THE FUN NEVER STOPS IN LIBERIA, I GUESS....

SGT CALEB EAMES
MSG DET AMEB MONROVIA
DEPT OF STATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20521
OCT 3, 1998

September 18-30, 1998. It all started on Friday when I walked out of our house on my way to the embassy and a loud "WHUUMMPP" reverberated through the compound. It was an RPG round detonating. The local government forces had decided to eliminate the rebel opposition who lived primarily on Camp Johnson Road. The whole day, automatic weapons fire intermixed with RPG rounds detonating echoed throughout the city. We knew there would be a problem when stray rounds started impacting on some of the buildings on the embassy compound.

We received frantic calls from Americans throughout the city asking for advice. We told them to remain inside and stay safe, as the violence was not directed toward Americans. Throughout that night and into the morning, thousands of people fleeing the fighting showed up at the gate to the embassy. By noon on Saturday, about 25, 000 refugees had made their way inside a housing compound across the street from the embassy, all seeking protection from the fighting. Saturday afternoon, the rebel leader, Roosevelt Johnson had somehow made it out of the fighting and arrived at the front gate to the embassy asking for asylum. Some security personnel, not Marines, went out into the street with the acting Ambassador to negotiate a peaceful handover of Mr. Johnson to the ECOMOG peacekeeping force here. During the negotiations, the Special Security Unit, the "secret police" of the government militia started arriving in force. These SSU troops' mission was to find and kill Mr. Johnson and any supporters.

The street in front of the embassy was filled with about 30 vehicles, ECOMOG MOWAGS (armored personnel carriers), police vehicles, armored sedans, and men armed to the teeth with AK-47s, other automatic weapons, and RPGs. At that point, Mr. Johnson and several loyal men were still outside the embassy hidden behind a partition, which shielded them from the view from the street.
With American Security personnel still on the street, approximately seven men tightly stacked moved around the partition with weapons raised. The gunfire started with a few pops and then the noise of automatic fire burst out. An RPG round was fired toward the embassy; thankfully, it traveled directly over the building and landed in the ocean on the other side.

Later, another RPG round was located on the ground undetonated. I would estimate that 150 rounds were fired in a 30-second period. This fire was all directed at Mr. Johnson and the Americans surrounding him and into the gate, through the gate, and into the embassy itself. With a hail of bullets around them the Americans dove for the turnstile gate, returning fire as best possible, having to go through a literal "Fatal Funnel" one by one. Along with them, Mr. Johnson and his followers aìso jumped through.

With all the shooting, only two Americans were wounded. The Liberians have no concept of aiming; they just spray the area hoping to hit something. One American was hit in the hip, and the other in the arm. Mr. Johnson came through unharmed, but one of his sons was shot in the shoulder and arm, another man shot in the neck, and the last man shot several times in the chest. Several of Johnson's followers were shot down in the street, and the American security killed at least 2 SSU troops. Several local guard force employees were wounded, though none severely.

With the Americans coming through the gate, there was no way to return fire from the embassy itself with out hitting one of our own. Local guards dragged the wounded into the embassy building with Marines assisting. The man shot in the chest bled to death on the floor behind Post #1, and the two Americans were treated as best possible in the embassy gym. Mr. Johnson and his people were put into a stairwell undår Marine Guard and given hasty treatment for their gunshot wounds. At this point, we received reports of men jumping the perimeter along the side of the embassy. Things got tense as we wondered if they were armed SSU or just refugees.

Later, we gathered that they were 20 other Johnson supporters who climbed over the embassy razor-wire fence seeking refuge, in the process inflicting severe cuts on their arms and legs. All the Liberian wounded were treated as best possible in the beginning, and later we had doctors come in and treat the wounds. Gunfire continued in the streets outside the embassy for several hours. ECOMOG brought in some heavy caliber machine guns and started laying down fire to disperse the fighters.

The decision was made to evacuate all non-essential personnel, and that afternoon to Sierra Leone. We also advised all Americans to leave Liberia, since the situation worsened in town. For the next week and a half, all embassy personnel were confined to the embassy building. Tensions were high as no one knew for sure what to expect. Those were some long nights with every rumor demanding an appropriate defensive response. Reinforcements arrived to supplement our security several days later and recently even more have arrived. We kept Mr. Johnson in the lobby of the US Embassy, with an armed escort to use the bathroom and to take showers. When word arrived that a deal had been made to get him out of the country, all of us were relieved.

Under Marine Guard, and with AP and wire service reporters watching and filming, Mr. Johnson and his followers, some limping with serious wounds, loaded into two helicopters. Things didn't end there. With apprehension about possible rogue forces getting revenge, we stayed in the embassy for several more days.

Finally, on the 30th of September, we allowed people to move around the compound. I called some friends the other day who work for Tearfund. When the whole thing started they went to the Save the Children compound. The night that the shooting occurred here at the US Embassy, some SSU soldiers came to the compound where they were staying. The soldiers broke in the door, and started making demands on the premise that they were searching for rebels. They fired shots into the ceiling to make the people comply and then proceeded to take money and valuables from the house. Jo said that it was quite a tense situation for her and everyone involved. Everyone got through it unharmed, thank God.

The story she related could be applied in many variations throughout the city, as the SSU troops ravaged innocent civilians. Things here are pretty calm here now, but there is an uneasy underlying feeling especially when speaking of Americans. I think the government still holds a kind of grudge for the incident, and we fear another increase in tensions. It is estimated that between 300 and ´00 people were killed in a kind of "ethnic cleansing" of the rebel faction composed primarily of the Khran tribe during the two days of fighting. The rest of the city has returned to normal, and people continue on their daily business. The only exception to that is that the other day, SSU troops broke into the Barclay Training Center where some Khran military Generals were. They summarily executed all them on the spot. Then rumors started that they were coming to Camp Johnson Road again, this time to shoot ANYONE who was around, regardless of what they were doing.

People started fleeing the city about 2 am by the thousands. But then by morning, life was back to normal. We are still operating under heightened security, but things seem to be relatively quiet. We hope for the best, but ready ourselves for the worst.

As Marines before us did, and as many Marines will after, the Marines on duty during this incident displayed the highest caliber of outstanding professionalism in the face of danger. They upheld the tradition and honor of the United States Marine Corps and they performed their mission of defending the United States Embassy and United States citizens in Monrovia, Liberia.

Sgt. Caleb Eames