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Col. Kesner Blain.
April 21, 1920 - February 17, 1976.
He
graduated from the Haitian Military School in September
1945. In 1950 he was Adjutant of the Military Department
in the South of Haiti. From there he went to several
other military quarters - such as La Gonave, Les Cayes,
Aquin. Ouanaminthe, L’Artibonite - Cap Haitian
in 1953, and Gonaives in 1954. Bainet, Jeremie, Port
de Paix in 1955-57.
In
1957 he was at the Police Department of Port au Prince
and shortly thereafter at the district of Petion Ville.
In 1958 he became Commandant of the Penitentiary National.
Defending the Duvalier government, he almost lost his
life during the Casernes Dessalines’ takeover
by the former army lieutenants Alix Pasquet, Philipe
Dominique, and Henry Perpignan on July 29, 1958, assisted
by seven recruited American fighters.
Major
Blain was severely wounded during the attack. Promoted
to Lt. Colonel he became commandant of the Military
Dept of the North in 1961. In 1963 he was promoted to
Colonel. In 1966 he was put in charge of the Army Warehouse.He
later became member of the Army Headquarters, G1 until
he was arrested at his residence on April 3, 1970, several
days before the Cayard Affair erupted. He was court-martialed
in Casernes Dessalines’ barrack and |
condemned
on March 3, 1971 to the death penalty for his implication
in the Colonel Cayard Affair. He was sent to Fort Dimanche
with several other members of the Police Headquarters
also condemned to death, among them Sgt. Douyon, Cpl.
Melenas, and Sgt Cajuste. Several civilians were also
implica-ted and sent to Fort Dimanche: Marcel Laforet,
Guy Vaval, Fernand Prosper, among others.
Their
sentence was reduced in 1972 to 10 years of imprisonment,
which in fact had no meaning because it would have been
impossible to live that long in Fort Dimanche. During
his incarceration Colonel Blain earned the respect of
his cellmates and the entire prison population for refusing
any favors from the jailer Adjutant Enos Saint Pierre
(Plop Plop).
He
insisted upon being treated just like any other prisoner
even when the prison conditions were taking their toll
on him. He made several attempts requesting medical
assistance or food for his cellmates. He died on February
17, 1976 in cell 3. The prisoners of the nine other
cells paid respect to his memory by holding long prayer
sessions for the repose of his soul.
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Col.
Kesner Blain photo and some historical facts were taken
from the book "Dictionnaire Biographique des Person-nalités
Politiques de la République d'Haïti "
by Daniel Supplice. |
