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By Zena HenryA little over twelve years after a series of deadly explosions which resulted in the loss of three lives, at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF)’s largest ammunition dump, Camp Groomes, on December 18, 2000, two victims are claiming that they are still to be compensated for injuries sustained. The men also recalled the early morning moments of terror, in an exclusive interview with this publication on Friday last.Samuel Archer, 35, and Wendell Cort, 33, who both held the rank of Private, claim to have been abandoned by the entity they faithfully served, and by the country that they once placed their lives on the line to protect.The men stated that in September 2012 they were “kicked out of the army” because they are medically unfit, but have received “no compensation” for the aforementioned occurrence that now prevents them from functioning.Private Samuel Archer during his recovery period overseasArcher and Cort are now asking how they would be able to take care of their families, having dedicated 18 and 16 years of their lives, respectively, to an entity that has now discarded them like worn-out material.The soldiers are adamant that there was nothing they enjoyed more than performing their duties.“We were soldiers that love what we were doing,” Archer said emphatically.“I do a lot of things for the army and the army do things for me. Dem send me out of the country to represent dem in ‘run and shoot’ competitions and things like that, these are things that I use to enjoy. I was a marksman for them and you losing a man like me and now yuh unfair to me? You tink dat is right? No compensation? Nothing at all?”The soldiers were in agreement that, “We are Guyanese and we were harmed in the line of duty. We need to be compensated, we need to take care of our families, and our colleagues need to be compensated, because they have families too.”The men claimed that when they became strong enough they performed desk duties and light work since their bodies could handle no pressure. “But they (army) would pressure you as a sick person to get back into the work, just trying to frustrate you into leaving.”Since their salaries were ceased last September, the men said, “the army got us running around.”  “When you speak to the seniors, they always tell you next week, next month.”Archer said last week he spoke to the army’s welfare officer (name provided) about compensation and benefits, and was told that he (officer) knew nothing about that and the only payment he knows of is their gratuity and pension.“While everybody tink that we get couple million from the army, we ent receive nothing. There was rumours that the army woulda give we $700,000 and knock we out de wuk. Everybody get knock out de wuk, but people still sick and nobody get anything.”They claim that Calvin Lewis, whose injuries were the worst, has still not recovered. “To this day, that man feet continue to run stink water. He never get better.”‘PROMISES, PROMISES’The soldiers remembered many promises being made.Four of the Camp Groomes survivors, from left: Archer, Wilson, Calvin Lewis and Ross“The President, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo said to our parents that he shall compensate each and every one of the soldiers that was at Camp Groomes and he didn’t want to compensate some and leave back some. He said he would do it when everybody come back. Well everybody come back and nothing didn’t happen.”On many occasions, they said they had gone to former President, the then Opposition Leader, Desmond Hoyte, who also made several promises. Cort said subsequent PNC leader Robert Corbin came to his home and assured his family that the soldiers would be compensated.They claimed that recently they “tried to reach” Opposition Leader David Granger but after waiting, were told by his secretary that this was “not possible at the time”.“All they doing is just promising we and nobody ent doing anything.”Cort said he has a small eddoe farm,Maurice Clarett Ohio State Jersey, “But what can that do?”“We almost die for them and nothing for duh. I got two sons, I would never let dem join de army, ‘cause de army promise you de world and don’t give you nothing.”The men are insistent that the army continues to lie.“Everything in the news that the army said were lies. Imagine I deh over in New York and an ex-chief living over there come to my bedhead and tell me that he heard from the chief in Guyana that we de smoking. How disgraceful, even if we de smoking cigarette and it go next to the concrete wall, how can dat affect what’s in dis closed, sealed building?” Archer asked.“The chemical that burned our skin was since before we born. They had to get rid of the chemical years ago and they lied about that, cause as the breeze blow, your skin falling off and it wasn’t fire.”“No one wants to take blame for anything, so they will put all kind of thing in the papers,” the men charged. They said it was until later that they learnt something interesting.What remained of the facility after the devastating series of explosions. The uprights for the barbed-wire fence stand in the background“Some old soldiers would tell us that there was an underground tunnel leading to the bond and all the time we guarding, we never knew that.”The soldiers now believe that no one was out to kill them, but that the bond had to be blown up, as they think that arms were stolen from the storage and the action was to erase any traces.“If dem de want kill we dem coulda do it in de night, ‘cause all we had is a flambeaux (a lighted torch)… no proper light, but dem had to blow it, so you couldn’t tell if anything was missing.”The two men’s recollection of the incident that led to the current contentious state of affairs is as compelling as it was disturbing in detail.A STRANGE LIGHT AND THE HORROR OF DECEMBER 18, 2000“It was a normal evening,” Archer recounted.  At the time he was a Lance Corporal, part of a 14-man unit that was guarding the three-storey ammunition bond located deep into the woods along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.“Everything was going okay,” he reflected, except that the men who had to take over guard duty that night had not showed up. With that, he and the officer in charge, a Lieutenant, left to go to Camp Soweyo, some six miles away, to make phone calls to their families to inform them that they would not be coming home.While Archer was doing that, Cort, who was an acting Lance Corporal at the time, said he was at Camp Groomes with the other men when they noticed, “a light shine from the Camp’s front gate straight to the bond,” and the movement of figures.The surroundings were completely dark since there was no lighting. The strange light continued to shine and it seemed to be flashing as the figures moved through the bushes.A decision, he said, was taken to go towards the light, and some of the soldiers started in its direction until he (Cort) decided that it might be too dangerous to go towards the flashing torch in pitch darkness.  Instead, those who had moved off returned to their post and everyone manned their stations.Archer related that on his way back to Camp Groomes he met up with a Sergeant (name given) who was heading to Camp Soweyo. Archer remembered asking the soldier why he had left his post since his orders were to stay put. The senior soldier opined that Archer had spent “too long making the phone call” and he (Sergeant) decided to come over to Camp Soweyo.Archer said the Sergeant then told him something very strange. He recalled him emphasising that, “If anybody ask who was shining light, I must tell dem is he (Sergeant) was shining de light”.Archer said he continued on his journey to Camp Groomes, but a gut feeling told him that something amiss. He further recalled Cort relating what he had seen in the bushes and he (Archer), immediately brought the matter to the Lieutenant’s attention.Archer remembers that a “small meeting” was held that night, where plans to remain vigilant and steadfast were made between the 13 men at the facility, since the Sergeant had not returned from Camp Soweyo.DREAMING OF WAR“No one does sleep until foreday morning,” Archer said, and he remembers that after he had completed his shift and handed over to another soldier,Justin Blackmon Oklahoma State Jersey, he took off his boots and went to bed. Then all hell broke loose.“I drop to sleep, and all I dreaming is dat I deh in a war and these enemy shooting at me and I shooting back and throwing grenades…But then a big explosion went off… “BOOM”… and I jump out me bed.”“When I wake up de whole place was red and the roof was black, black. I seh I must be dreaming with me eye open, so I wipe me face and I try fuh go back to sleep. But den I feel like something saying ‘get up get up, if you know wha yuh deh in get up.’”Archer said he jumped up and that is when he realised that the place was on fire.“I jump up and ask ‘is wha’ going on hay?’. We had a canister with grenades and rounds in de guard room and duh start going off, going off… and I sit down flat on de ground. Then I started to holler out,Braxton Miller Ohio State Jersey, ‘we in explosion, whoever deh in hay get up and run!’”Archer said he heard someone call out his name and when he looked down one of his “squaddies” was pinned by a bed. “When I raise de bed and he crawl out, I hold he up and we had to take the hard way out… over a thirteen feet barb wire fence.” This was the safer route, since exiting through the front gate meant getting closer to the building and the rapid explosions.“I had to risk my life now and put he to climb over the fence. I remember everything the army teach me. I watching how these bombs blowing up next to me… and I just tuck in low, telling me squaddies ‘climb, climb, climb.’”He recalled that as the explosions became more intense, “I step back and I jump, I don’t know how I do it, but I jump halfway up the fence and throw over me foot. Next thing I hear is ‘BOODOOM’, that was de loudest blast. By that time I was over de fence,Archie Manning Ole Miss Jersey, and land on my feet…de whole compound light up bright, bright and glowing.”Archer said after clearing the fence he was looking for his partner (Alfred) but it was not until,Durron Neal Oklahoma Jersey, “I come back from getting treatment overseas I gon hear Alfred die holding on pon de fence. Dem seh current from de bomb run on de fence and catch him right there, all his fingers lef’ on de fence.”Cort described the horrible sight. “A bombshell fall pon he and cut-off he waist clean, all he guts come out. From he belt down deh pon de ground and he upper half still hold on pon de fence…he foot look like if it put pon a grill and barbeque it.”Archer said he and his surviving colleagues headed to Camp Soweyo, and were about three-quarters of a mile to their destination, when they came across a creek “and that’s when I realise that my legs get burn”.“One ah my squaddie, Samuel, wanted to jump in the creek to ease he burning, but I had to hold him back cause he woulda drown.”“All this time, you could hear bombs going off in the distance. Even as we running, is as if people throwing these bombs behind we.”The men reached Camp Soweyo where soldiers there assisted and a search party was dispatched for those who were missing.Cort’s account was that after five that morning the place started to “blow.”“When I woke up I couldn’t see anything except fire, but it wasn’t fire burning my skin. Cause I feel a hard breeze blowing, so I put my hand to block my face from the dust, but when I look all my skin gone… but it wasn’t fire. My face everything turn pink, pink, pink and bleeding.”The whole camp he said was blown open.  He remembered crawling about five miles on his knees, after having “walked through the fire to save myself”.“I reach to the Highway… almost five miles on my hands and knees cause my foot bottom, you could see the bone underneath.”The original intention, he said was to get to the Demerara River and swim as far away as possible, but being unable to see, Cort said he took the wrong direction and ended up on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.“No bus would stop,” he said, “I could even talk and I felt like from my waist down had freeze. But then I saw a GDF jeep pull out from the side of Camp Soweyo and I thought it was dem come to finish we off. I don’t know where I get the strength, but I get up and start run till I fall down.Cort related that his injured colleagues were rescued and they were taken to the Linden Hospital before being transported to Georgetown.Between Georgetown Hospital and Camp Ayanganna, Cort said he spent about four months seeking medical attention, while Archer said he was lucky to get treatment in the United States, but that was not until the victims’ families started “to make noise for us to get help.”LINGERING EFFECTSAnd there have been lingering effects. Following the horrific events at Camp Groomes, the soldiers admit to having been severely traumatized. They related that they are unable to function normally, as time and again sounds, explosions and arbitrary noises would make them “lose time”, “freeze”, “trip” or become highly annoyed and fearful.The soldiers said that to this day they are plagued by nightmares, they find themselves screaming wildly and jumping out of their sleep, and continue to feel as though “the enemy” is out to get them.Archer said he has serious problems with his right eye, and his right ear drum as well which had to be repaired after it had ruptured. He said that at times the chemical that was administered can be tasted when he eats. The other soldiers,Joel Berry II North Carolina Jersey, he pointed out, have also complained about it.“Sometimes my body would start rocking and I would feel out of tune…like I losing my balance. It’s not easy.”Cort related that since the mishap it has extremely difficult for him to cope with noise.“Imagine I on de road, and a tyre buss and I freeze… next ting I wake up in de hospital…is a canter knock me down. When de tyre buss,Buddy Hield Oklahoma Jersey, I jus’ zone out and de canter pick me up.”At Christmas he would plug his ears because he could not take the noise.“I had a girl I was living with, she move out telling people I mad, because sometimes I deh good with my children and sometimes I can’t even tek my own son noise. I start behaving different and people start calling me mad man,” Cort said.Archer said he was warned by the overseas specialist who tended to him that if follow-up treatment had not been given for the chemical that burned their skins, a serious skin cancer could have developed. He said he was further warned about the effects the explosion would have on their bodies and minds.“Down to the tick, tick, of a watch or clock used to trigger me like if is a bomb ready to go off,” Cort stated.