Capitan de Corbeta Pedro Edgardo Giachino (28 May 1947 – 2 April 1982), was an

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

officer who became the first serviceman killed in action during the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

Falklands War

Giachino was the leader of a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

Amphibious Commandos Group The Amphibious Commandos Group (, APCA) is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps. Role Trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct action operations. History It was create ...

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. A former Australian rules footballer, he became a commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around th ...

and the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

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 ( - 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 Belgrano'' (named after Manuel Belg ...

, 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 the 7-yea ...

in 1985, his remains were moved to

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

, 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, in northern

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, between 1976 and 1977, during the

dirty war The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

. 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 Montoneros (, MPM) was an Argentine far-left politics, far-left Peronism, Peronist, Camilism, Camilist and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic revolutionary Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine ...

guerrilla being held at the

Navy Petty-Officers School The Higher School of Mechanics of the Navy of Argentina (Spanish: ''Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada'', commonly referred to by its acronym ESMA) has gone through three major transformations throughout its history. Originally ESMA serve ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, 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 universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

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, borough 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.

References

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