[Granville-Hough] 22 Jan 2010 - Classmate Tachito Somoza

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:32:25 -0800
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Classmate Tachito Somoza - 22 Jan 2010

    I had a high regard for most of my classmates in the class of 1946 
at West Point, but not for Anastasio "Tachita" Somoza-Debayle.  As a 
Cadet he was arrogant and belligerent, and the underground rumors were 
that he had been caught lying about some action or activity in his first 
year.  The Honor Committee began an investigation, and Tachita 
immediately appealed for help from the Nicaraguan Embassy in 
Washington.  The Embassy contacted Anastasio, Sr, President of 
Nicaragua, who called President Roosevelt and threatened to cut off all 
WW II support of the United States by Nicaragua if his son were expelled 
from West Point.  To President Roosevelt, this was too high a price to 
pay to uphold the West Point honor code, so he passed the word to squash 
the investigation and forget it ever happened.  So this was an 
impression we carried through our three years with Tachita Somoza.  On 
graduation day, as soon as ceremonies were over, Tachita appeared in a 
Major's uniform of the Nicaraguan Army, and all us Second Lieutenants, 
U. S. Army, had to salute him.  Soon after graduation, he became head of 
the Nicaraguan National Guard.  Of course, he was the first classmate to 
become a General, and the only one to become President of his country.
    My next contact with Tachita was while he was a General, and he was 
passing through the Panama Canal from the Pacific side to the Atlantic 
side. This was probably in 1951.  It was customary to fire a salute for 
any head of a foreign government which passed through the Canal.  I was 
a battery commander, and it just happened to be my turn to do the 
honors.  I had followed Tachita's career through "The Christian Science 
Monitor," and the local Panamanian newspaper.  I believed he was 
crooked, through and through, and told my Battalion Commander what I 
thought.  I asked to be relieved as I considered it a disgrace for the 
United States to honor this character.  Fortunately, Capt and Classmate 
Fred Hickey was next in line to do the salutes, and he did not know 
Tachita at the Academy.  He fired the salute, and did it very well.
    It was about this time that Tachita began attending the annual Class 
Reunions.  He became quite popular and docked his personal yacht in the 
Hudson River near enough to hold class parties aboard.  He also worked 
out guided tours of Nicaragua for classmates who wanted to see what he 
was doing.  He developed a backlog of support among our classmates.  As 
I never attended a Class Reunion, I missed all this action.
    My next contact was at Fort Bliss about 1958.  All members of our 
class then stationed at Fort Bliss were ordered to attend a reception in 
formal attire.  I decided not to make an issue of it at this time.  
Tachita had a big following among conservative Republicans and John 
Birchers in my class.  I attended the event as a Captain, spoke briefly 
to Tachita, and left as soon as it was convenient to do so.  Later, he 
was elected President of Nicaragua, and he held power until the 
Sandinistas took over  In his regime, he dealt ruthlessly with 
opposition.  By the late 1970s his regime was denounced by human-rights 
organizations and by the U. S. government, and support for violent 
insurrection spread.  Tachita fled Nicaragua on the eve of the 
revolutionary victory in 1979.  He was assassinated in Paraguay. 
    Anastasio "Tachita" Somoza Debayle (5 Dec 1925, Leon, Nicaragua - 17 
Sep 1980, Asuncion, Paraguay.)
    May he and his victims rest in peace!  Granville W. Hough, Classmate.