The "collector of helmets": collector, he has already returned two veterans of the Malvinas – 08/04/2019

Matías Picchio (42) collects war helmets. He came to have about 100. He says he's obsessed with war because he's scared of him. Ensures that this way, he faces the fear that he generates. He lives in Cambridge, England 20 years ago. There, he works as an aeronautical technician. In his collection, he has several helmets of Malvinas fighters. Three years ago, he bought that of veteran José Muñoz at an auction and he returned it to him. Now he has returned to the country to hand over to his family the belongings of deceased soldier Rafael Barrios.

Barrios belonged to Regiment 12 of Corrientes. His case resonated a few years ago when comrades who survived the Falklands said that he was victims of war crimes from the English.

In 2011, Raúl Vallejos, a Falklands veteran, said that he had been taken with Barrios and other Argentine soldiers to warehouses in Goose Green whereerca of 400 Argentine prisoners. He added that the British demanded risky tasks and that, faced with the refusal, there were threats to leave them out in the open air without food.

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"On the third day, they asked 20 soldiers to pick up a dead man on the battlefield," said Vallejos. At three o'clock they asked another 20 soldiers to collect rounds of ammunition 300 meters away. We started charging and when it was not long to finish the parva, a soldier leaves, picks up the crate and leaves, I go behind and the one who came behind me goes, picks up the crate and explodes. " The detonation immediately killed Barrios and another soldier, Martín Flores.

Later, the highest-ranking detainees filed a complaint with the British alleging that they had been forced to perform "an activity not covered by the Geneva Convention", dated 1 June 1982.

Vallejos went on to say, "When I heard the explosion, the only thing I said was" Oh my God! "What has almost drowned me, is the smoke, because at no time I lost consciousness." When I wanted to drag myself I look at the leg: everything was cut off. I had no strength, the finger was all red, I did not feel any pain, I felt that I was burning, nothing else. "

Picchio hides behind this tragic history. A year ago, he bought the Barrios helmet at an auction. "He had a rare case, which was not typical of the Argentine helmets of the Malvinas," he said. Clarin. But he says he recognized that he was from Malvinas because these helmets "They have a very special smell". When he saw the name of Barrios inside the object, he began to investigate his story and found the brother, Felix. "I called him and told him that he wanted to send him back." He believes helmets have a very personal connection to soldiers and their families. "They are saving their lives," he says. This Monday afternoon, he will meet the family of Barrios at a ceremony to be held at the headquarters of Comuna 13, which will also be attended by other Malvinas veterans.

"It's a great emotion for me because it can change a person's life, I can give them something that belonged to a family member .It's amazing to see that this can be so insignificant, since I do it as a hobby, "said Matías. And he adds, "I have become a kind of headphone recovery. I did not look for it. This came naturally. It's happened. It's happened. I think it's good to do something because people have lost so much. I feel lucky to do it. I do it for love and respect"

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Picchio was also in contact with the veterans of the opposite camp. He worked for the British Air Force hired as a technician and account how is the memory of the Malvinas from the English point of view"When I was working at the air base, there were a lot of British veterans.For them, it was just another war, they are professionals, they go from war to war, they feel that They have done their duty, they see it from another point of view. "

Matías is a fan of war conflicts. For years, he has collected helmets from different wars. He has German, English, Argentine coins. He says the Falklands helmets, especially those from Argentina, are selling very well. "Now, they have revalued a lot. It's a business of buying and selling these helmets"He admits that many do not have a name and that many are in the hands of people who do not know each other in Argentina." They confuse them with Vietman helmets because they are similar, "he explains.

In 2016, Picchio handed the helmet to José Muñoz, a veteran of the Malvinas. The meeting took place Saturday in a municipal gymnasium of the city of Sarmiento, in the region of Chubut, overflowing with emotions. Picchio had bought the helmet via the Internet without knowing who he belonged to, until he managed to find the name of the soldier who had used it in the Falklands and who had left it. from the United Kingdom to give it to him.

"It's sometimes amazing, as a simple hobby, to do as much for a person's life," he said at the time. Clarin The veteran Muñoz, happy, 34 years later, to find his helmet.

AS