Weapon of Choice - Louis Miranda

Little did the government and people of Trinidad know, that a battle for survival was taking place some four thousand five-hundred (4,500) miles away, which would forever change their way of life. It was the battle of Dunkirk, where British, French, and Belgian forces were pinned down with their backs toward the beaches of Dunkerque (Dunkirk), France. The Nazis were fast approaching, whom vastly outnumbered the allies in forces, as well as in weapons. It was going to be a slaughter. Meanwhile, Sir Winston Churchill, the newly seated Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was desperately negotiating with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for destroyers to counter Germany’s onslaught.

As part of what became known as the “Destroyers for Bases” deal, he also petitioned the United States government to protect its Caribbean islands. Thus, in the wee hours of the morning of October 10, 1940, Trinidad’s population awoke to see an imposing US Navy ship setting anchor in their Chaguaramas harbor. The US Navy’s arrival played an unwitting, yet important role, in Trinidad forging its national cultural identity.