After the 9–11 September fighting in Rome, elements of the German Luftwaffe 2nd Parachute Division[5] were detached to coastal defence duties, and a small unit was camped near an old military installation previously used by the Guardia di Finanza, in the vicinity of Palidoro, frazione of Fiumicino, which was in the territorial jurisdiction of the station of Torre in Pietra, another frazione of the same municipality.

The next morning, D'Acquisto, having gathered some information, tried in vain to explain that the deaths were an accident, but the Germans insisted on their version of events and demanded reprisals, according to a standing order issued by Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring.

An armed squad took D'Acquisto by force from the station to the Torre di Palidoro, an ancient watchtower, where the prisoners were gathered.

D'Acquisto then "confessed" to the alleged crime, declared that he alone was responsible for the "murder" and that the civilians were innocent, and demanded that they be released right away.

In 1983, Archbishop Gaetano Bonicelli announced the opening of a cause for beatification and canonization in the Military Ordinariate of Italy, Pope John Paul II declared D'Acquisto a Servant of God.

On 15 October 1987, Gaudenzio Dell'Aja was appointed by Cardinal Corrado Ursi, Archbishop of Naples archbishop delegate of the ecclesiastical tribunal for the canonical recognition of the mortal remains of D'Acquisto, which was carried out on 18 October 1987, at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, in the first chapel on the left, near the entrance.

I am thinking here of your colleague, Deputy Brigadier Salvo D'Acquisto, gold medal for military valour, whose cause for beatification is underway.

[7]An Italian war drama film, Fiamma che non si spegne (1949), directed by Vittorio Cottafavi and starring Gino Cervi, was inspired by his sacrifice, as was an Italian biographical drama film, Salvo D'Acquisto (1974), directed by Romula Guerrieri and starring Massimo Ranieri.

[8] There are monuments honouring D'Acquisto, including in his native Naples,[9] on the Via Aurelia near Rome,[10] and in front of the train station at Cisterna.