It's all true. The captain of the ship Concordia made a big shit and then shamefully abandoned his post and was forcefully challenged by the Italian military that is now being considered an unchallenged hero .

Vada a bordo, cazzo! became a famous expression, and is echoed all over the world, and we even make shirts with the same.

But people seem to forget that we are all men, all fearful. Screaming on the phone safely Vada a bordo, cazzo! is much easier than doing it when the boat sinks.

In a situation of real danger fear dominates many. Many military one left the battlefield, betrayed his companion or threw their weapons on the ground refusing to fight.

The word "decapitation" comes from the sentence imposed by the Roman generals to cohorts who refused to fight or showed cowardice before the enemy. One in ten soldiers were killed in a random manner. Marcus Aurelius did a lot coward Roman soldier to swallow molten lead during the wars in Germany.

According to military historian Bevin Alexander during World War II 30% of USA troops in Europe were paralyzed, refused to fight or simply threw their weapons on the ground and fled. Cowardice in real life and unquestioned heroism in the movies are two sides of American culture.

In Brazil it is well known and documented the crumbling of the Imperial Army at the beginning of the Paraguayan War. "Our country is great, but the bush is bigger!" said Brazilian officers and soldiers afraid to go fight the Guarani Army of Solano Lopez.

I'm not here to defend the commander who made ​​a mistake and killed passengers. He missed and have to pay for the mistake. But the heroism of the Italian military is over-valued by the press. In a situation of real danger Falco it could also be with wobbly legs and if he did it would be too human like all of us.

Perhaps you should consider correcting "decapitation".

I believe that the term you were looking for was "decimation".