30.6 C
Belize City
Thursday, March 28, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

The man who wore KHAKI (a book commentary)

FeaturesThe man who wore KHAKI (a book commentary)

The book, The man who wore KHAKI, is written by an adoring daughter to make sure her father’s contributions and place in Belize are not passed over. It could have been a biased book. It is not. The man who wore KHAKI, Sir Alexander Albert “Sandy” Hunter (or AA Hunter), is deserving of the recognition, and now he will be remembered and revered by all for his outstanding work for our country.

Lita Hunter Krohn, the author, is an accomplished scholar who has been producing some serious and exciting historical pieces about Belize and our region for many years. Most of us are familiar with the books, Readings in Belizean History 1 & 2, and Belizean Studies. Lita Hunter Krohn was a major force behind those publications, both as editor and contributor. When we read AA Hunter’s story, we learn wherefrom his daughter got her passion for things Belize — present, past, and long past.

The man who wore KHAKI is a rather concise sketch of AA Hunter’s life, and the outstanding people and events of his time. There is no waste of words — the book is only 128 pages — but it is packed from beginning to end with stories, anecdotes, citations that help explain about AA Hunter in those formative years, when our country was just starting on the road to nationhood. His is a fascinating, highly encouraging story.

Briefly, Sir Alexander Hunter was born in 1920, into a privileged family, and while he did not spit out the silver spoon he entered this world with, his privilege did not prevent him from having soul. He entered politics because he cared. His labors bore great fruit, but he did not take from the harvest as if he was more deserving because of his leadership position.

AA Hunter’s first career choice was in the medical field, but his mission got derailed by adverse economic conditions in Belize. He joined the allied forces and fought in WWII. The horrors of that war would haunt him, and maybe was the cause of his struggles with alcohol during his lifetime. After the war he went to work in Costa Rica, where he met and married Araceli Marin. He returned to Belize in 1947, to take up a post left vacant by his brother who had died in a tragic diving accident.

He was the star witness for the defense when George Price was tried for sedition. He later joined the PUP, was successful in three successive elections, and served at the head of various ministries. He was not a devotee of the 12-families capitalism that dominated in certain areas of Central America. He fought for fisher-folk, so they got the price they deserved for their products; he fought for small farmers, especially in the sugarcane belt, so they owned the lands they farmed on; and he fought for transformative legislation such as The Rural Land Utilization Tax (1966) and the Alien Landholding Ordinance (1973).

Sir Alexander Hunter epitomized the kind of virtues we hope for in our leaders. As the Amandala publisher noted some time after his passing, he was from the “old school…from the Belize where honesty, bravery, loyalty, and manliness were cherished values.” Those of us who were not aware of his greatness, all he did to serve his and our country, are grateful to his daughter for her book. Thanks to her, the story of the dedicated service of the man who wore KHAKI will be remembered and revered forever.

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International