MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Emotional return for Argentine ex-soldier.

In 1982 Silvio Katz was an innocent 19-year-old Argentine conscript who suddenly found himself pitched into a War which he could not understand. He was a member of ?Regimento Tablada' which offered support to other Argentine units in the Falklands as they waited for the British to arrive. Katz ended up at Goose Green but luckily survived a battle, which saw the deaths of 50 of his colleagues. ?We were not told where we were going when we left Buenos Aires and were horrified when we found ourselves in a battle zone totally unprepared for War' said Silvio.

During the succeeding 19 years Silvio Katz, now 38 years old, has admitted experiencing many nightmares as he re-lives the intensity of the battle and death and injuries which it brought. He supplements his meagre 300 dollars a month Army pension by working in a clothes shop in downtown Buenos Aires and lives close to the old San Lorenzo football ground with his 22 year old girl friend Veronica Moreno. They have been together for 5 years.

A few months ago Silvio Katz bought a packet of Derby cigarettes and found inside a token which offered him and a companion an ?all expenses paid weeks holiday in the Malvinas'. He thought at first that it was a joke, but before throwing the token away decided to show it to Veronica. She suggested that they contact the cigarette manufactures ?Nobleza Piccardo' who had offered the holiday, and only then did the couple discover that fate had indeed offered Silvio an opportunity to return to the place which he could never clear from his mind.

In all 10 similar tokens, offering holidays to the Islands, were placed in packets of Derby cigarettes. 3 winners decided to take the money and not the trip, 1 person lost the token while another could not be contacted, leaving 5 couples who will have the opportunity to visit the Islands. Another couple visit next week, and two more couples in the following weeks.

Last week Silvio and Veronica arrived in the Islands accompanied by Sebastian Martinez, who also luckily obtained a token, and his friend Jorge Cilfone from Cordoba, and 2 English speaking interpreters, Mariela Sangiorgio from Buenos Aires and Natalia Nanetti from Mar del Plata, who are both employed by ?Grey Argentina', an advertising company which arranged the weeks visit to the Islands at the request of ?Nobleza Piccardo'.

The group stayed in one of Stanley's top hotels the ?Malvina House Hotel' and was given a half-day tour of the town, plus a full days visit to Volunteer Point to see the magnificent King Penguins. But the most poignant moment for Silvio Katz came when the group visited the Argentine War Cemetery at Darwin on a warm and sunny Falklands day. Silvio rushed ahead of everyone else in his eagerness to pay homage to the 232 bodies whic