Testimonial of Teddy Thomas

Paul and I have known each other since he was in his early twenties, and I was at the end of my teenage years. We met for the first time when my class of cadets was received in October 1956 at the Military Academy of Haiti. That day, Paul was the cadet scheduled to be in charge of the senior class. Not long ago, he told me that he remembered that encounter. Asthe cadet in charge (Cadet de Service), he was serving for 24 hours as the assistant of the officer on duty (Officier du Jour). The beginners of my class had to call those senior guys "Monsieur le Cadet," the equivalent of "Sir" in English. Nearly sixty years later, Paul and I were joking about that, after I described some incidents of that first day in one of my books. For us the recruits, it was similar to a reception of soldiers in a boot camp. Paul remembered the hard times that we had with the senior cadets of his class, and how I sometimes returned the headache to them by ignoring their orders.

Two months later, in December, the overthrow of the government caused the departure of many high ranking officers, creating a need for their replacement. We, the cadets of both classes, had just started our Christmas vacation, but were recalled after a few days; it had been decided to shorten our time off, in order to graduate the senior class early. Therefore, Paul and his classmates graduated a few months before the end of their third year. From that time on, we were submitted to an accelerated program, with evening classes and all vacation time cancelled, in order to also prepare us for an early graduation.

Paul took service in the Haitian Coast Guard immediately upon his graduation. At the time, although the Military Academy was a school of infantry, many officers assigned to the Coast Guard were graduates of the military school. They were then sent to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy of New London, Connecticut, for a basic training in navigation. After participating in that student exchange program, they were returned to Haiti to continue their practice on the units patrolling the Haitian coasts, and to become familiar with the Haitian territorial waters. Paul was one of those officers, and after his initial training in the United States, he was assigned to a Haitian Coast Guard unit under the command and supervision of one of the most qualified navigators, who later became the Commanding Officer of the Haitian Coast Guard.

That must have benefited him, when a few years later, he became the Commanding Officer of the unit namedGC8 - La Crête-à-Pierrot. I was eventually sent to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy some time later, under the same program. After my return from New London, Iwas assigned to Paul's ship as a deck officer. One day, I realized how lucky I was to share Paul's experience. We were circling the Gonave Island, when the wind and the waves turned violent. I was the deck officer on duty. It was my first time in that situation, and I became very concerned about the reefs surrounding the island. Paul stepped in the pilot cabin and took command of the unit. He ordered the appropriate maneuvers and got us out of that storm. Thank you, Captain!

After I completed my apprenticeship at sea, I was assigned to the Coast Guard Training Center. When the Director retired, then Lieutenant Paul Bazin was chosen to replace him. Paul and I spent several years working there together, he as the Director and I as his second in command. We trained several classes of recruits in both infantry and seamanship. We were assisted by instructors that we had selected for their discipline and integrity. At one point, while newuniforms were introduced throughout the armed forces, Paul and I designed a new model for the Haitian Coast Guard. We submitted a picture of Paul wearing the new outfit to the Coast Guard director, who forwarded it to the General Headquarters for its final approval. The new uniform was worn by the platoon, company, and battalion commanders of the Coast Guard, when participating in military parades along other military battalions.

During all those years at the direction of the Center, we resisted all government pressure for favoritism among the trainees. Because of the political environment, we were on the lookout as potential targets of the arbitrarypurges so frequent at the time.

Some of those who knew or worked with Captain Paul Bazin still refer to him as a "model officer". Our exile from the country was the result of well known political circumstances. We both had to start a second career abroad, which lasted several years. During those more than two decades, we kept in touch mostly on the telephone. Paul and I visited our respective families a few times in New York and in the Washington area. I always found him the same man, knowing that we had done our best to serve our country.

Captain Paul Bazin, my dear friend and colleague, you had a dignified life, and I salute you one more time with all the respect and appreciation due to someone of your character. Your sons Karl, Paul Jr., and Burt willbe proud of you.

Teddy Thomas

November 15, 2024