Obama in 1980 said he was born in Mombasa, Kenya

Dec. 3, 2009

The Post & E-Mail

by John Charlton

Race Bannon, U.S. Marine 

(Dec. 3, 2009) — The stunning admission was made to a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, in a chance meeting in the vicinity of Kalakaua Blvd., one evening in early August of 1980.

The now, former Marine is a highly respected member of the Free-Republic online-community, and he has published the account of his personal meeting with the then Barry Soetero online at the Gathering of the Eagles Blog. After the divorce of Barry’s mother from his adopted father, Lolo Soetero, he began using the name “Barack Hussein Obama,” by which he is knows the world over, today. At the Free Republic, the ex-Marine goes by the name Race Bannon.

The crucial part of his testimony regards what he writes in his essay, “Another crappy day in paradise, or The things you see when you ain’t got a gun.” Speaking of his encounter with Soetero, Bannon writes:

He also told me something that I never forgot, for it caused me to do some other things in an effort to be nice to him and possibly a favor. We spoke of where I had been and the world as I saw it. I told him I had been to Africa , Mombassa specifically, and he said to me abruptly, “I was born there.” I told him he is not eligible to be president if that was true, but I remembered he said his mom was an American, so, maybe it was okay. But it was what I did after that makes this a true memory:  I went back to the barracks and told others of this guy and suggested we all grab our photo albums and visit him again and show him pictures of Mombassa so he could see where he was from.

No one wanted to go, and at that time, my camera had failed me weeks before we hit Mombassa and it was late August or early September until I had borrowed someone else’s pictures to develop myself so I had copies of where I was.  But I never forgot meeting that man for those reasons. I  was going to do him a favor and show him his home country of birth. And I never went back for some reason, most likely I forgot to or just felt that a one time chance encounter would be meaningless to both of us and didn’t mean we were friends.

Bannon then closes his testimonial with the following observation:

In the light of what is called “The Birther” movement, these memories are still foremost in my mind concerning this. While I cannot swear it was Barak Obama, all the details I do remember of that chance encounter fit the profile of the man who some people claim is born in Kenya and others claim he was born in Hawaii . The man I met was about 18, thin, Mulatto, told me he was born in Mombassa, raised overseas, was living in Hawaii and hadn’t yet been to many places in the world outside of those places, mostly, hadn’t been to the mainland of America for any long time period if at all. And he openly told me he wanted to be President.

And I remember that face, the face of a young man who sat on a table to my right front, his hands resting on the edge of the table, him leaning forward, his smile, all teeth. It was Barak Obama. I don’t know if I’d bet my life on it, but I am willing to tell people openly at the risk of my ridicule. I was there, and saw him, spoke to him, and he openly told me he was born in Mombassa, Kenya, not Hawaii .

Does it matter? Of course it does. It should not have to be explained as to why it matters.

Race Bannon’s testimony is corroborative of that of two witnesses to the uncut version of the Obama vs. Keyes Senatorial Debates of 2004.  The first and second testimonials of which can bre read at The Post & Email.  Five African News Agencies also reported that Obama was born in Kenya.

A discussion of Bannon’s testimony can be found at Free Republic, repleate with comments by the Marine himself and other photos of himself, from his time in the U.S. Marines.

Finally, The Post & Email has employed the modern spelling of Mombasa; but Bannon has used the former spelling.