officer in Guantanamo, Capt. Mark J. Campbell, was the last Coast Guardsman to live there with his wife and three children from 1993 to 1995. After he left, the house was converted to a museum. Unfortunately, the building went unused for several years. In 2012, members of Maritime Safety and Security Team 91109 from San Diego refurbished the lighthouse portion of the historical landmark, cleaning and painting it. Since then, many Coast Guardsmen have continued to maintain the area, and the keeper’s quarters have become a cultural center. In 2019, Port Security Unit 301 arrived in Guantanamo Bay. Eager to preserve a part of Coast Guard history, we turned our attention to improving the lighthouse and adjoining structures. During our time in Guantanamo Bay, we logged about 100 hours restoring and making improvements on the lighthouse museum and reception area. We refurbished and reframed existing old pictures and accessed newer historical pictures. We also painted, repaired and maintained some of the existing buildings. Editor’s note: Petty Officer 1st Class Kinane continues work on his masters in maritime history at SUNY Maritime College. Encouraged by his program advisor, Dr. John Rocco, researching Windward Light has become part of Kinane’s capstone project. He also reached out to Dr. Edwin Nieves, a Coast Guard Auxiliarist who specializes in the Coast Guard’s history in the Caribbean. The following is an excerpt of two oral interviews conducted in March 2021 regarding the maintenance and improvement of the grounds. EN: When was the first time you took an interest in the lighthouse; how did you get involved with that? SK: Before I went to Guantanamo, I thought I should get into Graduate Studies at SUNY School of Maritime Studies in New York. I just love history, and the Coast Guard has great history. Being in Guantanamo, I wanted to use my time productively, and there are a lot of volunteering opportunities [including the lighthouse]. Anyone who has been there knows it’s a very special place. So we said to ourselves, “This is a Coast Guard lighthouse—we’ve got to preserve some of our history here.” EN: Can you describe the inside of the lighthouse? JF: Yes. The lighthouse has a [metal] spiral staircase which leads all the way to the top of the light itself. The inside is also metal (painted white) with visible rivets all over the wall. EN: Can you describe the quarters? JF: The lighthouse and the quarters are located on the windward side of the bay. The quarters are a small rectangular white building equivalent in size to a small house. It has two enclosed hallway areas with several windows located on both ends of the building structure, which were once used as porches (which are now enclosed). As you walk in the main entrance (which is the one of these enclosed porches), there are two doorways that open up to two rooms on either side, and then there is a hallway, preceded by a bathroom, and there are three additional rooms. Making your way towards the back of the quarters, there is the second enclosed porch area at the back end. EN: What was the state of the building when you became interested in it for the first time? SK: The lighthouse and buildings were actually restored by the Coast Guard… the Maritime Security Detachment from San Diego in 2012. The lighthouse was in pretty decent condition; they had renovated and painted the place. EN: What did you do to enhance the appearance of the museum and quarters? SK: We added photos of the lighthouse, some from 1914 I found in the National Archives. We had some newer ones, so people can get an idea of its progression, how it changed… at the turn of the century and through the years. We also added some photos of the lighthouse service so people understand how and why the lighthouse got there. We put labels on some of the photos that where already there. We managed to find some rustic looking frames at the Navy Exchange just to… make look more authentic and nice and give it an older feel. Like I said, we wanted to make it look like a museum, taking you back in time. JF: We added a fresh look with a wooden placard of the Coast Guard with the Coast Guard racing stripe and the branding on it. The pictures followed the timeline to give it a theme. Like Kinane said, we tried to enhance the look of it, give it more of a new and updated look to the Museum. EN: About how many hours would you say you put into this project? JF: We worked on our days off…we put in about 100 hours… Kinane did the historical research, and I took some art in college, so it gave me the opportunity to give an artistic look to the picture frames and how they were set up. Overall, I think it came out well. . Issue 2 • 2021 . RESERVIST 31
