“The line in the sand”...

Many years ago (like 1977, I am 19 years old) I recall an incident in the U.S. Coast Guard where I almost killed some people.  We had busted a Colombian large steel hulled fishing boat (about 80 feet) with 20 tons on marijuana on it.  We were in the Caribbean Sea, cannot remember where.  The boat has about a dozen Colombian crew members.  Problem was it was over Thanksgiving Holiday.  When we busted a vessel on the high seas from another country, we had to wait for the U.S. State Department to approve the seizure.  Usually, this was no problem and was done quickly but because of the Thanksgiving Holiday was had to wait (for days).

I was on the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless (210 foot) and in uniform.  All this before Special Agent days.  So where was the Colombian crew?  Because of the delay from the State Department we kept the crew on the fantail area of the boat.  Me and one other Coast Guardsmen stood guard over them.  The DAUNTLESS was usually less than a mile away.  I had a Remington 870 pump 12-gauge shotgun and ,45 automatic pistol.  We did well watching them, at least I thought.  They cooked and cut up meat with knives and stuff, but I always had my .45 trained on whoever had the knife and no one did anything threatening.  It went like this for days.

One night at about 2am some of them got up.  Standing and moving around.  Then over a short time they all got up.  My partner was asleep.  I got kind of freaked out by this.  Why would they all get up in the middle of the night.  Obviously, my conclusions were not good.  We were going to die.  There was a weld line on the rear deck that went across the entire vessel.  I stood up, not knowing they would understand me in English, but I yelled out, “anyone who crosses this line will die.”  At the same time, I racked a live round in the Remington 870, a sound that could be clearly heard.  It didn’t have an immediate effect, over the next few minutes some of them looked at me and could tell I meant what I said.  Within about 3 or 4 minutes they all started sitting or lying back down.

Did I save our lives?  I think I did, for real.  Would I have really killed some of them.  Without any doubt, maybe all of them.

I drew a line in the sand.  Where was the line in the sand for the U.S. Capital?  It is unfortunate a woman got killed but why was it only one?  It should have been many.  Anyone who crossed the line in the sand.  Where was that line?  It is a different location, but the threat was the same.  Was there a line in the sand?