Capitan de Corbeta Pedro Edgardo Giachino ( Mendoza, 28 May 1947 – 2 April 1982,

Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a popula ...

), was an Argentine Navy officer who became the first serviceman killed in action during the Falklands War.

Falklands War

Giachino was the leader of a

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

Amphibious Commandos Group The Amphibious Commandos Group ( es, Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios, APCA) is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps. Role Trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct acti ...

and died of wounds in Stanley's hospital after the battle of Government House, which resulted in the surrender of Falklands' Governor

Rex Hunt Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality, and a former Australian rules football player. He was also a veteran Australian rules football commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames ...

and the Royal Marines detachment during the Argentine invasion of 1982. He was awarded posthumously the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross and promoted to the rank of captain.

Burial place

He was first buried at

Puerto Belgrano Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Be ...

, but owing to a letter from his 13-year-old daughter to President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

in 1985, his remains were moved to Mar del Plata, the hometown of his family."La primera víctima fatal argentina"
'' El Día'', 2 April 2007 The naval base of Mar del Plata was also the headquarters of the forces he led in combat at the time of his death.''Capitán de Fragata Pedro E. Giachino''
Armada Argentina website

Alleged human rights violations during the 1976 dictatorship

A number of witnesses' statements surfaced in 2011, accusing Giachino of being the commander of the illegal repression of militants in the area of Zárate-

Campana Campana (Italian and Spanish for "bell") may refer to: Places * Campana Partido, Argentina, a ''partido'' (administrative subdivision) in Buenos Aires Province ** Campana, Buenos Aires Province, a city in Campana Partido * Campana Island, Capit� ...

, in northern Buenos Aires Province, between 1976 and 1977, during the

dirty war The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as ...

. One of the main witnesses, former marine NCO Alfredo Molinari had several run ins with Giachino after being caught in possession of Karl Marx literature and later deserted his unit and took refuge in his parents house in Santiago del Estero. Another of his accusers, Victor Basterra, a Montoneros guerrilla being held at the Navy Mechanics School in Buenos Aires, claimed in an interview that Giachino had been part of the security apparatus there. Circumstantial evidence also mentions him as being in charge of the external security of Mar del Plata's naval base, at a time when a part of the military facilities was used as a detention and interrogation center. His death prevents any further legal investigation, but the pressure of

Human Rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

groups compelled the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Mar del Plata to remove his portrait from the chamber, where both the fallen soldiers from Mar del Plata and the local victims of the Argentine dictatorship are honoured. On 13 July 2011, retired commander Fernando María Azcueta (former submarine ARA ''San Luis'' skipper that sortied against the Royal Navy in the Falklands War) announced that he would be returning the meritorious citizen diploma he received on the part of the Mar del Plata authorities, in protest at their decision to remove Giachino's portrait from the main hall. Fellow veterans that served in the submarines ''San Luis'' and '' Santa Fe'' also returned their awards as news spread in social media groups of Azcueta's decision.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giachino, Pedro People from Mendoza, Argentina People from Mar del Plata Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine Navy personnel Argentine military personnel killed in the Falklands War Argentine military personnel of the Falklands War 1947 births 1982 deaths