When Richard Vinroot arrived last September at Camp Lemonnier, a small U.S. military installation in Djbouti, on the east coast of Africa, he quickly found out that being a North Carolina alumnus was a powerful connection in that part of the world.
“When I got here, people said the executive officer, Commander Williams, will really like you when he finds out you’re a Carolina grad,” said Vinroot, an emergency doctor and the son of the former Charlotte mayor of the same name. “I hunted him down right away.”
On Saturday, Vinroot will be part of a Tar Heels contingent gathering late that night – Djibouti is eight hours ahead – in the base’s wardroom, its main social venue, to watch North Carolina take on N.