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But overall the Grenada operation seemed to produce a new public pride in the military. It infused Veterans Day observances last week, and was evident as Army Rangers and some of the paratroopers returned from the Caribbean. "It's great to feel wanted," Ranger Sergeant Tracy Hickman told one reporter at Georgia's Hunter Army Airfield, contrasting the bitter homecoming from Viet Nam with last week's warm reception. A post-invasion poll taken by the Washington Post and ABC News showed that 63% of Americans approve the way Reagan is handling the presidency, the highest level in two years, and attributed his gain largely to the Grenada intervention.
While the Administration had gained wide public approval at home for its Grenada action, the question of how long the U.S. should maintain troops on the island was still open. The Administration had predicted quick withdrawal, stressing that the U.S. had no intention of occupying or imposing political decisions on the islanders. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said he expected U.S. troops to be off the island by Christmas. Scoon and many Grenadians familiar with the island's factional politics warned the visiting Congressmen that U.S. forces should stay far longer to ensure stability.
An ironic problem for the Americans is that many of the Marxist-inspired social projects were welcomed by Grenadians, who now expect the U.S. to continue them with U.S. dollars. They include medical clinics, adult-education courses, scholarships for study abroad, housing assistance, an uncompleted new sports stadium and, of course, the controversial 10,000-ft. airstrip, which had been budgeted as a $71 million project. It is three-fourths completed.
One preliminary estimate of the cost of restoring Grenada's lagging economy and its basic physical facilities is $100 million. That is close to a third of the Administration's proposed spending for its entire Caribbean Basin Initiative. Concedes one U.S. Caribbean specialist: "Whatever we give here has to be matched in the neighboring island states. Otherwise they will draw the undesirable conclusion that the best way to receive U.S. aid is to turn Red and then be rescued."
While the Administration's Grenada venture had turned out a popular success, the Government's information apparatus was still in some disarray. Last week, for example, State Department Spokesman John Hughes officially confirmed a rumor that a grave holding more than 100 bodies of Grenadians slain by Marxist forces in the "bloody Wednesday" massacre of Oct. 19 had been found on the island. Next day he had to admit there was no such discovery. U.S. military authorities later located a grave believed to have held the burned bodies of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and three Cabinet members slain with him in the coup.