Final Project

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  In 1983, in one of the most bizarre moments in US History, the massive US Army invaded the Caribbean nation of Grenada. The US is 25,000 times as big as Grenada—a tiny island nation with a population smaller than San Angelo, Texas, and Greeley, Colorado with an Army of only 1,000 men. The US rolled in with tanks, helicopters, and aircraft carriers to defeat the new Marxist government, completing the invasion in only 3 days. 69 Grenadian citizens died in only 3 days, a massacre that on a per capita comparison would mean the death of over 270,000 US Citizens—more deaths than the US experienced in WW1, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.
Mr. James Taylor washed his face, ate a quick breakfast, and said goodbye to his wife as he began his daily walk to the train station. As he went down his street, his large suburban house began to vanish in the distance. Taylor began his commute from Columbia Heights to the Pentagon, during which he evolved from a kind 47-year old father of two daughters into one of the most important men in the world: the Director of Public Relations at the Pentagon. It was October 30, 1983, and Taylor knew the next week would be a difficult one for him. His job? Convince the American public and the world that the United States’ recent invasion of Grenada was a just use of military power. 
US Tanks rolled into the tiny island country with 8,000 soldiers, dwarfing the tiny Grenadian force of just fifteen hundred men. Taylor knew the US had crushed Grenada’s forces. Grenada had just experienced a revolution, where the Marxist Deputy Prime Minister Benard Coard had seized power and placed the previous Prime Minister Maurice Bishop under house arrest. Coard was repressive; he executed Bishop and imposed a four-day curfew on the citizens of his nation. The punishment for breaking the curfew? Death. Taylor pictured himself living in those conditions. He shuddered. The lack of democracy and freedom terrified him.
Coard was not a good man. He was anti-Democratic. He was a former member of the USA Communist Party. Prime Ministers of neighboring nations—Jamaica, Dominica, Barbados, and more—asked the United States to step in and save democracy from the menace of communism. And America was the last hope for the Caribbean, and America stepped in and delivered. The United States had already installed Paul Scoon, the previous Governor-General, back into power. Democracy was saved. Taylor wonders why he should even have to work to convince the world that the United State’s actions were warranted. Why do we even have a military if we are not willing to protect democracy around the world, nevertheless in the Western Hemisphere? 
Taylor deboarded his train in Arlington and began his walk to his office. What is the role of the US Government if not to protect our ideals? Are we supposed to hide in our country and not look to protect people around the world? He paced down his halls wondering what he could do wrong. How could anyone in the first world support a violent Marxist revolution? 109 people died for the safety of the world. Taylor knew that war could increase the wellbeing of people in the world. It is a horrid sacrifice, but one he knew the nation had to occasionally make.
Taylor sat down at his desk and began penning his thoughts, which would become the official statement from the Pentagon. He wrote throughout the day; he didn’t have any second thoughts. He knew that Reagan had ordered the US Army to do the right thing. America interfered in Grenada because we care about the Grenadian people, not because we are apathetic to their struggles. 
“Democracy is the will of the people,” Taylor started, “and the US cannot let anything disrupt the flow of democracy. Communism depresses the people; it is a menace that leads to war, genocide, and poverty. America is the greatest country in the world and we hope to shine the light of democracy in the darkest corners of the world.”
Taylor edited his statement throughout the day and released it to the Pentagon head in the evening. He was confident. He had a simple moral argument on his side. He left his office and began his walk out of the Pentagon. An overwhelming sense of pride struck him. He thought about how lucky he was to be part of the greatest country in the world: one that could protect the rights of any citizen in any country anywhere in the world.
A loud voice interrupted his thoughts, “What the hell man? Why are our boys dying in Grenada.” Taylor saw a strong middle-aged white man with a clean-cut beard looking back at him, no older than 40.
“What?” Taylor retorted. “What do you mean?”
“15 American boys died yesterday. Led blindly into war by a greedy government they had
nothing to do with,” shouted the man at Taylor. Taylor started to walk away, continuing to the
train station.“My brother died in Vietnam. I fought in Vietnam. I went through hell. Have you
all in your shiny offices ever been on the ground? Have you seen death? You all are out of
control. They died for what? To screw with the brown man’s business? If there is a Marxist in
charge on a tiny island, so be it. Let countries determine their destiny themselves. There is no
need to kill our boys in the process.”
Taylor kept walking. He knew these critiques of his government and country well. But how was
it imperialist for white people to help Grenadians? Bringing the boon of democracy to the world
would make up for the centuries of colonialism. Staying out of Grenada just isn’t
enough...doesn’t America owe something to the countries we have exploited? This is different.
This isn’t for our own gain, this is for them. And every good thing America can do for the
world comes with a cost. 20,000 times more people died in WWII than in Grenada, yet FDR is
a hero for going to war to save the world.
“Damn you,” Taylor heard behind him. “Don’t walk away from me. Talk to me.” Taylor kept
walking. This invasion was for The Greater Good, and some people just couldn’t see the forest
for the trees.

Comments

  1. Steven BlankeMay 17, 2020 at 1:31 PM

    You were right when you said bizarre. This is an example of the US government taking something way to seriously and personally. The unknown man is a good metaphor for the people who disagreed for the mass fear of communism during the cold war. I love Taylor's response, representing the mass american fearing communism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah H.May 17, 2020 at 4:10 PM

    I think Mr.Butler would have such a good time reading this project. Taylor is an excellent embodiment of the justifications the American government used to explain their actions. In addition, he reflects the mentality the majority of people had during the red scare. I especially love the ending of this short story because while the beginning provides self-affirming evidence of Taylor's views the nameless man challenges these views. The nameless man to me feels representative of the growing anti-war movement.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nicholas PMay 18, 2020 at 9:58 AM

    It is though provoking how we don't know what the general opinion of the war is. We know that James Taylor loved the war and that the mystery man hated it, but we don't know the median opinion on the war. This made me think about the Vietnam war where there was the vocal anti war movement and the supposed silent majority that the president claimed, but we don't know where the average person stood.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lucas WoodMay 19, 2020 at 2:45 PM

    This is an area of history that I previously knew little about, so I found your story not only very engaging, but also extremely informative. The way you represent James Taylor is particularly engaging. He was entirely believable despite the stories' status as historical fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SimonMay 21, 2020 at 1:47 PM

    I've never really thought of some of the US's interventionist policies from the point of view of the individual government officials. Usually we look at it either from the point of view of the government as a whole, or from the point of view of the protestors, so its really interesting to think about how the people who's jobs it is to promote these interventions see them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Grace JuhnMay 22, 2020 at 1:02 PM

    I really enjoyed reading this! The way you connected events and dialogue into the story was really smooth and engaging. This is also something I've never heard of before, so it was nice to learn about a part of history and look at the event through the perspective of someone working in the pentagon. I don't often hear the voices from the people working within, so this was refreshing and interesting to read

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nil PatelMay 24, 2020 at 4:08 PM

    This is actually really interesting. I never thought about the perspective of the people who release these statements to the public and weight those statements could have. This was a really fun read and you should show it to the history department, I bet Mr. Leff or Mr. Butler would love it.

    ReplyDelete

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