who have succeeded at the highest of levels in their respective fields, and awards scholarships annually to rising college freshmen.
Franchetti was one of three Italian Americans honored this year.
Her full remarks are below:
“Well, good evening and Senator Reed, thank you very much for your kind introduction and Grazie Millie to Joe Rocco and the entire team here at the Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame for this incredible recognition. I also want to recognize my fellow award recipients and also the scholarship recipients, I know our future is bright when I got to see all that you’ve accomplished and I know what you will do in the future. Thanks in part to the scholarships that you’ll be receiving here this evening. Senator Reed, Provost of the Naval War College Mariano, ladies and gentlemen, and our veterans in the audience. I just got to meet 102 year, old Army artilleryman who fought in the Pacific in WWII and a Vietnam War Army nurse.
It’s really an incredible honor to be with you all here this evening to receive this lifetime Achievement Award. As you just heard and saw in the video, my great grandparents came to America in search of the American dream, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and new opportunities for their families. They arrived with the firm belief and the strongest of convictions that if you worked hard learned, all you could and always did things the right way that you and your family would find success in this new land. My Grandfather Rebello Franchetti, a seasoned Stone Cutter. He lived those values. As did my grandmother Chiarina Rhea the matriarch of our family. Together, they laid a strong foundation for my father, Lawrence Franchetti to be the very first person in my family, to go to college, to become an engineer and find his own success as a plant manager. Through the example that they set, they passed on to me, the values, the values that I have now passed on to my own college freshman, Isabel Marie Franchetti, Who studied Italian and learned about our Italian Heritage first-hand when we lived in Bella Napoli as part of our Navy Journey. There is no doubt that these values and the love and the support of my family laid the foundation for my success, as a naval officer, and as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations. But there’s also no doubt that this award and really my every success is owed to our amazing team of Navy Sailors and civilians, people who come from all across the rich fabric of America. People with whom, I’ve had the opportunity to serve over my 39-year career. And as we sit here tonight, enjoying this wonderful evening. Many of those Sailors and Marines are deployed. They’re standing the watch very far from home. In fact, on any given day, roughly, 110, ships, and 70,000 Sailors and Marines are deployed operating all around the world, all around the clock, to preserve our nation’s security and prosperity, to deter our would-be adversaries, and to stand ready to fight and win decisively if called to do so. I could not be more proud of our Navy and Marine Corps team and I hope you’re proud of them too, so send them a big round of applause.
And those Sailors Marines are also standing the watch alongside amazing allies and partners including the very capable Marina Militare. The Italian Navy, who I’ve had a chance to work with for many many years. And in case, you didn’t see it in the news, the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group recently conducted a series of operations with the Italian Carrier Strike Group, led by ITS Cavour in the Indo-Pacific, and I can say with confidence that the partnership between the United States Navy and the Italian Navy grows stronger every single day. So, I want to say thank you again to Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame for this incredible honor tonight. I could not be more proud of my Italian American heritage or more grateful for my family’s values that have always helped pave my way. Thank you very much.