If you've seen "A Few Good Men" you recognize the famous Jack Nickleson quote above.
If you haven't seen that movie, you should. It's a great depiction of the responsibility US Marines shoulder when stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
I know it's a good depiction, because I've lived there.
Not everything about the movie is accurate - few things involving Hollywood ever are. But, they did get something right this time.
The "mission" of Marines is the same in real life as it is in the movie - to guard the fence line separating the American Base from the rest of Cuba.
This is accomplished via a series of "Marine Observation Posts" or "MOPS" which are positioned at regular intervals along the fence line (
cerca de la lina). Marines man the towers, watching over the small strip of land that denotes the boundary (
limite) between Cuba and the Base.
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| MOP tower in Guantanamo Bay |
Accordingly, the Cuban military has it's own Observation Posts on their side of the fence.
The guards on both sides of the fence spend their time of duty looking at one another and the barren strip of land that separates them.
Occasionally the American military will give a fence line tour (
conciertos) to base residents or visiting personnel. The tour includes a trip to the top of a MOP, and a stop at the "North East Gate" - the official entry/exit from the base into Cuba. It's all extremely serious, with the threat of being shot from either side a real possibility. The tension is palpable.
On the surface it seems rather cold-war, old-fashioned and ridiculous. In fact, my first impression of the set-up was of Dr. Seuss's "
The Great Butter Battle Book."
I wanted to make everyone laugh and relax. C'monnnn, it's the 21st Century, can't we get along? We're not so different, we all watch cartoons and love our children, right?
Unfortunately, that's not the case. (
Lamentablemente, es no el caso.)
The MOP tower system is vital now because of Guantanamo Bay's current mission (a prison for enemy combatants from the War on Terror) - as long as the prison is housed there, it is imperative that the base maintain the strictest security possible.
And as long as there are terrorists housed in the prison, I'm thankful that Marines,
and their Cuban counterparts, are standing watch through the night.
