Posted 10 years ago
Chrisnp
(310 items)
Today, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier died of a heart attack at 63. He ruled the country with violence and paranoia from 1971, when his father “Papa Doc” Duvalier died until he had to flee the country in 1986. In 2011 he returned to Haiti, and his death there has prompted conciliatory remarks from the current administration. Reportedly the response from the people was muted. In my opinion, there are too many supporters in Haiti of the kind of totalitarianism represented by Duvalier for it to be otherwise.
I was deployed to Haiti for most of a year in the in the mid-1990s. Many people there believed the Tonton Macoutes, the murderous secret police of the Duvalier regime, still operated in secret. They were the boogey-men of the Haitian national psyche, widely feared without any solid evidence they still existed.
I acquired this modified bayonet in the course of my official duties. The previous owner claimed it belonged to a Tonton Macoute. I approach any story with a degree of skepticism, especially when there are lurid connections, but the weapon didn’t cost me anything.
It’s a U.S. M-5 bayonet, as used in the 50s and 60s with the M-1 Garand rifle. There were thousands of M-1s used by the Haitian government, so this does fit the story. The original plastic handle is gone and a piece of hand carved wood has been pinned in its place. The U.S. M8-A1 scabbard has had its military web belt hook removed, and the cotton webbing has been modified to create a belt loop.
Whether it was used by the Tonton Macoute, or simply a lost military item turned into a working knife by some farmer, it reminds me of the old Haitian admonition: “The constitution is paper, bayonets are steel”.
Looks & sounds about right. I was in Haiti 10-12 times before '84. Whipping poste with the iron rings off to the side of the police station with wide double opening gates so everybody could see it. Baby Doc has been villainized , but there was NO crime. Was there during an attempted coup once (No, I didn't start it). You know I am always watching weapons where I traveled & this looks very typical for there. So far as the Tonton Machoute connection, hey, it's a good story! I had about a doz. guns drawn down on me & a girlfriend with just a joke during the coup chapter.
When you were there, was La Choo Choo & Hotel Olafson still there in Port a Prince (pronounced pronce)?
Glad to another military blade here. Great story even if it was done by a farmer.
Well, I guess there was there wasn't much "Street crime" but a lot of corruption, torture and killing. Baby Doc was probably involved in the drug trade as well, but he was anti-communist, so he was alright as far as the US was concerned.
There's a killing field outside of Port au Prince that was used by Papa and Baby Doc that I spent some time walking through. The locals avoid it (more Tonton Machoute stories). Even though it hadn't been used in years, I still found bone chards, bits of belts and shoes, etc. scattered all over.
I don't recall La Choo Choo, but Hotel Olafson rings a bell.
I gotta go to work, but I'll write a couple more Haiti stories here later
I meant not much "Street crime" while the Duvaliers were around. Tons of street crime when I was there.
CIA Station Chief once said to me that if he reported all the weird, stupid things that happened in Haiti, he'd probably be recalled and undergo psych evaluation. We actually had people who believed they were zombies (Haitian Voodoo style, not the Hollywood Apocalypse type) wandering around the consulate at Cap Haitien.
One time we raided a vodouist (Haitian Voodoo priest) residence and came up with three human skulls (not the clean medical type, but with patches of hair still clinging) and the lieutenant in charge insisted they be confiscated. When he got back the CO ordered him to "get rid of them, I don't care how." The City Morgue refused to take them without a "handling fee" (read bribe). The result was a bunch of American soldiers in a military vehicle driving around Port-au-Prince with a bag of human skulls. trying to figure out how to get rid of them. They passed cemetery and this same lieutenant told his soldiers to just throw the bag over the cemetery wall. Cooler heads prevailed and explained to the LT that the streets were full of people, someone would see the bag thrown by the Americans, and when they discovered the skulls, it might not be good PR. Eventually the custodian of the cemetery took custody of the skulls "for proper disposal". I suspect he probably sold them to another Voodo practitioner.
Sounds like you got a good introduction to Haitian ways! My connections informed me over a month before your invasion & had negotiated the purchase of their P51 Mustangs before it, but my wimp investor got cold feet & I understand that an Amer. General ended out grabbing them. I still wonder about those 2 bronze Napoleon 12 pds at the police station? Sure some other Amer. ripped them off too.
Hotel Olafson belonged to a friend, Al Sykes, & was an exclusive resort for us & celebrities. Heard it was destroyed in the earthquake. More stories & this isn't f/b!
The problem with talking about Haiti is I've got so many strange and crazy stories from the place, I can't decide which to tell, and I don't want to spend too much time off the topic of collectables.
Ever see those vintage airliners parked across the field from the Port au Prince air terminal? I'll bet a lot of air museums would have loved to have them. If I find the photos I took of them, they might be worth a CW post.
Yeah, had a lot of normal & strange experiences there in my days there "back when".