What is Lazare Ponticelli?
{{Infobox Military Person |name= Lazare Ponticelli |born= {{birth date|1897|12|07|df=y}} |died= {{death date and age|2008|03|12|1897|12|07|df=y}} |image= LazarePonticelli.jpg |image_size=200px |caption= Lazare Ponticelli in 2006 |placeofbirth= Groppo Ducale, a ''[[frazione]]'' in [[Bettola]], [[province of Piacenza|Piacenza]], [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]] |placeofdeath= [[Le Kremlin-Bicêtre]], France |allegiance= {{flagicon|France}} [[French Third Republic|France]] (1914–1915)<br>{{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]] (1915–1918) |branch= [[French Army]]<br>[[Royal Italian Army|Italian Army]] |serviceyears= 1914–1918 |battles= [[World War I]] |awards= ''[[Croix de guerre]]''<br>[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|''Médaille Interalliée'']]<br>''[[Légion d'honneur]]''<br>''[[Order of Vittorio Veneto|Ordine di Vittorio Veneto]]'' }} '''Lazare Ponticelli''' (7 December 1897 - 12 March 2008) was a French World War I [[veteran]]. == World War I == In August 1914, after the start of World War I, Ponticelli joined the 1st Régiment de Marche of the French Foreign Legion at 16 years old. He had to lie about his age as he was still to young to join the army. His older brother, Céleste Ponticelli, had also joined the regiment.Ponticelli said that France had done much for him, and being in the army was his way of showing his thanks. He fought at Soissons in Picardy, northeast France and at Douaumont, near Verdun. Ponticelli worked digging burial pits and [[trench]]es. Ponticelli was not a French citizen and in May 1915, when [[Italy]] entered the war, he was forced into the Italian Army by [[conscription]]. Even though he tried to stay with his French regiment, he had to become part of the 3rd Alpini Regiment. Ponticelli fought against the Austro-Hungarian Army at Mount Piccolo on the Austria–Italy border. At his new job as a [[machine gun]]ner, Ponticelli was wounded by a [[Shell (projectile)|shell]] during an [[assault]] on an Austrian mountain. He was sent back to his job afte