Revisiting Green Bay

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of the Military Intelligence Unit and reported on
March 19th in the Gleaner. The Minister of National
Security informs his military audience that:
1. There was a “plot to bring guns into Green
Bay” and
2. He personally thoroughly approves of the
Operation which took place on the fift h declaring
that the ONLY thing that went wrong was that
ALL of them were not killed. He points out that
3. No Angels died at Green Bay
4. He attacks certain sections of the media for
continuing to use the word massacre to describe
the Green Bav killings and declares
5. His personal philosophy is that (where
criminals are concerned) life is too short for
rehabilitation
6. He then proceeds to denounce as “traitors,”
those members of the Defence Force who have
leaked information about Green Bay to the
public. He declares that, “We have information as
to who the traitors in the secunty force are and we
be getting rid of them. It does'nt matter what rank
they are they will be gotten rid of.”
7. Boasts about his success in avoiding making a
specific statement to the Press (and public) about
Green Bay AND
8. Assures the Military Officers present that
Green Bay is not the last of this sort of operation.
8 MAR: MR THOMPSON SPEAKS to the
Sandhurst Citizens Association and states that the
ghetto truce cannot be accepted as genuine until all
the illegal guns are turned in, “ if you really want
peace, bring in the guns.” He refers to the War
against Crime and he attacks the '1 Man culture as
dirty.
20 MAR: THE GREEN BAY Inquest Resumes
at Spanish Town under Her Honour Miss Leila
Parker as Coroner and before a mixed jury of
eight. They are to sit until May 22nd when they
finally (unanimously) decide that there was
criminal responsibility for the deaths at Green
Bay. During the course of the Inquest it is revealed
that a photographer of the Ministry Intelligence
Unit attempted to take pictures of members of
the Jury the Coroner ordered the films seized.
Jurors reported threats against themselves and two
witnesses hostile to the Army reported receiving
death threats. The Director of Public Prosecutions
marshalling evidence on behalf of the Coroner
reported difficulty in obtaining statements from the
Army) and revealed that police officers dispatched
to Up Park Camp by the Commissioner of Police
to obtain statements from soldiers and officers
involved in the Green Bay affair had been prevented
by Military authorities from taking statements
directly. The statements had been handed through
the Chief of Staff.
30 MAR: THE COMMUNIST WILL (against
through their Organ Struggle) editorialize against
the Gleaner for continuing to expose the Green
Bay murders It claims that the Gleaner is revealing
highly sensitive security information that will
benefit only the gunmen and that the Gleaner is
promoting division among soldiers and undermining
the authority of the heads of the army.
and be there for you no matter what.”
And so with that, I made my decision to speak out, but
I always followed the proper military protocol – no leaks,
no deals, no political party interests.
I have never believed and still do not believe that
the Green Bay killings were politically motivated or
planned. There were leaders outside of the political arena
that were warped and drunk with power that conceived
of this sick and cowardly operation. But like all things
Jamaican, political party lines were drawn. The PNP
government of the day siding with the JDF and the JLP
with the survivors’ account and milking it for every drop
of political gain. Green Bay then became a political
football. The media did its part at trying to ferret out the
truth.
During this period I became very disillusioned with
the Jamaican society. Why couldn’t it see beyond JLP
and PNP? Did it not see the danger of condoning this
sort of conduct by its military? Where was its loyalty?
Cold blooded murder had been committed that January
morning yet there were so many Jamaicans that were
content with accepting and probably still do that “…no
angels were killed at Green Bay”.
Throughout this period I was determined that I would
not speak with any politician or media directly or
indirectly to pass on what I knew. As leaks (including
certain photographs) started to appear in the press
pressures within the JDF against me started to mount. I
started to fear for my life. My superiors at the time had
two meetings with officers of the battalion to which I
was not invited and at one there was reference to the
possibility of “stray rounds” hitting me and at the other
to “drastic steps planned by the men”. The first such
meeting was on the 7th April 1978 and the other on
the 4th July 1978. I regarded these meetings as rather
extraordinary as they related to me and yet I was not
invited to attend and was never advised about these
particular concerns.
As I have said before “friends” I thought I had quickly
evaporated. It was a lonely and hurtful period. Why could
they not understand? Here is an extract from a so called
friend at the time to his commanding officer regarding
a visit by his wife to my home: “…On Wednesday 03
May 1978 my wife visited the DOUGLAS’ home … and
during a casual talk it was brought to light that they were
most disturbed that a number of persons in the JDF were
not speaking to Allan since he testified at the Coroner’s
Court at Spanish Town…..It was also mentioned that
Allan had told me his feelings on the Green Bay incident
and by doing that, he had not done me anything so there
was no need for me to be acting this way…His wife said
that she was always telling him to leave the JDF but she
would not tell him so now as for what he has done he has
the full backing of his parents, in-laws and if it was going
to take the last penny he was going to stay and fight
against the JDF…” Why was it necessary for this ‘friend’
to write to his commanding officer regarding a personal
visit to my home? How cowardly and how spineless!
But there were to be many acts of discriminatory
treatment and almost total ostracization was to be
unleashed after I had testified at the Coroners Inquest.
There was hate and resentment of an unimaginable
magnitude and easily the most humiliating period in my
life. I received some of the weirdest letters, telephone
calls and messages. I was conscious that I was up against
the State and its machinery. Probably though one of the
strangest meetings held was the one held on the 3rd May
1978 with the JDF’s five most senior officers at the time
and for which minutes were taken. The following is an
extract:
“Effects of Douglas and Webley. These two officers
have lost the respect of the men. The soldiers salute them
only for fear of consequences. The soldiers feel that
these two officers should leave the army. The soldiers are
ashamed that a system like ours could produce people
like DOUGLAS and WEBLEY.”
I knew that my every effort at work was to be
frustrated and the majority including those five most
senior and ‘honourable’ officers wanted to see the back
of me. But I would repeatedly ask myself, “Why should
I resign, I have done nothing wrong. Those who planned,
executed, and condoned this murderous deed should
they not be the ones to go?” I became more and more
determined that I would continue to serve loyally and
well. My loyalty would first and foremost be to Jamaica
and not the JDF. Green Bay is a good example of how
the interests of an institution such as the JDF can be in
contradiction to that of the state to which it belongs.
I persisted in the JDF against great odds but felt that
if speaking the truth one had to undergo the indignities,
humiliation and threats, then it would be nigh impossible
to have the truth being told and as a result the integrity
and morale of the Jamaica Defence Force would
deteriorate. I needed to make that point and turning
my back and running would serve to defeat it. I had
hoped that the officer corps would come to their senses
and see beyond selfishness of their thinking. I was
particularly disappointed that my eight-page redress of
grievance submitted to the Defence Board complaining
of discriminatory treatment has to this date never been
favoured with a response.
At the time of testifying at the Green Bay inquest
I was a captain and I retired in 2002 as a colonel but
throughout my time in the JDF Green Bay hung over me.
One colonel, for instance, who was being replaced by
me in an appointment that he perceived to be the senior
post even requested to appear before the Defence Board.
In tears, I was subsequently informed, he complained
to the Board that he did not mind being replaced but to
think that I, someone who was a “traitor and disloyal to
the JDF”, was now getting his post was too much for
him to endure. I suspect that they agreed with him as he
remained in his post.
But my father was wrong. I have in the 30 years
after Green Bay received many rewards, because after
all what greater reward can a man receive than to
live to appreciate that he might just have influenced
one Jamaican in believing that it is not only right but
necessary that in a society like ours that there aren’t any
sacred cows and that all must be equal before the law
and that the security forces are certainly not above it. But
above all, I know that since testifying I have received and
continue to receive countless blessings from my God!
And some parting questions to those who over the
years have regarded me as a traitor and criticized my role
in this event. Would they have condoned and looked the
other way if they had witnessed the Amristar Massacre as
a British soldier in India at the time? A bloody incident
in which 379 Indian demonstrators were shot dead by
British troops commanded by General Dyer in the city
of Amristar, Punjab. Would they have excused this
bit of savagery saying that after all the Indians had no
right to demonstrate because they were only a bunch
of ‘coolies’? And what about ‘Bloody Sunday’, would
they have condoned and looked the other way had
they witnessed or come by evidence to show that the
dispersal of the anti-internment marchers in the Bogside,
Londonderry by British troops and which led to the
killing of 13 civilians? Would they have excused it by
declaring that those killed were possibly a bunch of IRA
terrorists (no angels) who were deserving of death?
Green Bay was a murderous and unprofessional
act, and to young Jamaicans, do not make the same
mistake as your parents. Speak out, cost it what it will,
your future and protection against the might of the
state demands it. If I had to do it all over, despite the
sacrifices, I would do it all over again and in the same
manner. I have no regrets, my rewards have been many!
n Allan Douglas is a retired colonel of the JDF. He
may be contacted at:
REWARD CONTINUED