RBDF Holds Annual Flamingo Memorial Service

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Described as “regrettable confusion” on this day in history, Her Majesty’s Bahamian ship “Flamingo” was sunk by Cuban military jet fighters in 1980 claiming the lives of four defense force officers and leaving a trail of trauma for the survivors.

The dreadful event shook our newly independent nation and left families broken. Now forty five years later we pay homage to those lost.

Our Denielle Miller reports.

It was a morning of remembrance at the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base as officials and members of our armed forces gathered on the forty fifth anniversary of Her Majesty’s Bahamian Flamingo tragedy.

In 1980, the Flamingo came under fire by cuban military jet fighters – fifteen of the nineteen marines made it out alive.

Recorded as one of the most catastrophic events in our country’s history, at today’s ceremony, sat a few of the resilient survivors of The Flamingo and relatives of the four fallen soldiers.

The memorial concluded with a wreath laying ceremony at the Flamingo Memorial Monument and at sea in honor of the unforgotten heros.