PART THREE November 1963

PART THREE    November 1963-May 1964

Fougamou

(Dale Judkins, Henri and Bob Utne)

After five months, we completed the Kango school and moved on to Fougamou, located about a three hours drive south of Lambarene.

The Kango site and school were impressive to behold. Overlooking the wide Como river below the long hill, our fine school was perched near the top. The Peace Corps staff agreed with us that the Kango school was the best constructed and looking one built to date. We and our workers were all proud of our accomplishments.

Our quarters in Fougamou were considerably more pleasantly accommodating than previously experienced. For the first time, we had local electricity, running water, Western toilet and best of all, I had a queen-sized bed.

The town of Fougamou had several thousand inhabitants and served as the center for governmental headquarters in the region. We were told by one expatriate Belgian that behind every Gabonese public official in Libreville and Fougamou, there was a Frenchman pulling the strings.

Lou and I spent many days with our workers in the local stone quarry breaking up the local rock we used to build our foundation walls and driving our dump truck back to the site of our two schools and three teachers’ houses. Once we had sufficient rock, our walls went up.

This was extremely taxing work under the beating equatorial sun but I felt at one with our crew. They confided in me that we were unlike the other whites who had come here to order them around and beat them if they disobeyed. One worker said, "We will work with you Americans because it is like working with your brother. But when it stops being like that, we will no longer work."



Fougamou offered a number of interesting diversions including a nearby local bar, trips on the river via pirogue, several interesting French expatriates, a Protestant American missionary and a nice tennis court.

Tennis has always been a personal passion and what a surprise to locate a rather run down court and nearby eight tennis rackets and many cans of new balls. Lou and I fixed up the court and played quite frequently. One day, we were challenged by the Peace Corps doctor, Auger and his wife Tenny. Little did we know that they were collegiate players but Lou and I stood our own with them since my wacky left-handed serve proved unstoppable.

November 22, 1963, a day of Infamy for all Americans. Kennedy’s assassination struck us hard. Our workers all came to visit us to offer their condolences and we joined them in a half-mast flag ceremony in respect to our former leader. Kennedy was very well thought of throughout the area and, I believe, the entire world. Our workers believed that for Kennedy to be assassinated meant that the US had experienced a political coup. We attempted to explain that the dirty deed had been preformed due to the deranged mind of one political fanatic who happened to be a very good US-military trained marksman and not an attempt to gain governmental control.

We listened to the entire mass for Kennedy on November 25 and the follow-up eulogy by an Archbishop. The President’s favorite Bible versus were quoted plus a few of Kennedy’s more profound public statements including, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".

The local political situation in Fougamou was quite heated with strong factions either for or against the Leon Mba government. On November 23 (exactly one year from our entrance into the Peace Corps) the local Sous Prefect was replaced by a hand-picked friend of Leon Mba. It was known that the previous Sous Prefect was a political foe of Leon Mba and thus was called into Libreville to be kept under close governmental surveillance.

Leon Mba, certainly with strong French backing, preached the need for "Unity in Gabon". In his speeches, he told the Gabonese that they should forget about their separate tribes and consider themselves as Gabonese first. To help put this into practice, President Mba ordered that public officials be stationed in areas other than their home tribes and be frequently relocated. He also preached that political parties tend to disunite and weaken a country.

Thanksgiving was trying but worth it. We drove through heavy rain round trip, in one day, from Fougamou to Mouila to join the other groups. Three 20-pound turkeys and trimmings were quickly consumed.

Coming back from Mouila, I received a letter from Washington DC, dated October 22, 1963. It read:

"Dear Mr. Utne,

The October issue of the Peace Corps Volunteer just came to my attention.

It, as you know, contained a picture of you at work in Gabon, and I simply want to express my sincerest thanks for the efforts you are making. Education begins with adequate quarters and the efforts of you and your 38 colleagues are a great contribution to a developing country.

With my best wishes,

Sincerely,

Hubert H. Humphrey

Humphrey and I exchanged a few more letters. Few knew that it was Senator Hubert Humphrey from Minnesota who first proposed the formation of the Peace Corps while in the Senate. Once Kennedy was elected to the White House, Kennedy agreed and the Peace Corps was born on September 23, 1961. (See Prologue)

In Fougamou, the locals knew I was a "businessman" and were always coming to me with art and even diamond and gold deals. "Robert, we have many diamonds to sell you and can show you where there is much gold". I told them that I didn’t have the time to go looking for gold with them but I did want to see their diamonds.

To do business with the locals, they first wanted to meet you and get a feel of where you are coming from. Are you there to cheat them or can you be trusted to make a good deal? I passed the test when I visited a village with Andre where his brother had a stash of diamonds. Two nights later, I heard a knock on my window pane and voice that said, "Robert, nous avons les diamonds. Vien ici." I went outside in the pitch black night with my flashlight. Sure enough, one of our workers was accompanied by a local diamond miner who had a bag full of diamonds to sell me. I had no idea their worth nor more than a few hundred dollars worth of CFA Francs to pay. I told them, "Merci mais je nais pas suffi d'argent pour les diamonds."

Our workers frequently came to us with their domestic problems. The latest two situations both involved the facts that two of our workers’ wives had run away. One of the workers had a large gash over his eye, no doubt a parting blow to remember his wife by. The other was able to chase down his wife and to retrieve his son. Both are entitled to a full dowry refund from the fathers of their ex-wives. That’s divorce in Gabon.

Christmas in Libreville

Our Christmas in Gabon was very special. First we were invited to the home of the local Protestant missionary and were joined by three PCVs from Port Gentil, Bea Hamilton and the two Carolyns. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Fougamou when we lounged on a rolling green-lush lawn with palm trees swaying overhead and offering a bit of shade. We played croquet and ping pong while frequently sipping upon refreshing drinks. We then moved into the house for a sumptuous feast. We ended the evening joining hands singing Christmas carols. Too bad we didn’t share any of this with a few of our Gabonese friends.

In Libreville one evening, we went caroling through the streets aboard the back of one of our large Dodge stake trucks. We sang to many in the international community and also to some of the Gabonese officials. After caroling, we returned to the Peace Corps Hostel where we opened presents from home and had refreshments. Out for nowhere sprang Santa Claus, a.k.a. our own and much loved Larry Jackson. A number of young children (offspring from US Embassy staff) were there to enjoy Santa. Then, Dale Judkins called us all over to share his opening of his Christmas present from home. He was quite excited about it and carefully unwrapped his gift. Within the wrappings was a box of Tampax! He opened the Tampax box and candy poured out.

On New Years Eve, 25 of we volunteers were invited by the Peace Corps to dine at the Residence. The bill came to 65,000 CFA and there was no one there to pay the bill. So, I signed the check using my PC card as ID. Would have liked to see the face of Wilkes when he saw the bill and my signature on it.

Later that evening, a few of us celebrated the New Year in at the apartment of Irv Hicks, an embassy staff member.

Yule-time notes from Dale Judkins:

"The French never did like us. Do you remember the fight we had in a bar (Circle de Matisse) in Libreville? Gino Torres, from Gabon 2, got into a fight with a French construction dude. It really did not amount to much. Gino was pretty fast with his hands and he was holding his own until the guy grabs Gino and as they both went down, Gino hit his head on a bar stool. He had a big mouse under his eye. I remember Lou (Williams) and I grabbed the French guy and pulled him of of Gino. and before anything more happened the Gabonese guys that were there, grabbed the French dude and got him out of the bar. Actually, the place was crawling with fine Gabonese women and as I remember Gino was just commenting, in a kind of a lustful way, about this French guy's Gabonese girl friend. We had no idea he spoke English, actually quite well. Before he was escorted out of the bar, he said to us in perfect English, that he spent some time in the US and we were all full of shit. I think Lou came back with the comment that we were so full of shit that we were staying in the bar and he was going by by: that really pissed him off."

Dale continued, "Later that night, I think it was the first night or maybe the second we were in town, Fred Hollingsworth stuck the Dodge stake truck on the beach as the tide was coming in. And before that, we were in the truck driving to the French Country club on the beach; and as I remember, the road was very narrow in front of the club, we were both quite drunk, and as the street got narrower and narrower he just kept on going and side swiped about 10 cars or more. I remember him commenting that the French did not know how to drive, and I chimed in that they did not know how to park either; He then headed for the beach and started driving further and further out in the surf, then the water started coming over the hood and we stalled and got stuck at he same time. The truck actually started to float; I bailed out the passenger side widow and Fred came out after me. The truck was parallel to the ocean and he could not open the door on the driver side. After watching this big truck being pounded by the incoming surf. I really thought the tide would wash it out to sea. Later, about an hour later, Jim happened to be driving by with the dump truck, I think he lived in that dam truck, and we winched the big truck out of the surf. I can still see the look on Jims face; he was in his element, a man possessed with winches and trucks and cables and stuff like that, he was really getting off, getting this truck out of the surf and off the beach, lucky for us. I remember thinking as I was sobering up and the sun started to rise and we were still on the beach, that If Wilkes found about this he was going to be pissed, and we were all going home. I guess he never did find out. What a hoot."

In late March, I returned to Libreville to meet again with Paul Geiger of Foley Brothers. This was in follow-up to a brief encounter with his boss, Davidson, made during my trip to Libreville during Christmas. We discussed the possibility of my joining the Foley Brothers railroad survey crew when I left the Peace Corps.

I told Paul that I wanted to join the survey crew now and not wait another five months working for free in the bush. I had to have money to return to school and the $75 per month from the Peace Corps would be insufficient. Besides, after reading Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, I had decided that I really wanted to become a Civil Engineer and the survey experience would prove beneficial to my career.

Paul said I had to first meet with John Sella, from New Jersey and educated in France. According to Paul, Davidson had tried to fire Sella but the workers revolted and Davidson was sent home instead. Must have been over some hot French woman, I thought. Sella asked me how much money I wanted."$800 a month", I answered. "Don’t expect to be boss around here", he said.

That night, we had a little party at Irv’s apartment. Lots of booze, nice music and Embassy secretaries to make out with. Not looking at the time, I discovered that it had passed midnight, curfew time in Libreville since the Revolution. I was stopped by a French military officer who was patrolling in a jeep and was given the warning to not be on the streets after 12:00.

The next day I boarded an American ship for lunch. The officers ignored me but the crew was great. We had a nice lunch and shared stories all afternoon. I especially enjoyed my time with Red, named for his complexion, light matisse. Red had one huge passion, jazz. He would buy hundreds of tapes in New York City and then distribute them for free all along the African coast. A modern "Johnny Appleseed". Red told me about a guy on the ship who recently had cracked and was sent home. Red said, "He put so much into life and got so little out".

The following day, on Easter, I got bad news from Sella. They didn’t need a third member in their group. Later, I found out that Wilkes had nixed the deal.

Sandy McCall, a new PC staff member, drove me back to Lambarene. During the entire trip, she grilled me. She had a way of getting me to open up and I felt exposed when the trip was over. She had enough info on me to bury me if she wanted. From Lambarene, I flew to Mouila carrying $4,000 for the workers’ pay.

In Moulia, I noticed that, unlike the wood teacher houses we built in Fougamou, they used cement block. Why should Gabon import cement from France when they have an ample supply of timber to build their homes?

Gabon III and Guests

Back in Fougamou, we were joined by John Murphy, a Dartmouth grad, former US Marine Corps Lieutenant and #1 PCV "Leader" (as titled by Bill Wilkes) and by Jerry Anderson of the third group of volunteers to come to Gabon. Both were welcome additions to our group.

I had no idea where the Peace Corps dug up Murphy but I wish we had him 12 months ago to lead the entire project. He was fully conversant in French, worked his butt off, had great leadership abilities and a good understanding and real concern for people.

Jerry Anderson and I immediately teamed up. We spent afternoons flirting with the girls at the local swimming hole, took adventures into the bush via powered pirogues and jungle treks. We worked hard in the day and partied harder at night.

With the new volunteers, also came a rash of vehicle accidents. Our group, in ten months, had never experienced a serious accident. The new volunteers were not familiar with the road conditions and quickly turned over three trucks.

The most serious accident occurred when Phil Bosserman, PC staff member, was hit head on by another vehicle while driving his Jeep. He would have immediately died but for the protection of the front-mounted wedge in his Jeep. We visited him in the Fougamou hospital before he left for the hospital in Lambarene. Fortunately, he recovered soon after.

Our construction in Fougamou moved at a quick pace. Work we formerly performed is being carried out by the Gabonese. For example, while I worked in Kango, much of the masonry work was performed by the volunteers but in Fougamou, I have a crew of five good masons, (Adolf, Moeise, Felix, Hubert and Julian) to supervise.

We, however, never stoped working side by side with our Gabonese workers. One day, Adolf asked me, "Why do the whites do the work that Gabonese can do?"

Schweitzer had earlier voiced the same concern. Why should whites be sent to Africa to perform "menial" work when the locals are capable? Conversely, we should have asked Schweitzer,. "Why in 50 years in Lambarene have you not trained one African doctor, nurse or even one tradesman"?

My answer to Adolf, "In America, we believe in getting the job done. We do not fear working with our hands since we have the confidence that we are all one working toward the same goal. That is how we build our airplanes and skyscrapers. We want to share the American work spirit with the Gabonese."

Being located on the main road leading from southern Gabon to Lambarene and Libreville, we had plenty of world and local travelers dropping by our quarters in Fougamou.

The world travelers were an eccentric lot. Most were misfits who could not cope in the more civilized world. We had Australians, South Africans, a number of Europeans and a few Americans drop by. Their tales were worth the cost of the beers and beds we provided them.

One day, a Frenchman named Dullosse dropped by our house. He was widely known throughout French Africa as the "Gold King". Dullosse had been in Gabon for over 26 years and mined over eight tons of gold. Dulosse told us that one day when he discovered that two of his miners had stolen gold, he chased them up a tree and shot them dead. In another similar incident, he put a rope around the neck of another miner, tied the rope to his car and then drove off, dragging the man to his death. Dulosse said that he escaped jail since this was in Colonial French Africa where whites had free reign and that, since Independence, he had been prohibited from mining more gold but planned to start a fishing business with his African wife and four children in Port Gentil.

The Truckers by Steven Wagner, Gabon III

I remember Jim Lamorequite well. as I recall he was usually driving a truck with supplies someplace. The early schools used those roof panels of asbestos/cement that weighed a ton, and it took 8 or 10 truck loads just to get them to the site, not counting ones that broke at the port or in transit with the rough roads. anyhow, Jim had his "favorite" truck and one day they needed to take some supplies from N'dende up to where Henry Schmall was working (the town from which they took the raft trip that went into the swamps) As it turns out a fairly new truck showed up, or maybe just one that Gary Degraves had done some fix-up work on, and Jim traded in his old truck for the new one. So I started off on the supply run in his "old" favorite truck. He told me how much he had babied it and I should take extra careful care of it too. right.

Anyhow, I left the site kind of gunning the truck out of the parking lot and almost flipped it up on its side. Gary Degraves told me later that Jim started cursing me out right then. about 2 miles up the road (it had been raining and the roads were slick as shit) I sort of skidded into the ditch on the right side as I was going around a corner. Without stopping I managed to shift into 4 wheel drive and gun it to keep from getting stuck in the ditch. So far so good, but after going for several hundred feet with the right rear wheels in the ditch and the front ones on the road, I hit a log that had fallen off a logging truck that was laying in the ditch. It caught the right wheel hub and rim and literally ripped the whole axle assembly off the truck. luckily I was only going 5 MPH when it happened, so the wheels ended up stuck under the very rear of the truck.

I walked back to N'dende and got Gary and a few guys with big jacks, we went back, unloaded the lumber, jacked up the rear of the truck, pushed the axle and wheels back into place, and got it back to N'dende for repairs.

By now Jim Lamore had been working on a "new" truck, putting those little touches on it that he liked.   well, the supplies still had to go out so they sent my on my way again in his "new" favorite truck. Now he was really pissed at me. threatened me (good naturedly?) with all kinds of grief if I didn't return it in good shape. I was taking a load of lumber up to the site to build those big trusses, and some of the boards were a lot longer than the bed. so we would put them on first, then put smaller ones up front to hold them all down, then secrete them in place as tight as we could. this time when I left the front wheels were way up on their springs, and Gary Degraves again made a comment about an accident just waiting to happen.

Well, it took a few hours longer this time but as I came down a very steep hill and crossed a small flat bridge, the load had shifted back a foot or two, and the tail end of the boards caught on the ground as the truck was leveling out to go over the bridge. this pulled them back far enough that the front wheels came off the ground such that I couldn't steer. I hit the brakes and stopped pretty quickly since I was only going 10 MPH or so anyway. Unfortunately, the left front wheel came back down to earth on the side of a hill, and very slowly the truck started to turn over. I pulled my arms inside the cabin, held on to the steering wheel, not knowing how far down we were going to go. (it was 1,000 feet or more in some spots on that road)

Luckily for me it was only 10 feet or so and the truck came to rest exactly on its roof, or should I say, stake bed. it was even still running! I very carefully climbed out, got my ration box and some water, and went up to the road to figure out what to do. It was almost dark so I decided that rather than wander alone in the dark I would just wait for morning. Then some natives came along with lanterns, having heard me coming (you could hear those old Chrysler V-8's for miles and only the PC had them) and then a big noise. They took me back to their village, gave me some warm beer and that wine from the big glass jugs, some food, and other items to keep me warm at night.

The next day when I hadn't arrived people started to worry about me. meanwhile I walked 20 miles or so on up to the pc site, getting there around dark. the next day we started driving back to the wreck just in time to see Gary Degraves and some of the guys arrive there too. Everyone saw the wheels poking up from the ground and assumed I was crushed underneath. no one wanted to be the first to go down there. I don't think we had lost a pc rep yet and they were sure I was going to be the first.

Boy were they surprised, happy, pissed, etc, when I jumped out of the other truck to say hi. We pulled that sucker back up to the road using the winches, and everything worked out ok until the very last minute. by then the right front wheels were above the road bed as we were driving it up the hillside pulling it with one truck, and holding it from tipping back down the hill with another. when it finally cleared the top of the hillside it flipped back down on all four wheels pretty hard and cracked the windshield.

Luckily, Jim Lamore was driving it then so when he started to blame me I pointed out that I had rolled it perfectly 180 degrees, and it wasn't my fault if he couldn't get it back up in the same shape. I am sure that ever after he always told people about me as being the worst driver he had ever known. And he might have been right since I did roll two other ones, but that's another story.,

Pygmies

One of our (Dale Judkins, Lou Williams, Jerry Anderson and I) most unique adventures was a Sunday trip with one of our Gabonese friends, Rene to a remote pygmy village. To get there, we traveled by motorized pirogue for over an hour and then by jungle trekking, another two hours.

We had heard many tales of the bravery of the pygmies like how they were able to kill elephants using only spears. They would dig a large hole on an elephant path, cover it with palm branches and when the elephant passed over, they would lance them with their poison-filled spears.

At last, we reached the village gate. Around the village was a stick fence to keep out leopards and other unwelcome intruders. We noticed that their huts were smaller than those in other villages. We were soon introduced to the chief. He appeared about four feet tall and had more reddish pigment than most Gabonese. This was an old man afflicted with elephantiasis and sporting a long gray beard.

The village was fairly empty of men. I had expected them to be out hunting since they had an outstanding reputation as being the finest hunters in all of Africa. To my amazement, the chief, in local dialect, old Rene that they all were all prospecting for Okume and Ebony trees.

The chief and I retired to a log where one of the women brought him a pipe. It was a long pipe filled with God-knows-what. The chief took the pipe and took a long drag. Then, he burst out choking. I about fell off the log, laughing at the event.

(pictures taken by Jerry Anderson, Gabon III)

Then, I was handed the pipe and took a few small drags. Not too bad, some local tobacco, I guessed. When I was finished, one of the chief’s old wives joined us on the log and grabbed the pipe from me. Within seconds, she stoked up the pipe to full blast, puffing and puffing away. Never under estimate the power and abilities of a Gabonese woman!

I asked Rene why we only saw old pygmies in the village.

Rene answered, "The young pygmies, under 35, have denounced their tribes and do not admit to outsiders that they are pygmies. Being called a pygmy in Gabon is considered a serious insult. The older pygmies are proud of their heritage. They now stay near the towns so they can trade for supplies."

I asked Rene why the pygmy’s huts are shaped like an igloo and not like the normal village hut.

Rene answered, "They are still nomads who move frequently to follow the game. They can quickly build a hut with branches and leavers in the igloo style.

Rene went on to explain that many pygmies still use crossbows to hunt. Often, they use a red-colored poison to tip the arrows. When intruders come and start trouble, pygmies shoot first and ask questions later. They either shoot them in the legs to cripple their victims or, during the evening, put poison in the stream that is used by the intruders. Five minutes after the water is drunk, the victim dies.

Trouble in Libreville

Eldon King of the Peace Corps staff came by one day and filled us in on all the hot rumors within the America community based in Libreville.

According to King, three Peace Corps staff members (John Booty, Dick McDaniels and Phil Bosserman) met in Eldon’s apartment to discuss how to get rid of Wilkes. They talked until 3:00 AM and, finally, arrived at a course of action. One of the three was to tell Frank Williams, head of Peace Corps Africa, that either Wilkes goes or the three of them go.

Wilkes, somehow (my guess, Eldon King the source), got word of the insurrection and sent Booty to the boondocks in the north to be far distant when Williams arrived in Gabon. Booty disregarded the order of Wilkes and met with Williams at the airport shortly before his scheduled departure. Booty relayed the position of the three, "Either Wilkes goes or we three".

Booty went on to relate all the tales of Wilke’s alleged misdeeds. Wilkes was alleged to have made huge sums of money on the sale of Peace Corps refrigerators, cement and other building materials. He would sell them to a French contractor and buy them back with dollar checks. Reportedly, the Gabonese government was aware of these allegations and claimed that Wilkes owed them huge sums for unpaid import duties.

Wilkes rarely showed up at his office and more rarely visited the various projects. He also was alleged to be behind the rapid disappearance of PCVs Palmer and Ferrazano, among others, who dared to speak up. Williams allowed Booty to fully vent than sat back and said, "I’m sorry John but Phil and John are perfectly satisfied".

John replied, "In that case, I resign".

Williams offered his condolence, "John, our hands are tied. No matter what Wilkes has done, one fact remains. The schools are being built, so, Wilkes stays."

Pre-Revolution

One week prior to the Revolution, Vice President Yembit came to Fougamou to speak to the voters. Twice in his extemporaneous speech he pointed to and highly praised the five of us Peace Corps Volunteers in the audience.

Yembit addressed his constituents, "Look at the Americans there, there, there", while pointing at us. "They know how to work with a machete, a hammer, a trowel, a motor. They know how to make airplanes, skyscrapers, ships and autos because they know how to work".

About a half a dozen Frenchmen in the crowd were less than pleased. They were especially upset when Yembit threatened to throw out of Gabon those French who had no concern for the nation of Gabon. "We will take their tractors and push their houses over", he said.

Yembit was on a roll. He went on to say, "If anyone is dealt with unfairly, he or she may write to the Vice President or President and we will take action. If a Sous Prefect, Gendarme, Frenchmen or other foreigner wrongs you, he will be immediately sent out of Fougamou."

He closed his lengthy and highly popular speech, interrupted by frequent cheers, by exhorting his fellow citizens to vote in the upcoming elections. "You do not need to know how to write, just put an X on the box", he said.

Few realized that the vote was a sham. Opposition legislators had been unable to campaign for office since Gabon had imposed a fuel embargo, apparently, to provide gasoline to only Mba’s chosen legislators. Also, to make it impossible for the opposing legislators to gain control, he dissolved the National Assembly and gerrymandered the country for the upcoming elections, eliminating almost one-third of all the legislative positions. This was a highly risky move that was similarly tried by the former president of Congo, Brazzaville. In that case, he was quickly booted out by the military and was forced to flea to France.

Revolution

On February 17, 1964, Leon Mba was apparently overthrown for his disregard of the democratic process. Jean H. Aubume assumed the Presidency on February 18.

During the coup, it is interesting to note that the US Ambassador (Darlington) and USIS Director (Henry Stevens) were en route to dedicate a few Peace Corps built schools in the south of Gabon with Gabon VP Yembit in attendance. Wilkes was in bed the entire coup period, claiming that he needed to nurse his case of gout. A few days later, Wilkes (the only US official) fled Gabon claiming he needed better medical care.

The first to report the coup to the American Ambassador were Mike Hyland and Bob Brandstetter, PCVs based in Endende.

The Ambassador expressed complete surprise stating, "But all those reports of the sure stability of Leon Mba that I’ve sent to Washington. What can I do? Everybody was satisfied with the President. My chauffeur and boy just told me the other day how much better they liked Leon Mba."

Then, the Ambassador turned to Stevens and worriedly asked, "What do you think our wives are doing right now."

Without a bat of an eye, Stevens quipped, "They’re in their homes having a drink or two as they usually do at this time of day".

Back to work the next day we learned that, unlike in the case of the Congo Brazzaville coup, De Gaulle had intervened by first clumsily bombing the military barracks and often missing, hitting a few villages, killing approximately 40 villagers and 18 of the Gabonese army troops.

More effective was the arrival of 500 French paratroopers (based in Pointe Noir) to secure the airport that was blocked to prevent incoming military flights from France.

To we in the bush, the Revolution was a nonevent. All it meant was that it would take an extra few weeks to receive our very precious letters from home. Jack Foccart’s underground troops, however, quickly blamed the Peace Corps for instigating the coup including the claim that Peace Corps Volunteers were handing out subversive flyers in Libreville.

Foccart’s French underground thugs didn’t stop there. They set off several bombs outside the American Embassy, attempting to scare the Ambassador and his staff.

We, subsequently, learned that the coup was organized by Aubume, Eko, Murry and Mambo, all intellectuals schooled in France. They called themselves the "Young Lions".

According to Embassy reports, at 2:00 AM, Jacques Mambo, head of the Gabonese Army, broke into the Presidential Palace and arrested Mba in bed. Quickly, the Army seized all communications, post office and set up blockades at the airport. The French soldiers based in Libreville were placed under guard.

Leon Mba was taken out of his palace and was put into an awaiting car. Mba's chauffeur ordered the former President to, "Close the door".

Mba was put on a plane and first sent to Njole and then to Lambarene where he spent the night. A few French in Lambarene plotted to rescue Leon Mba from his hotel but were dissuaded by the local Prefect.

The next morning, February 18, Jacques Mambo called the American Embassy, asking for the Ambassador. The Ambassador was enroute to Libreville so Courtney, the Deputy Ambassador, took the call.

Mambo told Courtney that he knew the French were planning to send in troops and requested that the U.S. help him to keep the French out.

Courtney replied, "Monsieur Mambo, Do not worry. It is your government now and the French will accept that fact just as they did in Congo Brazzaville when they overthrew their president."

At 7:00 PM on February 18, Mambo again called the Embassy. The American Ambassador had arrived by then but Mambo wanted to speak to only Courtney Jones. They talked until 1:00 AM with Courtney continually telling Mambo, "The French can’t come in."

On the morning of the 19^th, French paratroopers took control of the Libreville airport. They flew to Gabon on a Boeing 707 and descended on the airport. They were accompanied by four bombers with twin engines and mounted with .90 caliber guns. One of the bombers also was carrying a light tank.

The Gabonese soldiers were hung over from a night of celebration and were no match for the French. At 6:20 AM, PCV Larry Jackson was en route to the PC hostel for phone duty and observed a plane overhead that was being shot at by soldiers in an army jeep not more than 20 yards away from the hostel. The plane proceeded to the army barracks where it strafed a number of soldiers, killing many including civilians in the surrounding area.

The paratroopers moved out from the airport quickly cutting down the guards at the roadblocks. Their weapons had superior range to those of the Gabon army.

In the midst of the battle, the Gabon radio station issued pleas to the Gabonese to stop the French invaders. At the same time, the French Ambassador announced that he was designating himself as "Chief of the Gabonese government". Four hours later, Leon Mba resumed office. The rebels who had held Leon Mba in Lambarene were captured by the Gendarmes. The same Gendarmes took the propeller off of the Lambarene ferry assuring that no rebels from the South would intercede.



L'Ogoue River near Lambarene

Jacque Foccart’s underground organization was busily making trouble for the Americans in Gabon. They planted the story around Libreville that it was Courtney and Aubume, from the beginning, who had organized the coup with Courtney providing the financing. As "proof", they circulated a photo of Courtney and Aubume shaking hands. They also claimed that Jones of the American Embassy was also an organizer and had been sent back to the US in disgrace.

On Wednesday night, the French imposed a curfew. The radio station announced that if the "rebels" would surrender, nothing would happen to them. Subsequently, Leon Mba announced, "No mercy or pardon to the traitors".

Reportedly, several of the rebel leaders escaped on a small plane to end up in Switzerland (Aubume and Eko) and others drove to Chad (Murray and friends). Later we learned that Aubume was under house arrest in Port Gentil.

Post Revolution

One week later, Leon Mba dispatched the former Minister of Education to Fougamou. At that time, there were no Gabonese ministers only a 12-man ruling council with Jacques Foccart and others calling all the shots. The assignment was to explain the revolution and the subsequent action to the people of Fougamou.

A meeting was held at the Fougamou Cultural Center and included hundreds of Gabonese, many French and three PCVs (Jerry Anderson, Lou Williams and me). For over an hour, the former minister gave his account and an analysis of the revolution. Leon Mba was pictured as the Savior, like Jesus Christ, betrayed by his foolish enemies. He related how rudely Leon Mba was treated while in captivity. "Several army officers told our President to take off his watch and suit since they came from the people and we are the real representatives of the people". Everyone laughed.

The former minister painted Aubume as the villain. "He is a greedy, power-hungry snake. Our president treated Aubume like a brother and gave him money whenever he needed money to spend."

He attempted to explain how De Gaulle got involved but got mixed up on his dates. He stated, "I was with the Vice President in the South when the revolt occurred. We contacted De Gaulle to request his assistance". No one believed this well-rehearsed plea.

Then, the meeting was opened to questions. The first question asked, "Why in the revolutions in Congo, Ivory Coast and Senegal did the French stay out of their internal affairs and in the case of Gabon they intervened."

The former Minister pulled out a pamphlet from his back pocket and said, "It’s all here in black and white. This is an agreement made in 1961 between France and Gabon saying that France would aid Gabon in both external and internal affairs." Many jeered.

Then, a French professor stated, "The differences of the revolt of Gabon and the others was the reason. The others were popular revolutions, not a coup d' etat like in Gabon with a revolt by a few discontented politicians and army leaders. Anyone can see that and if they can’t, they are stupid!"

The former Minister quickly took up this theme saying, "Behind every revolt of the army are the bad politicians. The only reason the army followed was they were promised raises from 500 CFA a month to 10,000 to 15,000."

I agreed with one of his statements. "Without French military support, we would be immediately overrun by the Congolese."

He went on to say, "We even need support from the United States t o build us these, little, little ……..(the former Minister of Education forgot what we were building).

Some one helped him stating "schools".

From back of the crowd I shouted out, "Big schools, dammit".

The discussion closed with the question, "Are we an independent country".

The former minister admitted to all, "No". The crowd cheered his honesty.

On March 4, I was stuck in Lambarene for a few days waiting for the ferry to open. My destination was Libreville where I was scheduled to take the Foreign Service entrance test. The Prefect told me that all three ferries between Lambarene and Libreville had stopped due to missing parts. It is likely, the "missing parts" would miraculously appear upon orders from Jacques Foccart.

At Lambarene, I learned that many of the heads of other African states agreed that the Gabonese revolution had been the cleanest (entirely internally based), fastest and most successful of any previous revolution in Africa. The people were serene about the outcome until the French moved in and many lives were lost.

We heard a rumor that 30 to 40 Gabonese students had been killed by the Gendarmes while protesting at the Presidential Palace. Follow-up mass strikes were occurring throughout Libreville. The government then closed the schools for the remainder of the year and ordered all the students to return to their villages.

At the Lambarene Hotel, PCVs John Murphy, Joe Bennett and I plus an unknown Frenchman had drinks with the Prefect of the Ogooue Region.

The Prefect stated that the upcoming elections were nothing but a hoax. The elections were to be regional, not national for purposes of electing the National Assembly. Anyone can run but if you belonged to a party that did not win a plurality of the entire national vote, you lost, even if you won your regional vote.

He denounced the French for entering the revolution and believed that all the students and most others under 25 were for Aubume. Philip Murray, one of the key revolutionaries, was the biggest hero in Gabon to the young. He was the star actor in the only popular feature-length movie made in Gabon. The Prefect had met with Murray only three weeks before and all they talked about were girls and other amusements. Next thing he learned was that Aubume had designated Murray as the Minister of Sports and Information.

The Prefect voiced concern when we informed him that we would soon be moving up North to the Wolem-Tem and Mitzig region where Aubume was from. He told us that most of those killed in the revolution were from that area and that we had to be careful.

I did not get to Libreville. The city had become too hot for Americans with the US Ambassador ordering the evacuation of all American dependents. Reports came to us that the Gabonese were throwing bottles at the French during the day and slitting their throats at night. All PCVs were ordered to stay out of Libreville.

Jacques Foccart had heated up the battle against the American presence in Gabon. The American Embassy grounds were twice bombed. Windows at the Embassy had been shot out by shotgun blasts with Courtney observing a white man driving off with shotgun in hand. The French even accused Peace Corps girls of distributing anti-Leon Mba literature throughout Libreville.

Back in Fougamou I learned that in Mouila, a two-hours drive south of Fougamou, the former Minister of Education had attempted to make the same speech he made in Fougamou, defending the French. He was ordered, "Do not get out of your car. We do not want the soil of Mouila dirtied".

One day, a local school professor named Pierre Boussa dropped by our house in Fougamou. He was from Mouila, the Bapouna tribe and was known to be one of the revolutionaries.

When the former Minister of Education had addressed the citizens of Fougamou, it was Boussa who had spoken up to ridicule the French. At the meeting, the former Minister asked Boussa if he was a revolutionary. Boussa replied, "If I am, what are you going to do, throw me in prison?" Everyone laughed and then the former Minister invited him over to his house for wine.

Boussa said that the Sous Prefect in Fougamou now calls him "Monsieur President de la Revolution". He claimed that tomorrow Sunday, is the best day of the week for a revolution. "People will be free from work and there will be 3,000 machetes used to fight".

According to Boussa, the real revolutionary heroes are Ekoh and Sousette. "People think of Ekoh as a small god but the greatest man in Gabon is Sousette. He started the PUNGA party and was the first in Gabon to demand total independence from the French", he said. He added, "Sousette wants to throw out every Frenchman".

Several weeks later Boussa and another professor returned to our house and informed us that they were hiding from the Gendarmes. They were wanted men marked to be sent to prison in Libreville. He said he was wearing a white shirt since white has the strongest force against evil. The next day they were arrested and were flown to Libreville.

On several Saturday afternoons in Fougamou, I had a group of three students who would meet in the porch of my tent to "learn" English. They especially enjoyed listening to themselves on my tape recorder.

April 6, 1964. The Vice President of Gabon, Yembi, came to Fougamou to "calm the natives". At a town meeting, the VP placed the entire blame for recent riots and strikes