08 February 2013

Ted Hirsch - Accra, Ghana
 
My first recollection of Ghana was the smell at the airport, unique and pungent, a delicate blend of burning trash, raw sewage, and a hint of body odor. The white concrete retaining wall encompassing the airport terminal was marked with bright red lettering commanding “Do not urinate here”. I then realized this was the beginning of the travel and adventure that the Corps was known for and there was no turning back. The Ghanaians were friendly enough and maybe in part due to past British rule a tad subservient in nature. For the first time in my life I was a minority, a guest at best, whose stay was measured at fifteen months. The heat oppressive at times demanded compensation, most notably by starting physical fitness tests at four A.M. A Marine sighting in on the chin of a fellow devil dog with a flashlight, scrutinizing the proper execution of a pull up, was bizarre but necessary. The embassy was by most accounts an interesting structure, built on stilts with major security flaws, the most egregious being a two and a half foot gap between the top of the entrance door and the ceiling. Anyone of average strength and flexibility could climb the door and access the inside of America’s diplomatic domain. After conducting office to office security inspections on the midnight watch, you did not know if some uninvited guest was lying in wait, definitely not the best of circumstances when a Marine security guard feels unsecure.

The Marine house came with a cook, laundry boy, drivers, gardener, and a five foot two, one hundred and twenty pound sixty five year old security guard who wore a vintage white British army summer dress uniform, armed with a miniature bow and arrow. The best of the lot was a dog, blind in one eye, aptly named Sarge, whose loyalty and devotion to protect would rival our most legendary Marines. Sarge would be the finest canine I would ever share living space with. At one point we had an African grey parrot named max, a second dog, a cat, and a monkey named Sabrina. Which brought our total to fifteen, ten Marines and five mascots, residing in a house once promised to the Deputy Chief of Mission. I did not miss the basic amenities of home, TV, fresh milk, drinking water from the tap, continuous electricity and running water, air conditioning just to name a few of the missing in action. Being classified as a hardship post the diplomatic communities relied on one another for various forms of social activity and entertainment, of which the Marine detachment was a key player. Saturdays were spent on the field playing softball against the Canadians or a contingent of Japanese doctors, countless dinner engagements, Sunday trips to mile thirteen (the ocean) and the notorious TGIFs at the Marine house, there was always somewhere to go and people to see. I had been in the country seven months when on the morning of May fifteenth nineteen seventy nine; I awoke to the sound of machine gun fire, not more than a few blocks away. A military group, led by a flight lieutenant by the name of J.J. Rawlings was underway.

One of the side bars of the coup was the immediate expulsion of the Lebanese and Syrians who owned a fair number of businesses and companies in Accra and were viewed with jealousy and contempt by the new regime. It was reported that Ghanaian soldiers were going house to house in search of Lebanese families to extract and send to the airport for deportation back to Lebanon. Unfortunately a considerable percentage of Lebanese families resided in the same neighborhood as the Americans; the decision to send three Marines to stay at a house of one of our diplomats was made by our Deputy Chief of Mission. I was selected to be a member of the quasi-reactionary force, based solely on untimely eye contact with the detachment commander. We were to use a government vehicle, be in a uniform and armed only with our trusty night sticks for our ill-conceived rescue mission. I can still see the look of relief on the face of the diplomat’s young wife when we entered her front door, she served us steak dinner and we slept on the living room floor. My single thought and prayer being, God please spare us from a confrontation with Ghana’s finest, bringing a night stick to a gunfight is a sure recipe for disaster. The next morning we were summoned back to the embassy, Washington slash Marine security guard battalion did not think it was a proper utilization of it’s ambassadors in blue.

During my four hundred and fifty days in Ghana I had more significant personal experiences than any other comparable time frame in my life. At twenty three, I was the oldest Marine at my first Marine Corps Birthday Ball, I played the part of an extra in a military coup, I narrowly avoided being classified as road kill when hit by a Mercedes truck while bike riding in Accra, I survived a serious leg infection resulting in no duty for five days, my only sick time in twenty two and a half years of service. And finally, spilling blood, my own, in a home invasion, through which my roommate slept soundly. In retrospect, Ghana was one of the best times of my life, the people, culture, and country provided me with priceless experiences and education. Qualities of empathy, compassion and gratitude became permanent participants in my thought process and I believe has made me a better human being. Most importantly the friendships that were forged by the shared hardships, challenges and good times have endured the test of time and are alive and well today.

 

1 September 2011

Stephen Lyons, Accra, Ghana

Ghana - Rawlings Coup June-September/Summer 1979

On May 15, 1979, less than five weeks before constitutional elections were to be held, a group of junior officers led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings attempted a coup. Initially unsuccessful, the coup leaders were jailed and held for court martial. On June 4, however, sympathetic military officers overthrew the Akuffo regime and released Rawlings and his cohorts from prison fourteen days before the scheduled election. The junior Ghanaian military officers and enlisted personnel of the Fifth Battalion and Reconnaissance Regiment in Burma Camp staged a coup. They formed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to rule the country. The revolutionaries maintain military control until elections took place on September 24, 1979.  During the summer of 1979 there was a military occupation, the AFRC executed eight officers, three of whom had been former heads of state and force 155 military officers, former officials, and wealthy businessmen, to prison.  During this time period gunfire can be heard in the City of Accra; however the gun fire is not intended or directed at the US Embassy, but is taking place outside of the embassy between the military and police. United States President, Jimmy Carter, urges the new Ghanaian Government to observe human rights and due process of law while condemning the killing of government officials. These comments by President Carter outrage some of the Ghanaian people, who feel the United States, should not interfere with Ghanaian affairs. Because of these comments, a large demonstration involving thousands of people takes place at the U.S. Embassy in Accra during the summer of 1979. Marine Security Guard (MSG) Cpl. Stephen Lyons and MSG NCOIC/ Gunnery Sergeant Barry Gustafson are on duty at the time to defend a defenseless embassy. The demonstrators were yelling revolutionary songs while surrounding the embassy and tearing down the U.S. flag located on the embassy grounds. The demonstrators made their way up a stairway toward the unprotected wooden front door leading into the embassy. When they got to the locked front door they wanted someone to come out and receive a letter addressed to President Carter.
 
Gunnery Sergeant Gustafson, Corporal Lyons and Political Attaché, Edward Perkins (Former U.S. Marine) were standing by the locked front door of the embassy when Gunnery Sergeant Gustafson recommended to Mr. Perkins that if he goes outside the embassy door he be accompanied by himself and Cpl. Lyons. Mr. Perkins does not want a uniformed US Marine with him as it may cause further problems with  a uniformed US Marine confronting the demonstrators. Gunnery Sergeant Gustafson is in civilian clothing at the time and armed with a snub nose .38 cal. handgun concealed in the rear of his back. Mr. Perkins had Cpl. Lyons unlock the front door to the embassy and orders him to lock the door behind him, as he and Gunnery Sergeant Gustafson step outside the embassy to speak to the demonstrators . Mr. Perkins stepped out onto the front stairway with great poise and confidence and raised his hand causing  the demonstrators to go quiet. One of the leaders of the demonstrators exchange words with Mr. Perkins and hand him a letter addressed to President Carter. After exchanging words the demonstrators leave the embassy grounds. The next day while Cpl. Lyons is driving to the US Embassy he observes two Ghanaian men standing in a group holding the US flag torn down the day during the demonstration. Cpl. Lyons stops his vehicle and physically takes the flag back from the men without incident. This event was later described in the autobiography of Mr. Perkins, titled "Mr. Ambassador-Warrior of Peace". Mr. Perkins later became the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Liberia, Australia and the United Nations.

 

28 April 2011

Stephen Lyons, Accra, Ghana

 

I remember while stationed in Accra there was a coup or civil war between the police and army taking place during the summer of 1979 . The revolutionary army killed the top government officials and took many others prisoners. A large demonstration  took place while I was working at the embassy and the political attaché, Mr. Edward Perkins went out and addressed the unruly crowd.