Just a couple of weeks ago, retired officers Colonels Dennis and Noella Phillips (pictured above with Yves Montoban, a Salvation Army employee in Haiti) chose to take a week to serve Salvationists in Haiti, where they served as Territorial Commanders for some time. They were there spending time with Officers, soldiers, and children. And as is often the case with those who travel overseas, they were blessed probably more than they thought they would be.
Through a series of three letters, Col. Dennis Phillips tried to take an account of their activities. Enjoy and be blessed! This is, at least for now, the last chapter of the series.
“The day began so nicely: an early morning swim, sweet fellowship at the breakfast table and tender good-byes with hidden tears knowing, in all likelihood, I would never see these dear people again.
Major Lamartiniere is a very caring divisional leader, and he was concerned about the travel arrangements for his officers to return to their distant corps since none of them have vehicles. So, he included as many as he could in his SUV, which – by American standards – would accommodate only five people since the third seat area was already filled with luggage. But in Haiti, the number of seats advertised by the manufacturer has little meaning, so it was no surprise that Noella was joined in the middle seat by three more women officers plus a child. Noella commented, “Well, we were in there very tightly, but it certainly kept us from bouncing around.” The Major took the other three officers and the child to a main bus terminal where they boarded the first available “tap-taps” that were going in their direction. (Note: A “tap-tap” is basically a pick-up truck with an improvised roof and benches, and we’ve seen them with 25 to 30 people jammed inside with some literally hanging on by their fingers and toes on the back bumper.) One of our passengers was an 80 year old retired officer, a widow who, along with her husband had managed to actually own a little house. It was completely destroyed in the earthquake, and she has been sleeping on the ground ever since. Yet, though I had several conversations with her during the retreat, I never heard a complaint.
We visited the rented offices of the temporary divisional headquarters which also houses the Emergency Disaster Services teams that arrive each month from all over the world. There, we ran into Major Pat Kiddoo, a USA Central officer and veteran of many disasters who was concluding her assignment as Incident Commander. We also were privileged to renew friendship with two officers from the USA Western Territory who were cadets when we served at the Western Territorial Headquarters.
As we left the safe haven of Divisional Headquarters, we had little idea of what we were to encounter en route to the home of Bob and Vickie Poff where we would stay for the remainder of our time in Haiti. The road was typical of all I have already described – full of pot holes (some of them so big they will need to build a bridge over them), dusty, heavy traffic weaving in and out, some roads were paved, others barely passable.
We were on one of the “good” roads and moving along quite well when we noticed a large gathering of people on both sides of the road ahead. In the middle of the road was a stopped sedan, and ours was the next vehicle to arrive. People were wailing and walking around the car nervously, some of them peeking and staring inside. We were stuck. Shortly, one policeman arrived and attempted to restore order and get the people out of the traffic lane. We were able to pull forward a little at a time until we were close enough to the policeman for the Major to inquire as to what had occurred. The car just before us was stopped by a thief on a motor cycle who demanded money, and when he was refused, he drew a weapon and killed both driver and the passenger. Once we were allowed to proceed, we passed the car and it was sad to see the driver slumped over the wheel, and his female passenger still in an upright position. They were dressed up, no doubt going to an important function, maybe at church. It was impacting in a very sad way. It wasn’t until later that I realized ours was the next car on the road. What might the thief had done upon seeing two white people in a vehicle. The SUV was well marked with Salvation Army shields, and we were in uniform which, in Haiti, has proven over the years to be adequate armor. Yet, the thought haunted me for a few days. Oh, it wasn’t only the SA shields on the car – our entire trip was covered in the prayers of many, for which we continue to be thankful.
Our journey continued in silence. We didn’t actually talk about it until after dinner.”
There may be more chapters to this story for Colonel Dennis Phillips at some point in the future. So check back for more. For now, though, Colonel Phillips, along with his wife Noella, will serve at the Metropolitan Divisional Headquarters for a few more months, after which they hope to be invested as much as possible at the South Bend Kroc Center.