Photo By Sgt. Spencer Rhodes | Benito Bennett, a cuban-american resident at Guantanamo Naval Station, talks about his...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO, Cuba — Civilians, high-school students, and service members trickle in at the popular Bayview restaurant, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, for the GTMO Community Club’s monthly luncheon. As far as luncheons go, this one is different. With the looming anniversary of the Cuban-American treaty only a few days away, (Feb. 23, 1903), the Community Club has chosen to honor Cuban-American residents here at Guantanamo Bay as special guests; highlighting the history and progression of time in the life of those who call GTMO home.
Ashley Clarke, an Army spouse living here with her family and two dogs, helps organize the luncheon events for the Community Club.
The club’s motto: “GTMO gives back,” is what they try to strive to achieve when they plan activities that provide resident interaction. Clarke explains that it seemed like the best theme for February’s luncheon. The monthly event has a different focus each time, and it allows for people to interact with a group of residents they may not have ever met or talked to otherwise. The Spanish class at W.T. Sampson High School even used it for a student field trip.
The guest speaker for the luncheon, Noel West, a native of Cuba who first came to GTMO for work in 1955, speaks with slow, thoughtful, and often humorous words; commanding the undivided attention of everyone in the room. His wit gives way to reveal a still sharp and humorous mind, as he tells why leaving his country was worth it, and what he did and did not miss about his past home.
“One thing with me — I like freedom. I don’t like being told what to do, and where to do it,” says West.
The gentleman from Cuba, as many of the Cuban-Americans here expressed, has an intense passion for baseball, and missed the Cuban baseball team; the same way he missed the nightclubs, dancing, and “doing things I shouldn’t have been doing.” Despite the fond memories, it did not make him feel inclined to say he missed the culture. West, who became an American citizen in February 1980, points out a stark truth in the differences between life here and across the border.
“Cuban Culture only has one culture: following rules and regulations,” says West.
While West answers questions, food is delivered to all the tables; Cuban-American residents seated at each one. The event is filled with small talk and inquisitory conversations about what the different times have brought here. Benito Bennett, who initially came here near the same time as West, says his first job was collecting hats from guests as they entered the Bayview, which in the 1950s was the Officers’ club. Bennett now sat in the same building as a special guest. Both men described scenery very different from what American service members today see on a daily basis. West recalls destroyers and battleships in the harbor, with squadrons flying overhead doing their target practice, while Bennett speaks of how the only people who were allowed to live on base prior to 1964 when the gate to Cuba was closed, were Navy chiefs and above. Everyone else went across the bay and found housing in the nearest community.
As the global climate and military missions changed throughout the decades, so did the amount of personnel and activity here, different scenery came and went, but a special core community remained the same. Possessing personal accounts of history usually only found in a book or history channel, they offer Joint Task Force warriors a rare opportunity to see their temporary home, in a different time, from a different set of eyes. The club facilitated that opportunity well, as Clarke says it’s the highest attendance they had ever had for the event.
Personally, for Clarke, she says she thrives on pulling people together. Luncheon’s like this help rally everyone for a better sense of being a community.
“I do it, not just because it makes me feel good,” says Clarke, “but because I see a need being met.”
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2014 17:57 |
| Story ID: | 121500 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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