Impressions of Leopoldville, Congo

The Congo was, it was a new experience I guess for any young soldier that went there because you were surrounded by jungle and yet in the city, Leopoldville, at that time was probably the largest city in Africa, over a million people. I mean it was a modern, concrete building, you know, a city. It was beautiful. But by the time I got there you could already see the jungle coming in on it because these people they didn’t, they were the servants of the Belgiques and they served them well and as long as they did. They got a little job. You cut the lawn. You serve the drinks. You make the meals you know, and they taught them how to do these things and the Belgiques lived like literally royalty. But when they kicked them out at that point they sat in the chairs that the Belgiques had sat in and wondered why they weren’t having [inaudible] and why their grass wasn’t being cut.