The Noose Tightens
Dear Fellow Earthlings, On the 6th of April 1982 the noose the Argentine forces had placed around Stanley was loosened enough so that it could be placed around the entire Falkland Islands. The expansion of the area constricted by the noose came about in the form of yet another edict. It called for all ham radio operators and "2-metre transmissions" to be ceased immediately and for all equipment related to such communications vectors to be dismantled and (in the case of all such systems within Port Stanley itself) to be handed over to the Argentine authorities. The town of Port Stanley had experienced a name change (See Installment 375.) -- and now was experiencing a character change. The friendly little piece of the British Isles was being crushed under the weight of a typical military dictatorship. The flotilla sent by the United Kingdom was still many days away! Would they be able to save the Falklands? Only time would tell... In our modern age, might continues to make right. The groups and the entities with the weapons and with the technology to intimidate, threaten, harm, and even kill others seem to think that nothing but force matters. But there is also something besides force that comes into play -- and that is resolve! If we are resolved to our fate, then we tend to lose. But if we acquire the resolve to resist and to fight back, then our chances for surviving increase. Resolve alone cannot do it. However, it is a start! The night of 6 April 1982 was wet and windy -- something that exhilarated Falkland Islanders. But the Argentine troops with their poorly conceived waterproof capes, were miserable and homesick. Hope was the word at this point. The Argentine boys (for in fact most of the soldiers from Argentina were boys in their late teens or young men in their early twenties) hoped to go home soon. And the Falkland Islanders hoped that the flotilla making the 12,650-kilometer trip towards them would help all those boys and young men -- as well as their military superiors -- return to the country from whence they had come!
Steve Walker
Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.