General James Dozier, was the
deputy chief of staff of the Southern
NATO forces who, in
1981, along with his wife, was
kidnapped out his home in
Italy. His significance is concerns this kidnapping and the results of his rescue in quelling the violence in Italy of the
1970s.
The 1970s in Italy was a time violence (for more info, see Red Brigades, Aldo Moro). The Dozier's kidnapping saw the end of this as the police were not only able to rescue them from their kidnappers, members of the Red Brigades, but their rescue began a massive crack down on the extremist groups who had been committing acts of violence throughout Italy.
On December 17, 1981, the Doziers received two visitors at their door claiming to be plumbers. They came inside the apartment and pulled guns on General Dozier and his wife, knocked them unconscious and took them to separate apartments in the city of Verona, where they had been living. Dozier was kept chained to a cot, with heavy metal music blasting into headphones in a tent in the apartment for 42 days until he was finally rescued.
This kidnapping was part of a series of violence called the "Winter of Fire" which brought down the government that was in charge of Italy at the time (not to say that that was a big feat, between 1946 and 1994 a new government was put in place (in the Parliamentary sense) every 11 months). His rescue brought the first members of the Red Brigades into custody and, until recently, helped send decimate the organization and send it completely underground.
Some info received from http://www2.hickam.af.mil/news/newsarchive/1998/98015.htm