My life in Haiti was a very pleasant one. We had a house full of servants with one assigned to me as a "nanny". I was well on the way to getting spoiled. My wife says to this day that it rubbed off on me and I still think I am in Haiti in some respects.

Nothing more was mentioned to me about being adopted and it seems that my "adoptive parents" did not wish to discuss the matter. It was ultimately placed on the back burner and the years went by with no further references made about it.

The incident was etched in my mind and as I reached my teens I began to think more and more about the "mystery" of adoption.

My adoptive parents were from Louisiana and Illinois and this is where I spent the better part of my high school years, first in one state and then the other, graduating high school in Louisiana, going on to Louisiana State University for summer school in June of 1941, and then back down to Haiti.

I celebrated my 18th birthday in Port au Prince on December 6th, 1941 and woke up the next morning hearing that Pearl Harbor had just been attacked. I was back in the States for January 1942, and joined the Marine Corps in March of 1942. I was then off to boot camp and then two separate tours of the South Pacific, the first to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in August of 1942 and back to the states for some R & R, regrouping and then back to the Pacific again for almost 2 years.

During all this time I never forgot that I was adopted and vowed that if I survived the war I would one day make an effort to find out who my "biological parents" were. I met my wife to be while I was in the service when I was home on leave about a year before my discharge in October of 1945. We were married in November of 1945.

For many years after, we stayed busy raising three children and I did not have time nor the particular desire to begin any search as I had vowed to do. My relationship with my parents was somewhat strained, although we visited from time to time. I decided that it was time to make a concerted effort to approach them on the subject of my adoption. I did not wish to hurt them, but my need to know weighed heavily on my mind. I had more need to know than before and I felt that my reasons were valid...

1. I had 3 children and I wanted them to be aware of their true heritage
2. More importantly what is the medical background of the family.

I did not know my medical background and for years could not answer questions about it at all. I had no known birth certificate and had to use my baptismal certificate instead. I wanted my son and two daughters to know where they stood medically and if there were some medical problems within my biological family that they needed to be aware of.

My request for information fell on deaf ears. I was told only that they got me out of an orphanage when I was about nine months old and brought me to Haiti. They provided no further information. At this time we became more distant and communicated very little over the next few years, and although I became more bitter in my attitude toward them, particularly my father, I decided that as long as they were living I would not bring up the subject again and that I would not actively pursue the search for my biological parents until after they were gone.

Part Three of Bob's Story...

Some Bazet Family Photos


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