Air Cav crew chief returns home after 20 years

Photo By Alun Thomas | Sgt. Nicanor Garcia, from Killeen, Texas, an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter crew chief in Company B, 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, left his native Panama in 1989 before the invasion by the U.S. Army and didn't return until 20 years later.  

TAJI, IRAQ

12.31.2009

Story by Sgt. Alun Thomas  

1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — After the U.S. Army invaded Panama in 1989 to oust the dictator Manuel Noriega, the country's people went on to rebuild their lives after "Operation Just Cause."

It would be 20 years before one citizen, who left before the war began to live in the U.S., would return.

The road back to Panama for Sgt. Nicanor Garcia, from Killeen, Texas, a crew chief with 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, was worth the long wait, despite being gone for two decades and starting his life over elsewhere.

Garcia, 34, said growing up in Panama was mostly pleasant with little to worry about in his early years.

"I was living in Panama City in a decent neighborhood. It wasn't middle class, but it wasn't lower class, it was something in between," Garcia said. "Economically, it wasn't so good, but I had the love of my mother and I had a lot of friends, so it wasn't that bad."

Garcia said things remained calm until the stronghold of Noriega began to take hold during the course of the 1980's.

"We had an elected president, things were going well, but slowly it started deteriorating and a dictatorship was established by General Noriega," Garcia said. "Suddenly there would be no buses to take us to school ... so I couldn't go to school because it was too far to walk."

As the move towards war intensified, Garcia said Noriega began to resort to desperate measures to recruit for his army, which his mother would have none of.

"It got to the point where Noriega was recruiting kids between the ages of 11 and [13]," Garcia said. "I was 13 at that point so my mom said 'No, you're not going to be in Noriega's army to defend him.' She wanted to get me out of the country, so we went and applied for a visa and thankfully I got approved."

In April 1989, at the age of 13, Garcia went to live with his grandmother in Brooklyn, N.Y., avoiding the war that would destroy his country.

"God knows what could have happened if I'd stayed. Back then there was so much confusion in the country during the hours of the invasion that anything could have happened," Garcia said. "Shots fired could have gone through our window or doors, things like that. It could have gone bad. So I'm glad my mother got me out of the country."


Joining the Army was an easy decision after seeing the destruction of the twin towers on 9-11, said Garcia.

"I love New York City and I used to see the towers every day. When they came down I said to myself 'I have to do something,'" Garcia continued. "Another reason I joined is this country has given me so much ... in Panama I would never be working on Apaches and I would never have the lifestyle the U.S. offered me."

After joining the 1st ACB, he dreamed of returning to Panama.

"I had to delay going back to Panama in part because of my Army career. Also I wanted to take my mom, who eventually came to the states and became a citizen," he said. "I wanted to take my family with me so we could experience it together because I hadn't been back there for so long."

Garcia took his mother, wife and five-year-old daughter back to Panama while on leave from Iraq earlier this year and found himself reliving his childhood.

"From the moment I landed, memories started coming back ... I remembered leaving that airport and it looked pretty much the same," Garcia said. "I saw the rest of my family that were to greet me at the airport. A lot of them were older of course and I met brand new cousins that I had never seen before."

Garcia visited his former neighborhood and said although Panama City has become modernized, the people remain the same.

"I went back to my old neighborhood where I grew up and it had totally changed," Garcia said. "There were still a few buildings that were there from when I was young; a mechanic and car repair shop with the same owner."

"I went in and said hello to the owner and he actually remembered me ... It was funny and interesting because the country has changed so much, but the people haven't," he added.

The experience left Garcia realizing things have improved significantly in Panama.

"It has changed for the better definitely, because if it wasn't for the invasion there wouldn't be democracy in Panama," Garcia said. "I liked the whole experience because it brought me back to when I was a kid but at the same time reminded me where I came from."

"I wanted to stay, but I had to come back and complete the mission," Garcia said with a laugh.

• Date Taken: 12.31.2009
• Date Posted: 12.31.2009 01:51
• Story ID: 43314
• Location: TAJI, IQ