The parents' trip to the Falklands: "I think my brother was present"

On March 13, a contingent of Falklands parents who died during the South Atlantic War traveled to Darwin cemetery to pay tribute to their loved ones, twenty-two of whom were identified this year. Thirty-seven years after the end of the war, the long-awaited moment of prayer in front of a named grave happened to them.

Gladys Cisneros and Esteban Correa, Mario's sister and nephew, the "Perro" Cisnero, traveled among the 65 family members of 22 families from across the country. "It was a wonderful healing trip that ended my story. Until then, I had not realized how much I needed to say goodbye, "Gladys said.

For the great majority, it was the first time I walked on the islands; for Gladys no. In 1991, he traveled with his brother Héctor and returned for the second time in 2001. However, it was the first time that he was certain of being on Mario's grave and that was changing everything. .

"My memory of the first trip is very sad, it was not just that there was no plaque with my brother's name or the anxiety of living in the place where so many people had died for the defense. For example, the Aerolineas Argentinas logo will be covered with the plane, the cameras will be removed or I will not be allowed to wear a statue of the Virgin of the Valley because the national shield was on the ground and that the coat was light blue and white, among other things some of the things that made him feel an absolute desolation, "says Gladys.

On this first occasion and as they did not know where the "dog" was buried, they chose a grave where they could pray: "At that moment, I had the impression that everyone was dead for the same cause and the same idea, for which they were all my brothers ". In 2001, Gladys returned with her younger sister, an opportunity they had to stay a week, the only flights allowed being those of the airline Lan Chile, which flew only on Fridays. It was a long stay during which they were allowed to visit the cemetery every day, where they stayed from morning to afternoon, and the others were able to visit emblematic places such as Pradera del Goose, Monte London, the penguins or Puerto Argentino. "People have always been very respectful because they know we are familiar and understand our pain, but they do not forget the war that they have experienced."

Close a cycle
March 2019. After having met the rest of the delegation in Buenos Aires, after being received at Casa Rosada by the President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, they went to the hotel where they rested for a few hours. They had an informative conversation in which they explained certain rules, for example, that they could not leave the vicinity of the cemetery, that only the flag would be displayed on the larger cross as any other could be considered as a gesture of provocation. Finally, after nearly three hours flying from Ezeiza at four in the morning, they landed at Mount Pleasant Airport, where they were waiting for the buses to take them to the cemetery.

Gladys recounts that along the way, she had decided to go first to the tomb where she had chosen to pray during her previous travels. However, arriving, she was overwhelmed by the worry of being close to Mario. "I felt a kind of desperation and shortly after, I went to say goodbye to Honorio Ortega, conscript of Río Gallegos, whom I had prayed for the cross during my previous travels, and then I stayed at my brother's house. ".

An acrylic photo frame with a photo, nine plastic flowers – the only material that can withstand the force of the wind – representing the nine brothers, a rosary purchased by a niece in the Virgen del Valle cave and a vicuna scarf her husband "to shelter Mario with the fibers and fabric of the hands of Catamarca, he wanted to take the sun of his province, to shelter him", were the few things he took with him.

Gladys explains that it was an extremely moving journey for everyone. And he says his nephew doctor confessed never to have thought that he would feel such emotion, "the anguish and pain were felt in the air," Esteban Correa said. .

After the official response of Father Ponciano Acosta, the Scottish Guard paid tribute to the fallen Argentineans, the bagpipe paid homage to them and the musician Alejandro Lerner sang an a cappella song. They went to the airport to bring them back to the mainland. .

Who was the "dog"?
Mario Cisnero – nicknamed "Perro", nickname that defines his perseverance and his fidelity to the principles – was paratrooper, commando, diver and expert in explosives. For his performance in the 1982 war where he excelled for courage, generosity and heroism was transformed, for all who knew him, Cabral Sergeant of our time.

Originally from the province of Catamarca, eighth of ten children, he was extrovert, solidary and with a firmness of character such that at age 15, he made the irrevocable decision to leave high school to continue his studies at school Sergeant Cabral.

From that point on and although he defines himself as a "soldier", he developed a brilliant career and a steady improvement, until he got it, after repeated requests from voluntary, that he be called to visit the islands. "If something goes wrong, I will not go back," he told his brother Hector, the only family member who knew of his trip. And it was so. He died on June 10, 1982, day of recovery of the sovereign rights of Falklands, Georgias and Sandwich del Sur, at the Battle of Mount Dos Hermanas.

Goodbye and peace
Anecdotes are numerous. Just a trip of hours condensed the wait of nearly four decades and allowed to close several questions. Gladys does not doubt the choice of any of them. For many, many years he had not managed to get rid of the belief that Mario had been left on the ground.

In Darwin, he was with Geoffrey Cardozo, a former British officer who went to Malvinas after the end of the conflict and charged with searching for the bodies and creation of the Darwin Cemetery. He was able to ask when and how he found Mario's remains. "Cardozo said that he had notes and that he was trying to answer me." The next day at Ezeiza, he showed me his notebook in which he was found on January 17, 1983, in Monte dos Hermanas and Mount Harriet, who had been buried the next day. "On the condition of Mario's remains, the officer told him that he was neat and humanly covered with peat. "I can not have more peace than that, we were enemies in the war, but they treated the fallen as human beings".

Finally, Gladys confesses that she is always very attentive to the symbols and that she has once again confirmed during her trip her belief that there is something superior that guides the events.

When they went to the airport, they were told that they could not take anything from the island. Like everyone else, she had picked up stones from the cemetery that she had decided with immense regret to leave on the bus. That was the only thing his brother Hector – who had been Mario's guardian in Buenos Aires – had asked. They checked everything and went to the scanner without problems. On arriving at the hotel and leaving the bag on the bed, three stones that had been hidden without his knowledge had fallen. "These things always happen to me and I'm sure something is happening. I think that my brother, "Marito", as we said in the family, was present at that time so that we could bring this minimum of memory"