Conclusion

Abstract

At the end of our interview, Alberto Almeida, at the time a fifty-five-year-old ex-commando non-commissioned officer, enigmatically declared that he was not expecting anything from me, and yet he expected a lot. The interviewee then expressed his satisfaction at having given his personal testimony for my project. His reasoning was that nobody could then say that he had not played his part in increasing general understanding of the Portuguese Colonial War. Almeida felt that he had that “obligation,” and that his contribution was for “history and for myself [himself]! and for us [the war veteran group]!” This statement acquired a deeper meaning by the fact that I knew he had repeatedly refused to talk about his war experience for decades, including with fellow veterans.¹