Operation Just Cause: 20 Years Later

[The Golden Boy]

Well, actually 20 years and 2 days ago... It would be the 20th anniversary of Operation Just Cause- the United States' invasion of Panama.

I was going to post something the other day, and didn't. Tonite, I've been watching the History Channel and they've got these first person narratives about the Normandy invasion that I find interesting- maybe someone might find this sort of interesting. I should have done this years ago- I'm kind of upset with myself for never writing this stuff down before- I was thinking about doing it 10 years ago- but I didn't... I'm sure I'm getting timelines all messed up and I know I've forgotten so much more than I remember.

I got to Panama in 1988, stationed at Ft. Kobbe with the 1st Bn. (Airborne) 508th Infantry Regiment- when I got there, it was walking into a totally different scenario- when you're in the military you always train for a "real world scenario," and going there, you realize this is "real world." The roads on the bases were lined with concertina (razor) wire and every 50-100 meters there was a barricade that you had to go around- so you couldn't get up to full speed. Getting into the barracks was going through a maze of concertina wire. When you'd go through the streets of Balboa or Panama City, you'd see military police with AKs over their shoulders on street corners. This was a "real world scenario."

After a few months things calmed down, gradually, the concertina wire came down roll by roll. The barricades were pulled down. You could actually drive up and down the street in front of our barracks. Restrictions were lifted about leaving base, and even a lot of places that you were allowed to go in Panama City.

Sometime in the late summer of 1989 it started getting kind of hairy. Every once in a while you'd hear stories about guys going "down range" and getting the crap kicked out of them by "guads" (La Guadia- the Panamanian military police). Once in a while it would get kind of crazy. I think there was an "election" that summer, some dude was running against Carlos Duque- Noriega's puppet president (I still have one of his key chains...) and the dude who won got the living crap kicked out of him by the PDF. Around this time there were these "Dignity Batallions," they were sort of like semi-official militias. They'd have these rallys and parades around the country. They planned one right outside the high school in Balboa- the high school where American dependents (both military families and Panama Canal Commission families) went to school. We were to provide "protection" for the school. It wasn't so much "protection" as it was "presence."

You know how you "forget" stuff that's really traumatizing? Like your mind blacks out that sort of thing? I did that with this parade thing for a good 10 years. They had us lining the street- one guy every 50 or hundred meters or so. I don't remember if we had any live ammo- if we did, it would have been 5 rounds and in the magazine pouches, and the bayonets were in their scabbards. As this parade of militia marches by, these guys have magazines in the wells of their AKs, bayonets out- no idea if there's rounds in those AKs, there's people running along the sides of the columns- they'd make a little swipe at you with their bayonets, they'd spit- and we were just supposed to take it. For all intents and purposes, I was alone, 5 feet away from hundreds of people that wanted to kill me. I really thought that was the day I was going to die. These people had hate in their eyes- they were armed and there was nothing I was going to be able to do to stop it. When that parade was done, I had goobers dripping off of the visor of my helmet- all over my hands and face... Humiliating, and angering... It wasn't until 10 or so years later, I saw a documentary and saw footage from the parade; and I remembered it.

Also somewhere around this time there was a coup attempt against Noriega's government. A bunch of Panamanian military units tried to take over control- but after a couple of days they were crushed by the PDF. While that was going on we went on a state of alert- we got the vehicles out of the motor pool, we drew out ammo for our guns (I was in an 81mm mortar section), got the guns loaded onto the vehicles and we were ready to roll out (we had pre-prepared positions all around "in case" something were to happen). We sat out on the trucks ready to go for like a day- then they said a couple of guys could go inside into the air conditioning, but you had to have like 75% of your guys on the trucks and you could only hang out in the day room. After a couple of days it got to point where you could go to your rooms, but one guy had to be out and awake on the trucks... It started out very exciting and turned very, very boring.

[The Golden Boy]

Some time around here we were doing this "job," it was sitting at Fort Amador and counting cars. Fort Amador was a split post situated on a peninsula between Panama City and the Canal- the Panamanians had the gate and a strip of land running along the canal- they also had the 3 islands off the peninsula connected by a causeway; the Americans had a majority of the peninsula and it was mostly American officer family housing- there was a swanky officer's club, there was a movie theater... We had a couple of spots where we'd sit and count cars going either way. We'd spend a few days in one of the houses, then we'd go back to our barracks for a few days- I was driving our LT around, so I was driving through the gate a dozen times a day... I was familiar with all the guards at the gate- they probably all knew and recognized us as well.

As December rolled around, things started getting hairy. I remember more stories of guys from 5/87 getting beat up from guads... then there was the story about the Marine officer who got jacked up by the guads... This was right around Christmas time.

One day I got told to get the vehicle drivers together and head down to the motor pool and grab the vehicles, and to swing on by the Ammo Supply Point and pick up ammo. By this time, we knew the drill, get the guns all loaded up and get ready to "roll out." But this time- we started noticing that there were planes landing at Howard Air Force Base- Big ol' C-5s were landing every 15 minutes. You knew it was going down. Funny thing was, I think even the birds knew- I remember it being very quiet (considering we were a couple of hundred yards away from jungle.).

Finally we got the word to move- we were going to go to Ft. Amador- one vehicle every 15 minutes or so... and then wait. This must've been something like late afternoon, maybe early evening. I remember our marshalling area was outside the theater- we put glint tape on our helmets and on our unit patches on our left sleeves. We also pinned on US flag patches on our right sleeve. There was also a white arm band for our left sleeve... The glint tape was so that the IR spotlight that the Spectre gunships were using would reflect and they'd know you were US, the flag and the white band were so US guys would recognize you... and then I remember when they started dishing out 5.56. They weren't counting out rounds- it was grab ammo and load up. This was real. It was on.

I don't remember being scared. Nervous and anxious- yes. I'd quit smoking a couple of months or so before- but I started again that night.

Our job was to move along the American dependent housing and tell them to get into the middle of the house and not come out. And then set up and wait for all hell to break loose. As we were going along the houses bordering the soccer field seperating the American from the Panamanian side- they started shooting at us. Looking back, it was kind of doofy- after these rounds are coming at us, we're still running up the stairs and pounding on the doors telling people to stay put. I would tend to believe the people had no intention of running out into that. At first, the fire was just coming from across the soccer field- and we just ran from house to house- but we were behind the houses. Until the helicopters came in behind us. They airlifted in our Bravo company into a ditch behind us- but that was between Panama City and us- Directly across the bay was the Commandancia- sort of like their Pentagon- and when those helicopters came in, the guns at the Commandancia started firing at us- where we're kind of exposed... (and the helicopters and Bravo company guys are in the ditch). Hillarity ensued. You ever hear WWII guys talk about bullets sizzling when they get near you? They do.

I remember trading pot shots at muzzle flashes during the night- I also remember laying down covering fire when the Bravo company guys were assaulting the Panamanian positions. Sometime we'd gotten a 105mm howitzer- and that was a trip to watch. I also remember seeing guys from CNN filming. Every once in a while I'll see footage of one of our guys- usually Sgt. Babcock, with his helmet hanging off his canteen, eating sunflower seeds while the 105 is going off. One of our guys- Alarcon- he was on the cover of Time magazine around here- you know that little corner picture- it's different in different areas- but it was cool to see someone you know on the cover of a national magazine.

[The Golden Boy]

At one point I remember seeing a guy that looked like he was in a wet flight suit running along with a couple of guys... I found out the story sometime later. I guess these guys had been flying over the canal when they got shot down- here's the helicopter after it was fished out of the canal:




Our AT guys (Anti-Tank) were at the tip of the peninsula, sealing it off from the islands- after the chopper got shot down, the AT guys heard someone in the water, but didn't know the chopper was shot down. One of their guys was Hispanic, and he told whoever was in the water to surrender. Then the guy in charge told his guy to "tell the mother****er in to get the **** out of the ****ing water before we blow him the **** up!" Then they heard "Wait! I'm an American!"



I remember going down to the Commandancia after a day or so- the whole neighborhood was crazy- people were looting all the buildings, there's dudes taking pot shots at us every once in a while. I remember being inside the Commandancia courtyard- on the other side of the building that you always see pictured- we had our vehicles backed under these overhangs- we were going to sleep inside- but it smelled too bad- there were dead bodies that hadn't been removed yet- and the refrigerators had all stopped- so everything inside smelled like death. I hadn't slept in 3-4 days by that point- I crawled onto the hood of my vehicle and went to sleep. When I woke up- there were 50 cal casings and links all over the place. Everywhere. It turns out we had been taking sniper fire during the night- one of the 7th ID M113s pulled right in front of us and let loose with the 50- and I slept through it all.

I remember driving to and from Ft. Amador- and that's when I got the opportunity to go into Noriega's headquarters building on Amador. I remember the smell in there- it was this really fragrant burning wood. Evidently, the tracers fired at the building had ignited some of the wood inside the building. Inside was all kinds of stuff- it was really elegant- I remember the black and white tiled floor- the really super fancy bathroom, with all the gold fixtures. Yeah, I pooped there. In a lobby was a sculpture by Salvadore Dali. It had concentric rings. Here's 20 year old doofus me batting at these rings on this million dollar sculpture... Kind of cool. There was an arms room with weaponry... wow. Shotguns with laser sights. There were 2 assasination briefcases. They had an MP-5 built in with 2 triggers on the handle of the briefcase. One was a laser sight, the other actuated the MP-5. And it looked just like a regular briefcase.

Upstairs is where all the fun stuff was... Keep in mind, this is 1989- Married with Children is big- and I'm in love with Christina Applegate. In the lobby to Noriega's office is the People/Us magazine with Christina Applegate- I tore the page out... Still have it. Inside Noriega's office- he's got a computer(!) a Christmas tree and his desk- with a big TV/media center. As you leave his office- there's a little library- there's a couple of framed pictures- one of Adolf Hitler and there's an autographed picture of Muammar Khadafi. It said something really close to "To my good friend Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno- Best Wishes Muammar." As you went down the hallway a little further you got to Noriega's personal suite. You'd figure a big bad dictator "strongman" would have a fancy pants private quarters. There was a twin bed, with stuffed animals. There was a closet full of jogging suits and military uniforms and a small little bathroom. I played with his toothbrush.

I still have a couple of Noriega's business cards, one of his personally stamped cigars... I used to have some wallet sized pics of his daughter. A guy I knew was able to get out his Sony VCR and some other goodies. That was a nice VCR. I did have a whole photo album of pictures of Noriega- all kinds of publicity shots- hanging out with children, inspecting military facilities....

[The Golden Boy]

Sometime after things had really calmed down- we took up residence in the second island off the Amador Peninsula. I think it was Perico Island. In the late 1800s/early 1900s, the US had built huge 16" gun batteries- you know the kind of emplacements you see at Normandy or in WWI footage? Sorta like that. We stayed in one of those- it was really cool. It used to be called Battery Newton. I read somewhere that the 16" gun at Battery Newton was the first 16" gun ever made by the United States... The gun was long, long gone, but the emplacement was there, the barracks inside were all there- it was really freaking cool. What did suck is that the water kept going out-

Sometime after the first of the year, we went up to the city of David in northern Panama- we got to jump in- and it was a cool jump. There were no hostilities- and the people up there were SOO happy to see us.

I left Panama in February- by the time I left the whole neighborhood around the Commandancia had been totally burned down and bulldozed. It was really weird to see that a huge section of the city levelled.

I don't know if anyone's interested in this kind of stuff- It was a big thing for me. It's interesting to look back and see how this played out historically... Really overshadowed by the Gulf War a year later-

[The Golden Boy]

The sign out in front of Howard Air Force Base:




Me, kicked back behind Noriega's desk:



Some shots of his arms room at Amador:







Me in the Commandancia courtyard:



I think this is Christmas Day






This is that area where we had the vehicles parked- you can see the overhang- the sniper fire was coming from the apartment building in the background.




I love this picture- it's taken from the 3rd island off Amador- I believe that's Flamenco Island that we're on- the one in the front is Perico Island and to the left is Naos Island. Just out of view is Noriega's little beach house on Naos Island...



That picture was taken at the top of this:



The entrance to Battery Newton at the top of Perico Island:

[DGDGBD]

the golden boy, thanks a lot for your service and for sharing your experiences. Sounds like it was pretty intense to say the least.

[michael.e]

Wow, great read.

Thanks GB for putting your ass on the line. You guys are a cut above.

Michael

[Frankee]

Great post.

[hamstrat]

Thank you for your service and for the reminder. I'd forgotten about most of this. I do remember what a pig Noriega was and how that fascist dictator in Venezuela reminds me of him.

[MudPies]

:: marks thread for later reading ::

[Big Boss Man]

Thanks for your service to our country and thanks for sharing your story with us. It was a great read.

[unoguitar]

Thanks very much for writing and posting this. Hopefully you will get the memories flowing and be able to add to it as time goes.

I was serving at sea at the time, and it seemed to me there was all kinds of "funny" things going on that we only saw the fringes. Insertions and deliveries of people (and gear) into places where we (U.S.) weren't supposed to be, etc.

Nice to see the story fleshed out a little here.

[buddaman71]

One of my best friends was a Ranger and those stories all sound just like his.
Very well written. Thank you for sharing and serving.

[russiancrowe]

Damn that post brings back memories. I was with the 7th Infantry Division during that time. A good friend of mine, SSG Larry Bernard, had transfered to one of the Ranger Battalions a few months before this and was killed by friendly fire at the airport during the Rangers initial insertion. There's nothing like being in a fire fight and seeing buddies get hit to make you appreciate being alive and make your senses jump up another level. One of my friends got hit in the ass, and while it wasn't funny at the time it was happening, we gave him shit about it for a long time afterwards. I haven't thought about Panama in years. I'll have to see if I can find some of my pictures and post them.

[Phil M]

It's good to share, Dave. Thanks, man.