The Foreign Service Journal, February 2003

town. Family income among some program participants had increased an astounding 700 per- cent. Peace Corps Volunteers focused on agriculture and English language teaching. It was quiet in Bissau, perhaps too quiet. The president and his government were widely viewed by Guineans as ineffective and corrupt, albeit democratically elected. Change was inevitable, but neither diplomats nor Guineans were predicting immediate or violent change. At 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1998, my doorbell began to ring incessantly. It was U.S. Agency for International Development Mission Director Nancy McKay, who reported that en route to her usual early-morning bird- watching, she had encountered armed men and heard automatic weapons fire. The mission staff quickly assembled at the embassy. We learned that the chief of staff of the army, fired for his part in an arms smuggling scandal, had decided not to go quietly. Illiterate and unable to communicate in Guinea-Bissau’s official language, Portuguese, he had been held under house arrest for some time and was lit- tle known to expatriates. Nevertheless, he was a hero of the bitter struggle that freed his country from Portugal and was revered by many in the military. They rallied to his support. The rebels quickly achieved control of two key military bases, one nearly adjacent to the embassy and blocking the only access to the airport. An evacuation by air would be impossible. Office Management Specialist Diann Bimmerle, a vet- eran of several coups elsewhere, offered her experience and kept us connected to the State Department Operations Center in Washington. The U.S. military had no ships or aircraft close by. Throughout the day, Vice Consul Bryan Hunt, a first-tour officer, fielded frantic inquiries from U.S. citizens and the press while at the same time tracking down all the Americans in the country, advising them to stay at home and in touch. Popular wisdom held that the coup attempt would blow over in a day or two. We had to question that assessment almost immediately when, early on Monday morning, the shelling nearly blew us out of bed. Americans and others began seeking sanctuary on our residential compound across from the embassy. Most people reached the embassy without incident but two Peace Corps Volunteers called desperately seek- ing our help. They were trapped in a hotly contested area of town. The local people were evacuating. Could we get them out? As I tried to decide whom to send on this dangerous mission, Nancy McKay spoke up. It was her neighborhood; she knew it well and would go. As the embassy vehicle pulled out of the compound, shelling began. The next hour, until everyone returned safely, was one of the longest of my life. Soon we were sheltering more than 50 people: Peace Corps Volunteers, missionaries, businesspeople and tourists. While they ransacked our homes for food, blankets and towels and prepared meals for our growing army of refugees, Peace Corps Medical Officer Karen Glucksberg treated an epidemic of stomach disorders and headaches brought on by nerves. Our newly-arrived summer intern, whose internship was to be short but memorable, spent hours destroying classified and sensi- tive documents. The staff moved mattresses to the embassy and we slept in our offices along with our eight cats. The Portuguese Embassy informed us that a Portuguese freighter would take refugees to Dakar, Senegal. Space was available for our citizens. It seemed our best bet. On Wednesday, June 10, after a F O C U S 32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3 Continued from page 30 Peggy Blackford served as ambassador to Guinea- Bissau from 1995 to 1998. She joined the Foreign Service in 1972 and also served in Nairobi, Sao Paulo, Harare, Paris, Bamako and Washington, D.C. She retired in 2000 but continues to accept short assign- ments from the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs. She has taught at City University of New York and lectures on foreign affairs to various interested groups in the New York area. This account, along with numerous others, can be found in the 2003 edition of AFSA’s Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America. Enroute to her usual early-morning birdwatching, the USAID mission director encountered armed men and heard automatic weapons fire.