MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Praise for Falklands from SAMA

The Falkland Islands have been praised for their help to veterans of the 1982 Conflict by the South Atlantic Medal Association (SAMA).

In a half hour interview on BBC local radio, the secretary of SAMA, former paratrooper Denzil Connick described progress on the campaign to take 200 veterans back to the Islands for the 20th anniversary this year. "The Falkland Islands Government", he said, "have been really good and helped us with lots of issues to do with our pilgrimage, not least accommodating 200 of us when we get there". He explained how he personally had derived so much benefit when he paid his first visit back to the Islands as a guest of the Falkland Islands Government and people a few years ago.

Falklands' appreciation

"They really do want to show their appreciation and care for the sacrifices that were made for them on their behalf in 1982", he told the interviewer. "Seeing the Islands as they really are in peace time and not as I last saw them in war time really did make a lot of difference. I saw the outstanding natural beauty of the place. The wildlife is absolutely stunning --something I never saw in 1982.

"There are now roads linking all the main settlements. I was able to meet the people properly for the first time and really have a nice time, and to pay my respects to my friends who died on Mount Longdon, where there is a stainless steel cross memorial in memory of the guys who died there, and lay a wreath and pay my respects on my own, shed a tear, and to feel I have actually done something really worthwhile.

"I came back home obviously with a much better perception of the Islands. I replaced some awful memories of that place with much nicer memories. I put a sense of closure to the whole sorry affair in 1982, and laid my ghosts to rest. And this is why I was so inspired to see that we should get many more veterans back down there to experience the same thing".

Finance needed for veterans' visit

He said the pilgrimage "does not come cheap... We have to finance it ourselves. We have all sorts of fund-raising schemes from our own membership, from the pub raffle to crazy schemes like free-fall sky-diving. Everybody is pulling their weight as best they can within the Association. We have had generosity from members of the public who have noticed our appeal in the newspapers. We're pulling hard but