MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- It was a warm, humid day in the rainforests of Panama where the toucans, crocodiles, monkeys and snakes were in a frenzy over the excitement that surrounded them. The shouts, shots and sounds of service members operating in the villages and points of conflict were heard throughout the forests. It was called Operation Just Cause, and it removed control of Panama from the hands of a ruthless military general and drug-dealer, back to the hands of an elected official.
Master Sgt. Donald Julian, communications chief, communications division, was a Marine stationed with the Marine Security Forces Battalion in Panama during the second half of the 80’s, he said. Despite being trained in the communications occupational field, Julian spent his tenure in Panama as an infantry Marine.
During his time there, the general of the Panama Defense Forces, Gen. Manuel Noriega, had become a de facto leader through the use of force and crime, Julian said. It was because of his crimes involving drug trafficking and money laundering that Noriega was indicted by the U.S. on Feb. 5, 1988.
“We had pretty good relationships with Panama up until he was indicted,” said Julian.
After the indictment, the PDF along with Panamanian special forces known as the Macho de Montes, who wore long beards and farmer’s straw hats, set up road blocks to inspect vehicles, including U.S. armed forces’ vehicles, Julian said. This was in fact, illegal, because of the provisions set forth by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties signed in 1977.
The road blocks were not much of a threat to service members though, because troop vehicles would just drive around the obstacle whenever one presented itself, said Julian.
The actions of Noriega convinced U.S. forces to start conducting freedom of movement exercises, which were intended to see if Noriega’s forces were violating any part of the treaty, Julian clarified. However, the exercises were more like operations, because of the potential of being attacked by the enemy.
Two months after the indictment, a battle took place between Marines guarding the Arraijan Tank Farm and PDF troops, said Julian.
Julian noted that information about the battle was very, “hush hush,” because if the knowledge of the battle became widespread, it would have severely damaged the relations between the U.S. and Panama. The tank farms stored all of the fuel used by U.S. forces, which explains why any threat to them would have caused immediate action to take place from troops guarding them.
The road blocks, free movement exercises and protests from Panamanian citizens increased tension between the two countries, but when Noriega annulled a Panamanian presidential election that took place in May 1989, the U.S. knew it needed to take a stricter stance on Noriega with a more aggressive policy in Panama.
“It was pretty much at this time where we went from operating together with the PDF, to becoming the enemy,” Julian remembered.
Although Noriega was the de facto leader of Panama and was disliked by a majority of the people of Panama, the U.S. didn’t feel it was justified to attack the Central American country quite yet.
Then on Dec. 16, 1989, a group of four intelligence Marines were driving around Panama in civilian clothing when they came across a roadblock that was manned by the Macho de Montes, Julian said. The Marines knew that if they stopped, they would have been killed or at least detained and perhaps tortured, so they made a run for it.
As a result, a Marine was killed, said Julian.
That same night, a Navy captain and his wife went to the same check point, where they were detained and tortured by the Macho de Montes.
Julian said that this was the last straw for President George H.W. Bush, and an invasion involving American forces, called Operation Just Cause, commenced Dec. 20 at 1 a.m.
For the invasion, Julian was in a taskforce made up of the Marine security force, D Company of the 2nd Light Armored Infantry Battalion, a fleet anti-terrorism security team platoon and Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, he said.
“The operation called for us to attack the PDF and destroy them,” Julian said.
To carry out their mission, the taskforce went from town to town and village to village taking out enemy positions and securing U.S. priorities, said Julian. During the fighting, the PDF, Macho de Montes and other Noriega loyalists fought as best they could against the Marines, Army Rangers and Navy SEALS, but it wasn’t enough.
“The Panamanians were outmanned and outgunned, but they didn’t give up. They stood their ground,” Julian described.
Three days after the invasion, U.S. troops successfully tamed the PDF. Noriega fled to the Vatican embassy in Panama, where troops had to turn to playing loud hard rock music to complete their mission. Noriega surrendered Jan. 3, 1990.
Altogether, the U.S. lost 23 troops, and it was because of the operation that the U.S. was able to return control of Panama back to the elected president and restore relations between the two countries.