Liberia’s recent history as it pertains to my life.
I was born in the Republic of Liberia on the West African Coast in 1975. My parents were linguists with a group of bible translators. I left the nation in 1986 and it made for an interesting childhood.
Liberia was ‘historically’ peaceful up until April, 1980. It was in that year that an illiterate Master Sergeant by the name of Samuel K. Doe took a couple of squads into the Executive mansion in Monrovia and shot the then sitting President, President Tolbert. Doe was part of the Khran tribe and certainly couldn’t read and write. He took the President and some key cabinent members out on the beach and executed them. Taking control of the nation’s air waves he declared himself to be President. He stated he would rule for five years and then hold elections. I imagine it would be hard for Americans to wake up one day and here that an illiterate Army Sergeant stormed the White House and declared himself to be in charge. Africans have a radically different culture though then us in the West. Anyone that kills the Chief essentially would become the Chief. My father stated that Liberians were very shocked when Lee Harvey Oswald did not become President. The source of the angst in the native people that led them to support a coup lies in the history of the nation of Liberia. Liberians share a rich history with the United States. It was the American Colonialization society that did arrange for the Freed American slaves to return to Liberia. This is very much similar to the situation involving native Americans in our own nation. Liberia was already inhabited by approximately 13 other indegenous tribes. The Freed Slaves were however, vastly superior in education and technology. They were the original government of Liberia. Americo-Liberians ruled Liberia from its birth or inception in 1847 until 1980. The people backed Doe because they originally saw it as a change in power. The United States supported Doe because he was staunchly anti-communist as were most dictatorial thugs. Doe rule for five years and then in 1985 he held elections. The October, 1985 elections went down in history in the Guiness book of World records as the most fraudulent election in history. I still remember to this day the November 12, 1985 coup involving a fellow by the name of Quionkpa. There were all sorts of rumors about Quionkpa floating about the city that day. He originally grabbed the radio station and declared Doe to be exiled. He said he would rule for three months and then hold elections. People took to the streets and rioted until later in the day when Doe came out of hiding and retook the capital city. It seems that taking a capital city is all you need to do to take a country hostage in a coup. Doe eventually captured Quionkpa and took him out to the same beach and shot him and his followers. There were also rumors about foreign troops in the city of Monrovia. Originally these rumors were said to be Americans because they were “barefoot.” I speculate though that America probably would not get its forces involved unless there were American lives in danger. It is more probable that the foreign troops if they existed were Libyan or Cuban. I cannot think of a single soul that would have given Doe shelter except for a vehmently anti-communist nation. I left the Repbulic of Liberia on June 8, 1986 never to return to again. Liberia’s troubles were only just beginning though however. In December 1989 a rennegade clerk who stole a million dollars from the treasury returned to Liberia and invaded through Ivory Coast and Guinea. Charles Taylor started Raping and pillaging the villages of the countryside and began to descend towards the almighty goal of the capital. (Don’t you just love it how angry clerks, and illiterate master Sergeants can take over a country?) Taylor committed several dozen war crimes and eventully one of his lieutenants broke free of his command and started his own rebel band. Roosevelt Prince Johnson and Taylor then raced to the capital fighting each other and Doe’s forces along the way. Johnson eventually got to Doe first and took him out to the same beach in which Doe liked to execute persons. Doe endured a wonderful session of torture where he starred in his very own ear removal ceremony on live video which sold in black markets everywhere. Doe’s forces being primarily Khran took to fighting and eventually began beating up on other tribes they had grudges against. The Gio and Khran Tribes had a good go at it for a number of years as well. Throw in the Interim Government forces and the UN Peacekeepers from Nigeria of all places and the situation just kept getting uglier through the nineties. By 1996 the country was embroiled in a seven faction civil war. I am not sure how anyone kept anyone straight by that point. It would have been nice if I could have returned to Liberia for the 1996 NEO operation but unfortunately I was deployed to Hungary at the time. It seems it would have been nice to be walking on those hallowed grounds where I went to grade school in a US army uniform but that was not to be. I would like to return to Liberia after I graduate someday, but that remains to be seen. It would be nice to move some of my personal books over there and open up a library or school of sorts where people would have unfettered access to reading material. But once again you know how dictators are about teaching people to learn and write.