Palabras de grandes que los enaltecen aún más...
Carta de un tripulante del Coventry para Mariano Velasco. Él lo publicó en su Facebook.
Hello Sir,
My name is Martin Rudd, and I was a member of the crew of HMS Coventry during the conflict in 1982.
I am not sure of the etiquette here, so I will tread lightly...
I have wanted to send you a message for some time, but wasn't sure how it would be received. However, having just watched a repeat of the tv programme where Neil Wilkinson and Yourself meet for the first time, I was touched by the mutual respect you showed to each other, as ex combatants.
I would therefore like to extend an overdue hand of respect and friendship.
Despite being in contact with many of my ex-crewmates, all of whom are very special to me, I don't get together with them as often as I would like, as life moves on, and I have always tried to keep the events of 25th May 1982 in perspective.
Although I was only a 19 year old radio operator at the time of the conflict, I joined the Royal Navy three years previously, at the age of 16, straight from school, and after training, joined my first ship, HMS Coventry, in May of 1980.
Being my first ship, she will always be special, but not just for the events of 1982, which could be condensed into 7 frantic weeks of conflict. There is always a danger when looking back, to condense it all further into the last 15 minutes of the ship's life, but that would be a dis-service to all the happy memories of the previous 2 years, travelling around Asia, visiting exciting places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan among others. All at the ridiculously young age of 17!!
Also, I went on to serve another 13 years after the conflict, serving on 7 other ships, all of which taught me so much, not just about the navy, but about the world, life, and myself.
I would also like to mention, with sincerity, that whilst understandably, some ex-Coventry shipmates might stop short of congratulating you and your colleagues for your achievements on 25/5/82, I have never heard any of us speak badly of you. On the contrary, a grudging respect for your braver