Story By Ian R. Lazarus, SO-PB, USCG Auxiliary, 114-01-01

SAN DIEGO – For most Coast Guard personnel, a conflict zone in sub–Saharan Africa feels a world away. But for one new recruit, it became the reason for him landing in the Coast Guard, stationed at Sector San Diego. Petty Officer 3rd Class Josue Longo arrived in San Diego in February after completing his training at the CG base in Virginia. Longo was just 13 years old when his family left Rwanda for the United States. His parents escaped what ranks among the worst genocides in modern times, where a minority of Tutsis, traditionally considered “elite,” were massacred by the Hutu majority.

“My dad saw the plane carrying the President blow up and go down in flames,” Longo said. That was the catalyst on April 6, 1994 that began with multiple assassinations of political figures, and for the next 100 days, extremists within the Hutu-led government slaughtered thousands of Tutsi men, women and children. Accounts differ on the exact number of fatalities, but conservative estimates start at nearly a half million, with an equal number of women subject to violent sexual assault. Historians still debate whether or not the genocide was planned out well in advance of the assassinations.

Longo’s family escaped into Congo where they remained until it was safe to return to their home in Rwanda. “Back in school and in the community, the war was not discussed in detail, and we were fed a biased version of events,” Longo recalls. “It wasn’t until I visited a museum that paid tribute to the victims that I learned the truth.”

In 2017, Longo’s family immigrated to the United States, leaving several relatives behind. Longo said that his mother dreams of returning to her homeland someday. Josue, on the other hand, sees his future with the U.S. Coast Guard where he is currently an Electrician’s Mate. “There is so much more opportunity in America,” he says. “I see myself not only completing my 4-year commitment, but going for the full twenty.”