Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9410200010
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cmdr. Jim McKenzie, Patrick Henry '74; Petty Officer David Barker, Lord Botetourt '89; and Seaman James Clemmer, Roanoke Valley Christian '92 are serving aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane, based in Portsmouth.
McKenzie, who was in Roanoke recently visiting his parents, said the crew's mission is to rescue migrants at sea.
``Why it's a rescue is because these people are fleeing their homeland in large numbers on unseaworthy vessels. Were we not there to rescue them, many would perish at sea,'' McKenzie said.
McKenzie, 38, has worked Haitian duty on and off for 11 years. He grew up in Virginia Heights and played basketball for Patrick Henry. A 6-foot-5-inch center, he was recruited to play at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
When he enrolled in the academy, McKenzie intended only to get his degree and serve the minimum tour of duty.
However, after graduating in 1978, he found he liked the Coast Guard and decided to make it a career. Since then, he has served in Texas; Alaska; Florida; Washington, D.C.; and Venezuela, alternating land and sea duty. His wife, Connie, and their three daughters travel with him.
The McKenzies live in Chesapeake.
The Coast Guard's operations in Haitian waters intensified in May. Refugees began pouring out of the country in response to economic sanctions by the Clinton administration, McKenzie said.
Since May, the Coast Guard has picked up more than 24,000 refugees bound for Florida, 400 miles away through shark-infested waters.
A typical refugee vessel is a 20- to 50-foot sailboat loaded with 20 to 50 people, McKenzie said.
However, larger and smaller vessels also are seen. The Coast Guard rescued one man who had been on a surfboard for two days, McKenzie said.
One of the most overloaded boats was a 39-footer that carried 240 people.
``There was not an inch of room on it, and there were two or three young boys on the mast,'' McKenzie said.
``In any type of sea whatsoever, all would have perished.''
After being taken aboard the Harriet Lane, the refugees are taken to the hospital ship Comfort in Kingston, Jamaica, or the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
There, they receive medical attention and are interviewed by representatives of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Only a small percentage are granted asylum in the United States. The rest are returned to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The slim chance of being granted asylum motivates repeated escape attempts.
``We picked up a number of people over four times - the same people. We knew them by face,'' McKenzie said. ``Some would smile and say, `Hey, remember me?'''
But to the Haitians, escape from their impoverished and troubled homeland is no laughing matter. In recent years, refugees have become increasingly desperate. Refugees have held machetes to the throats of babies and threatened to kill them if the Coast Guard intervened, McKenzie said.
To discourage such desperation voyages, the Clinton administration has encouraged Haitians to apply for asylum at the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince.
On the six- to eight-week missions of the Harriet Lane, it helped to have fellow Roanokers to talk to, said McKenzie, who is the ship's second-in-command and officer in charge of the crew.
``We have a great time talking about Roanoke. We rivaled each other's high schools. As head of the crew I like to find things to talk about, and it gives us good camaraderie,'' he said.
The fact that the 105-member crew includes three Roanokers probably is because the Coast Guard ``makes a strong effort to locate people where they want to be located,'' McKenzie said. Portsmouth is the Coast Guard base closest to Roanoke.
McKenzie had nothing but praise for Barker and Clemmer, as well as Seaman Ronnie Townes of Gretna.
``All these folks are top achievers. They're doing exceptionally well in the Coast Guard and they're going to go far,'' he said.
The Harriet Lane returned from its last Haitian patrol on July22.
On Oct.2, McKenzie is scheduled to begin a mission to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama, training the Coast Guards of those countries. However, McKenzie says his orders could change if the U.S. invades Haiti or the refugee tide begins to swell again.
``As national policy continues to develop, in addition to interception and rescue, the Coast Guard may be called upon to provide transportation, medical support, and temporary refuge to migrants awaiting processing for asylum status in the U.S.,'' McKenzie wrote in a letter to the newspaper. ``Whatever the challenge, Harriet Lane and her proud contingent of Roanokers will be there to answer the call.''
by CNB