Jason Burt was just 17 when he died fighting in the Falklands War. Tom Burgess talks to his parents Sid and Theresa about coping with their loss 20 years later.

Twenty years ago the Falklands conflict was raging in the southern Atlantic as British troops fought to recapture the islands from the Argentine army.

It was during the assault on Mount Longdon that the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment lost 17-year-old Jason Burt to enemy fire.

Only a few weeks earlier, wearing his mother's wedding ring for luck, his father had driven him from Walthamstow to Waterloo station to wave him goodbye. The young Para later boarded the Canberra and set sail for Ascension Island with thousands of other servicemen and women. He was to be among the 252 British dead.

Before the war, Jason expressed a belief that the day you are born God puts your name at the front of a big blank book.

He then flicks to the back to write in the time that he wants you back.

It is up to each person to fill in that book for good or for bad.

Speaking to his parents Sid and Theresa Burt in their home in Garner Road, Walthamstow, it is clear that Jason was determined to write his own story.

"Anyone who knew Jason knew that he had a terrific sense of humour and was very independent," said Mrs Burt.

From their stories of Jason growing up you imagine a young man with strong self-belief.

His decision to join the Parachute Regiment began a battle with his parents.

Mr Burt at first refused to sign the application papers but Jason won him and his mother over with his unshakable will, bringing home books about the activities of the Paras for them both to read.

Jason joined the Army as a cadet in 1980 and 'passed out' in January 1982. He entered Three Para at the end of February, only weeks before war erupted.

As Jason and his comrades lined up for battle on that fateful night in 1982, troops were told that anyone who did not want to fight should take a step back.

It would not have even crossed Jason's mind to back down. Three Para engaged the Argentine army on Mount Longdon and Jason was killed along with 22 of his comrades.

In the 20 years since their son's death, Mr and Mrs Burt have had their loss compounded by the lack of official recognition of Jason's heroism.

The bereaved couple and their other son Jarvis have had to endure contradictory accounts of Jason's final moments from the Government.

News of Jason's death came in a visit from Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials to the family home. Theresa said: "When they told us, I said there must be some mistake.

"This was on a Monday and they promised a phonecall that afternoon. By Wednesday we had still heard nothing. On Wednesday afternoon two officers arrived and when we quizzed them for the facts they said 'we don't give minor details.'"

Mrs and Mrs Burt have had to live without full knowledge of the circumstances of their son's death. Mr Burt said: "Nobody has ever turned round and said this is what happened. "Everyone has told us to fight for recognition of what Jason did that night. But you can't fight the MoD." Despite the attitude of the government to the servicemen and women who gave their Mr and Mrs Burt have received personal letters of condolence from different ranks of men who served with Jason.

And Mr and Mrs Burt's modesty belies their efforts that ensured a commemorative plaque was placed in Sir George Monoux College in Chingford Road, Walthamstow, where Jason was a pupil, and a trophy was created in Jason's name and is presented by the Army to each year's most outstanding Paratrooper. In Sid and Theresa's living room, pictures of a young and handsome Jason stand proudly on the table and hang from the wall. Cards and flowers still arrive at Christmas and on Jason's birthday.

In their pain they can at least take solace from friends and family never allowing this local hero to be swallowed by the fading collective memory of a past war.

April 18, 2002 18:30