Haiti-New Horizons
9-24-1994
^U.S. Troops Fanning Out From Capital Meet Ecstatic Civilians With AM-Haiti, Bjt With AP Photos PAP106,107,110
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
JACMEL, Haiti (AP) _ As the choppers loaded with Green Beret forces passed over the grass airstrip Saturday, the soldiers aboard saw thousands of people, looking like dots, running onto the green field.
By the time the half-dozen choppers swooped in for a landing, the field was flooded with people whooping, laughing and clapping. Boys turned cartwheels on the dewy grass as the Green Berets, M-16 rifles at the ready, disgorged from the large Chinook helicopters and arrayed themselves in semicircles facing the crowd.
It was the start of liberation for this beachside town that Haiti's military has ruled with a heavy hand for as long as people can remember.
The Green Berets, members of the Third Special Forces Group based in Ft. Bragg, N.C., are the vanguard of the U.S. occupation force fanning out from Port-au-Prince, the capital.
For Jacmel's residents, the American soldiers represent an end to beatings and other abuses meted out by Haitian soldiers. The residents said Haitian troops had beaten some men and raped two women just the previous day.
"That's coming to a screeching halt," vowed Bob Bevelacqua, a Green Beret surrounded by a sea of smiling faces, an M-16 with a laser-sighting sniper scope dangling from his hand.
After pulling their packs and other gear out of the helicopters, the 100 Green Berets began walking through the grass to the road for rides into town. They were accompanied by at least half of Jacmel's 12,000 residents, who chanted "Aristide 3/8" "Democracy 3/8" and "Long Live Bill Clinton 3/8"
Instead of the cautious looks they wore leaving the choppers, broad smiles creased the American Special Forces troopers' sweating faces. Some waved to the crowd.
One frail old woman, dressed in a frayed cotton dress, matched strides with a beefy Green Beret shouldering a 100-lb. pack and an M-16. She reached out to touch his sleeve.
"You liberated us 3/8" she told him over the din.
For the first time since elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a military coup three years ago, fear was briefly forgotten in Jacmel.
Revenge had taken its place in the minds of some.
"There they are," one man, Jean Marie Supriant, said to Sgt. John Aliveto, pointing to a group of glowering Haitian army officers. Aliveto did not respond.
Supriant said he had wanted the trooper to disarm the Haitian soldiers.
"They are criminals," he said.
In the last few days, Haitian soldiers in Jacmel have been hiding their Galils, M-16s and other modern assault rifles and replacing them with World War II-era M-1 carbines, apparently to prevent the better guns from being seized, said Jacmel resident Jacques Blaise.
U.S. officers said, however, there was no plan to confiscate the Haitians' small arms, although heavier weapons like machine guns may be seized.
The Green Berets plan to accompany the Haitian forces on patrol to prevent human rights abuses.
"They more or less have to play ball, or it gets ugly," said Bevelacqua, a native of Attleboro, Mass.
Later, the commander of the operation, Maj. Tony Schwalm, and his assistants met with local military leaders in an outdoor restaurant at the beachside Jacmelienne Hotel, in the shade of palm trees and with the surf rolling in.
The faces of the U.S. and Haitian offiers were a study in contrast, the Americans looking earnest but smiling occasionally, the Haitians stone-faced or looking confused.
At the end of the meeting, the Americans held out their hands. The Haitians reluctantly shook them and then lethargically returned the Americans' crisp salutes.
"Their military is not happy right now," noted Bevelacqua.
^U.S. Troops Fanning Out From Capital Meet Ecstatic Civilians With AM-Haiti, Bjt With AP Photos PAP106,107,110
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
JACMEL, Haiti (AP) _ As the choppers loaded with Green Beret forces passed over the grass airstrip Saturday, the soldiers aboard saw thousands of people, looking like dots, running onto the green field.
By the time the half-dozen choppers swooped in for a landing, the field was flooded with people whooping, laughing and clapping. Boys turned cartwheels on the dewy grass as the Green Berets, M-16 rifles at the ready, disgorged from the large Chinook helicopters and arrayed themselves in semicircles facing the crowd.
It was the start of liberation for this beachside town that Haiti's military has ruled with a heavy hand for as long as people can remember.
The Green Berets, members of the Third Special Forces Group based in Ft. Bragg, N.C., are the vanguard of the U.S. occupation force fanning out from Port-au-Prince, the capital.
For Jacmel's residents, the American soldiers represent an end to beatings and other abuses meted out by Haitian soldiers. The residents said Haitian troops had beaten some men and raped two women just the previous day.
"That's coming to a screeching halt," vowed Bob Bevelacqua, a Green Beret surrounded by a sea of smiling faces, an M-16 with a laser-sighting sniper scope dangling from his hand.
After pulling their packs and other gear out of the helicopters, the 100 Green Berets began walking through the grass to the road for rides into town. They were accompanied by at least half of Jacmel's 12,000 residents, who chanted "Aristide 3/8" "Democracy 3/8" and "Long Live Bill Clinton 3/8"
Instead of the cautious looks they wore leaving the choppers, broad smiles creased the American Special Forces troopers' sweating faces. Some waved to the crowd.
One frail old woman, dressed in a frayed cotton dress, matched strides with a beefy Green Beret shouldering a 100-lb. pack and an M-16. She reached out to touch his sleeve.
"You liberated us 3/8" she told him over the din.
For the first time since elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a military coup three years ago, fear was briefly forgotten in Jacmel.
Revenge had taken its place in the minds of some.
"There they are," one man, Jean Marie Supriant, said to Sgt. John Aliveto, pointing to a group of glowering Haitian army officers. Aliveto did not respond.
Supriant said he had wanted the trooper to disarm the Haitian soldiers.
"They are criminals," he said.
In the last few days, Haitian soldiers in Jacmel have been hiding their Galils, M-16s and other modern assault rifles and replacing them with World War II-era M-1 carbines, apparently to prevent the better guns from being seized, said Jacmel resident Jacques Blaise.
U.S. officers said, however, there was no plan to confiscate the Haitians' small arms, although heavier weapons like machine guns may be seized.
The Green Berets plan to accompany the Haitian forces on patrol to prevent human rights abuses.
"They more or less have to play ball, or it gets ugly," said Bevelacqua, a native of Attleboro, Mass.
Later, the commander of the operation, Maj. Tony Schwalm, and his assistants met with local military leaders in an outdoor restaurant at the beachside Jacmelienne Hotel, in the shade of palm trees and with the surf rolling in.
The faces of the U.S. and Haitian offiers were a study in contrast, the Americans looking earnest but smiling occasionally, the Haitians stone-faced or looking confused.
At the end of the meeting, the Americans held out their hands. The Haitians reluctantly shook them and then lethargically returned the Americans' crisp salutes.
"Their military is not happy right now," noted Bevelacqua.
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