The day the U.S. Army
occupied Arthurs Bakery
by Robert Arthur
In the wake of Hurricane Andrew's devastation in 1992, Arthur's
Bakery had the only functioning kitchen, and we were scurrying to
get all the island's food into our freezers before things began
to spoil. My wife Anna had insisted we install a backup generator.
We were feeding the entire island out of our kitchen, sleeping in
2-hour shifts.
Help arrives
The first outside aid we received was from a Royal Navy ship that
happened to be passing. The morning after the storm, the ship appeared
on the horizon and soon was dispatching seamen all over the island
to help restore power, roads, and roofs.
The following day eight armed, fully uniformed American soldiers
entered the bakery, and the one in charge asked to see the proprietor.
For a moment I thought we were being occupied. But then he plunked
down the contract. The Army had set up its own kitchen on the grounds
of the All-Ages School to feed their soldiers, but they wanted us
to provide them with bread. The contract weighed 5 lbs and specified
things like the size of loaves and type of pans. Another officer
decided we could let some of those details slide.
Champagne relief
Meanwhile we were getting along great with the Brits who were outdoing
themselves to get everything in as good a shape as possible. We
figured it was important to get some of the amenities functioning
as well as the necessities, so I hinted to a yeoman that a case
of champagne was hidden at the destroyed beach steps next to the
Ocean View Hotel. By early afternoon the workers had built a fancy
set of steps with a landing and railing. And the hotel owners came
up with that case of champagne.
We were feeding the British sailors full meals, and we had some
pretty good stuff: everything from all the hotel kitchens, steak,
lobster, crawfish; everything was going into our stew pots. Anna
came up with some of her most creative recipes. We were feeding
other countries' aid workers as well. Jamaica and Guyana sent ships
with men to assist.
Biggest truck we'd ever seen
Word spread, and the Americans must have decided they were missing
out. One day a huge flatbed pulled up in front of the bakery. No
one had ever seen a truck that big on this island! The Americans
were bringing us their MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat. But they wanted
some of our food.
The contract? No problem. This time, the Army did all the paperwork
for us. "Don't worry about it", they said.
And that's how I became custodian of several thousand unused MREs.
I've still got some. Curious tourists sometimes beg to try them.
And my family still takes them on beach picinics occasionally. The
ones with hot sauce and M&Ms are our favorites.
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