FALKLAND ISLANDS: ARGENTINE VETERAN OF 1982 WAR RETURNS

(11 Aug 1999) Span/Eng/Nat
An historic visit to the Falklands islands this week has been an emotional one for the Argentine veterans of the 1982 war with Britain.
The islands remained British as a result of the war and Anglo-Argentine relations have since been slow to recover.
But for Jorge Taranto, a 25-year-old soldier at the time of the war, the visit has allowed him for the first time to honour the dead at their gravesides and to reunite with islanders who once helped save his life.
Jorge Taranto has waited 17 years for this.
He fought here for sovereignty in the Anglo-Argentine war and could not return following Argentina's defeat in 1982
Relations between the two countries are slowly gathering strength once again but this is the first unrestricted visit by any Argentine to the Falkland Islands since an agreement signed in July this year.
At last, Jorge can return to the town where he was based during the war, Port Howard.
He was 25 at the time.
Seventeen years later, he wishes to honour the men on both sides who fell and to reunite with the islanders he remembers.
Rodney Lee, a local farmer, took him on a tour of the town.
UPSOUND: (English)
"I don't know. It wasn't a very nice experience for us. We try to forget it all now."
SUPER CAPTION: Rodney Lee, Farmer
The emotional shock of returning to where he once fought was plain to see.
There is a museum in Port Stanley now which houses the evidence of a war.
The remnants of what Argentina left behind in her defeat have since become objects of history and placed there.
These are records which help Jorge relive the past.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"This is the name of the place where I was based, Port Yapeyu."
SUPER CAPTION: Jorge Taranto, Argentine veteran
The issue of sovereignty in the Falkland Islands still remains a sensitive one.
Argentina has yet to give up her territorial claim and islanders have been suspicious of their new visitors since their arrival on Saturday.
But there is hope for peace and reconciliation.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I think this is a very big step probably towards reconciliation. I guess I've never been one to hate the Argentines. I hated what they did and I hated the people who brought it about but I never hated Argentines so I bear no grudges against somebody who was here. As I said, I bear my grudges against the Argentine government of the time, the junta of the time."
SUPER CAPTION: Rodney Lee, Farmer
Jorge is able to revisit the same place where he lived and where so little has since changed.
UPSOUND: (Spanish)
"Here, I was taking a bath during an air attack once with nothing but my helmet on."
SUPER CAPTION: Jorge Taranto, Argentine veteran
But, despite the pain or reliving the past, Jorge said his visit had been reassuring.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"I'm glad to be here. I think it is very important for all veterans to come here like this. It's like finding yourself. All of us, each and everyone of us, lost something fighting for this land."
SUPER CAPTION: Jorge Taranto, Argentine veteran
He also visited a graveyard Wednesday where six Argentines lie buried alongside SAS captain John Hamilton.
UPSOUND: (Spanish)
"He is a dead soldier and I have respect for dead soldiers."
SUPER CAPTION: Jorge Taranto, Argentine veteran
There is little stomach yet on the island for any nationalist expression from visiting Argentines.
But their presence alone and the acceptance from islanders towards them is a sign that some of the wounds have begun to heal.
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[@stepovic]

Respect to the argentine guy being so humble under such circumstances

[@Falklandsgirl]

I know the Falkland Islander quite well in this and I have to say that doing that would have been hard for him as him and his brother used to go out and rescue the piolets that had been shot down it didn't matter to them weather they where English or Argentine, and I remember him saying to me that no matter what age the Argentines where they all said the same thing "I don't want to be here" "Please I didn't want to come here they made me" Half the Argentines where forced to come and fight in the war.

[@dastealthoperator4138]

Damn just let these 2 poor young guys who were both exploited by their leaders to find comfort in each other. Instead of continuing a petty argument.

[@gordonmcshane6771]

Some of the comments on here make me sick to the bottom of my stomach. The war is in the past, this guy is showing respect and remembering fallen comrades.

[@pjmoseley243]

who knows what shape the world will be in a 100, 1000, or 10,000 years, maybe the islands will be under water due to global warming?

[@godsavethequeen7614]

😂😂😂 it will be one day

[@benjamindavey4782]

They're very mountainous so maybe not.

[@Falklandsgirl]

Teachnicaly we only have one mountain mount Ozbourn. @@benjamindavey4782

[@williammohan9784]

that islander wasn't into giving this Argentine a hug was he

[@Falklandsgirl]

Trust me that is because he is not a hugger I have know him since the day I was born and he has never hugged me not even when his pet sheep knocked me head over heels. Rodney is not one for hugging he prefers to have a drink and talk about it that hug.

[@putnamcountycrimeanalysiswandr]

Yes and it was disgusting to see. Some of the racist comments I’ve heard out of British mouths over the years about Argentina’s people. No not the government no not the junta. About the people. Horrible. And every video is made from the perspective of the British, never from the perspective of Argentina. This soldier was probably a conscript with one week training who didn’t even know how to use the weapons they were issued. They have Unknown soldiers buried in that plot because some were so new their uniforms didn’t have name tags. I don’t know who this English guy was, a former soldier or a British person planted in the Falklands, he’s a POS.

[@putnamcountycrimeanalysiswandr]

@@Falklandsgirl thanks for the input. He should not have done the interview if he was going to be cold hearted like that.

[@Falklandsgirl]

@@putnamcountycrimeanalysiswandr the Falkland Islander himself is just like that as a person he doesn’t like hugs from people he doesn’t really know and he would still have been cross and Angry about what they did to us. But that is just him as a person he doesn’t like physical contact.

[@danielmoran9902]

I found the hugging incident at the beginning of this clip a little hard to bear. The British chap wasn't keen on the whole thing. Mind you, it is terribly important to keep a stiff upper lip.

[@zukunftaus5428]

islas Malvinas not Falklands , wrong title dear .

[@dennis771]

Zukunft Aus Well it won't be argentine

[@devastator200]

john strong 1690

[@kcimb]

Zukunft Aus sorry, it’s the Falklands Islands. A war in 1982 decided the name.

[@zukunftaus5428]

Dennis Flo Never say never , England was under Rome rules once upon a time..........tide is changing dear.

[@paulmcdonough1093]

argentina ha is not roman empire British will always be in control of the FALKLANDS stop fooling yourself

[@omar3876]

PIRATES !!!!

[@nicholasleach8908]

No they were soldiers

[@danidro8227]

@@Amoore-vv9wx In 1833, the British usurpation of the islands took place, who forcibly expelled the local population, replacing them with the so-called “kelpers”. The Argentines are not going to be so crazy to invade an island that belongs to Great Britain, if they did it because they were aware that the British stole it, just as they stole Hong Kong from China. Everybody knows the truth.

[@danidro8227]

@@Amoore-vv9wx If the kelpers are honest, that they recognize the truth, Argentina is not going to interfere in their lifestyle, they just want the territory to be recognized as Argentine that was usurped illegally as Hong Kong was usurped, we Argentines will never give up.

[@Valencetheshireman927]

@franciscoarg6012The Argentines are descended from Spanish colonists.

[@Valencetheshireman927]

@@danidro8227The Falklands were British before Argentina was even a country.

[@efeunoalot]

I don't understand why the apologyze.🤮

[@luchito2000]

Tu porque crees.

[@efeunoalot]

@@luchito2000 No sé. Iluminarme.

[@jorgeeslava6455]

Las malvinas son Argentina's siempre. No estoy para insultar,,,,,, solamente a apoyar.

[@Valencetheshireman927]

They’ve always been British

[@matiascordoba5337]

Las Malvinas SON ARGENTINAS!

[@sleepy6170]

Nope who won buddy

[@markbenjamin1703]

Cry

[@Valencetheshireman927]

Argentine copium always on full display.

[@Falklandsgirl]

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS ARE BRITISH AND SO ARE ITS PEOPLE JOG ON PALL WE DONT WANT YOUR BLOODY FLAG DEFACING OUR LANDS.

[@naiopiaio7125]

The malvinas are argentine ;)

[@lewisstubbs6569]

The Falklands are forever British

[@naiopiaio7125]

@@lewisstubbs6569 Nah, my man, they are argentine, haven't you read a History book???

[@lewisstubbs6569]

naio piaio I know about the history of the Falklands but they were in our hands from the 1830s until 1982 then we reclaimed them off the argentine’s. Also the people want to be British so they’re ours, the argentine’s need to get over it and leave them be.

[@naiopiaio7125]

@@lewisstubbs6569 Ehmmm, the argies claimed them after their independence, 1816, then the british stole it from them.

[@lewisstubbs6569]

naio piaio we took over in the 1830s and the people there are British so it’s is ours. You had your chance in 1982 but lost so get over it.

[@sergiosergio2202]

THE MALVINAS ISLANDS ARE ARGENTINIAN.WE WILL RETURN..🇦🇷💪🇦🇷❤❤

[@samiramarley]

... and you'll be defeated. By the way, on what boats will you return? Your ships sink in their harbors and your submarines can't seem to come back up,...

[@viralvd77]

@@samiramarley not to mention their airforce is what's left from their last kicking.

[@j.boylan3343]

Ha ha ha ha that's funny.

[@santiagoromero4573]

No vamos a volver un carajo boludo, nunca fueron nuestras desde un comienzo.

[@caffeineaddict5124]

You'll return? We are shitting ourselves.