Jeremy+and+Colin

Questions intro. This is Chet Habowski. He was born May 27, 1944. He served in the vietnam war in the navy. His highest rank was e-5. The interviewers are Colin Baker and Jeremy Habowski and this is jeremy’s grandpa. The interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the library of congress.


 * 1) Did you have any siblings?
 * 2) How many?
 * 3) What did your parents do when you were a kid?
 * 4) Since your dad was a coal miner did you ever want to be a coal miner?
 * 5) Why?
 * 6) How was growing up back then different from the way that kids are growing up today?
 * 7) Did you graduate from college before you served?
 * 8) From where?
 * 9) When?
 * 10) What did you major in?
 * 11) What type of degree?
 * 12) Did any of your siblings or parents also serve in the military?
 * 13) Did they serve with you?
 * 14) What branch of the military were they in?
 * 15) Did any of your friends enlist with you?
 * 16) Who?
 * 17) Were you in the same unit?
 * 18) Why did you enlist?
 * 19) What did your parents think of you enlisting?
 * 20) Why did you decide to join the Navy?
 * 21) How did you feel after you enlisted?
 * 22) Where did you attend basic training?
 * 23) What was the climate like there?
 * 24) Can you recall any specific memories from boot camp?
 * 25) How long was basic training
 * 26) were you issued a firearm?
 * 27) what was it?
 * 28) Where did you attend specialized training?
 * 29) Why did you decide to become a fire control technician?
 * 30) As a fire control technician what did you do?
 * 31) What type of vessel did you work on?
 * 32) Why did you call a destroyer a “tin can”?
 * 33) When you were on the Troop Transport ship did you ever see the marines go ashore?
 * 34) Do you wish you could have?
 * 35) As a fire control technician what was an average day like for you?
 * 36) Was it a hard job?
 * 37) Where did you serve?
 * 38) Where did you depart from?
 * 39) Did you feel like you were serving a purpose “over there”?
 * 40) Were you ever in an active combat zone?
 * 41) What was it like?
 * 42) did any of your friends get injured or killed?
 * 43) Did you take part in any campaigns or missions?
 * 44) What was the purpose of that campaign?
 * 45) Did you make any friends when you were in the military?
 * 46) Did you communicate with friends or family when you were overseas?
 * 47) How often did you contact them?
 * 48) Did the army ever supply you with paper or pencils, or did you have to buy them?
 * 49) From where? or how often?
 * 50) Were you excited to come home?
 * 51) When you got home how were you treated?
 * 52) If the protesters would have served do you believe that their view would have changed about the war? How?
 * 53) Was your family excited to see you again?
 * 54) Was it difficult to readjust to civilian life?
 * 55) After you were done serving did the habits you developed in the military stick with you in civilian life?
 * 56) How was military life different from civilian life?
 * 57) If you could would you serve again?
 * 58) Why? (or why not?)
 * 59) do you believe that after you served that you were more patriotic.

Navy Petty Officer First Class Chet H. Habowski By: Colin and Jeremy

Our veteran’s name is Mr. Chet Habowski. He was born in Shamokin on May 27, 1944. He enlisted in the Navy in 1962 and served until 1967. During this period he served in the Vietnam war. One battle or campaign he was in was the Cambodian Campaign. His job in the Navy was to be a fire control technician. Being in the Navy in Vietnam was a hard thing to do, but Mr. Habowski did it anyway. Vietnam was a conflict in Southeast Asia that lasted for a long time. The United States entered the war to stop the spread of communism into South Vietnam(summary of Vietnam). American troops were authorized to fire back if fired upon in 1959, and in 1969, the US deployed up to 543,000 combat troops(US entering Vietnam). During the conflict, 1,631 Navy sailors were killed in action in the Vietnam war(History.navy). Over one million Vietnamese soldiers and 50,000 Americans were killed. Over two million civilians were also killed (Overall deaths). As a fire control technician, he was in charge of fixing the radar systems that the guided missiles used (navy.net). The main guided missile used in the vietnam war was the RIM-66A/B. This missile used a semi active radar homing system to guide it. It was a medium ranged version of the standard missile (guided missiles). While he was in the Navy, Mr. Habowski earned the rank of E-5. E-5 in the Navy is a petty officer 2nd class(military factory). One of the medals he earned would be the marksmanship medal. The traditional marksmanship medal that the Navy had was discontinued in 1960. However, the replacement medal had two variations. The rifle and pistol test. To earn this he had to show exceptional skill with each weapon. The Cambodian campaign was an invasion of Cambodia. After the Cambodian campaign, the US captured large amounts of communist supplies, Ammunition, and materials from the Cambodian Civil War. During the Vietnam War and Cambodian campaign, the most commonly associated gun with US troops was an M-16A1. The CAR-15 was very popular with special ops troops, but was rarely used in the front lines (Special Ops Weapon). In all services of the Vietnam war, 12,000 helicopters saw action (helicopter facts). One of these helicopters that was commonly used was the AH-1 Little Bird. The AH–1 Cobra was being developed during Vietnam War in 1965 (AH-1 Cobra Helicopter). The AH-1 was mainly used as a light attack helicopter (AH-1 Cobra Helicopter 2). Out of the 91% of Vietnam veterans who were glad they served, 74% said they would serve again even knowing the outcome(Statistics 1). Of the 91% and 74%, Mr. Habowski claimed he was glad he served and that he would serve again. The life of a soldier was fairly rough but easy too. Basic training took only nine weeks. In their C rations they received cigarettes and matches along with their basic food (fun trivia rations).

__//** Transcript **//__

Colin: This is Chet Habowski. He was born May 27, 1944. He served in the Vietnam war in the Navy. His Highest Rank was E-5. The interviewers are Colin Baker and Jeremy Habowski and this is Jeremy’s grandpa. The interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.

Jeremy: Did you have any siblings?

Mr. Habowski: Yes I had five brothers and sisters. One of my sisters is deceased, she died when she was one year old, she had no esophagus and she had trouble breathing and she died because her flap wouldn’t close. I have two brothers and two sisters that are living. I am the oldest of my family.

Jeremy: and what did your parents do as you were a kid?

Mr. Habowski: What did my parents do?

Jeremy: When you were a kid.

Mr. Habowski: My mother worked in a sewing factory and my father worked in a coal mine, him and his brothers, of which there were four brothers, they owned the coal mine, but they were all employees and workers of the mine.

Jeremy: Since your dad was a coal miner, did you want to be a coal miner?

Mr. Habowski: No, I actually worked for three summers when school would be out when I was 15, 16, and oh I’m sorry, 14, 15, and 16. I worked in the summers in the coal mine with my dad and his uncles. And just those three months would make you not really want to be a coal miner. It was very, very hard work.

Jeremy: and how was growing up back then, different from today?

Mr. Habowski: Well, back then you know like on a Saturday when school was out you went outside at nine in the morning and you started playing and you came home at nine at night except to come home for a sandwich every now and then. We didn’t sit around the house. We didn’t watch TV. Nobody really had TVs. Every now and then some family on the block might have a TV and you’d watch a show with them but we didn’t have computer games and we didn’t have all these games and people were poor okay. But you really didn’t know you were poor because everybody else was the same. You know so we spent a lot of time playing with each other outside as kids.

Jeremy: and did you graduate from college before you served?

Mr. Habowski: No I joined the Navy right out of high school okay, and after I got out of the Navy, I got a job with General Electric company in Philadelphia and I worked at Philly, and then I went to college in the nights after work at Temple University. I went for five and a half years and I wouldn’t go home. I would just get on the trolley and then drive down to Temple, get to my classes and then I’d get home at ten o’clock at night, and then I’d wake up, go to work at six in the morning, get home at ten at night. So I got my degree while I was still working.

Jeremy: And do you remember when you got your degree?

Mr. Habowski: Yeah, it was from the end of September 1967 to 1971.

Jeremy: And then what did you major in?

Mr. Habowski: Electrical engineering. And the reason I picked electrical engineering was because of my training and my schooling in the military was all in electronics.

Jeremy: Did any of your siblings or parents serve in the military?

Mr. Habowski: Yes my father was in the Navy. My brother was in the Navy, my other brother was in the Navy, in which one of them stayed 23 years. I have three nephews that were all in the Navy so its sort of a Navy family It was sort of a thing to join the Navy.

Jeremy: And then did any of them serve with you?

Mr. Habowski: No, you know, serving in the military with a sibling is not allowed okay, I don’t know, did you know that? Years ago there were brothers that served together on a ship and ship was bombed and all three, I believe it was three brothers were killed and they had to report that to the family, so since that happened, they changed the laws and wouldn’t let family members be together incase there was a bomb or explosion or someone got killed they wouldn’t destroy the whole family. So that pertains to all branches of the military.

Colin: Did any of your friends enlist with you?

Mr. Habowski: Yes, we had six from the local high schools, and we all knew each other and we all joined and went together and we were in boot camp together, and we became very good friends and we to this day are still very good friends. And out of the six, two of us after boot camp, stayed together and went to electronic schools and special training. We’re still very best friends.

Colin: Were you guys in the same unit?

Mr. Habowski: He was an electronics technician, and I was a fire control technician and we were in the same base and the same area in great Lakes, but he went to different classes than I did.

Colin: Why did you enlist?

Mr. Habowski: Well at the time you know I am from upstate Pennsylvania and there was no work up there, you either had to be a coalminer, a priest, or a state policemen, or join the service and I don’t think I wanted to be a priest or a state policemen and I knew I didn’t want to be a coalminer so I chose the Navy.

Colin: What did your parents think of you enlisting?

Mr. Habowski: My father was not too excited about me enlisting. He was in the military, and he was in World War II and he didn’t like the idea of it, and he wanted me to stay home with him and work with him in the mines. And my mother was upset, but she knew that was the best thing for me. And at the time I wasn’t old enough to join, I was only 17 and you had to be 18 and you had to get your permission from your parents signature to join when you were 17 years old and my mother ended up signing it for me.

Colin: Why did you decide to join the Navy instead of any other branch?

Mr. Habowski: Like I said a little earlier, it was a Navy family, everyone in the family, aunts, uncles, well, not aunts but uncles brothers and sisters everyone.

Colin: How did you feel after you enlisted?

Mr. Habowski: Good. I enjoyed the getting together with guys and bonding as a unit and studying together and going through all the aerobics together and the boot camp action together and marching and drilling. It was actually fun when you look back at it, but while you were there, it didn’t seem like too much fun.

Colin: Where did you attend basic training?

Mr. Habowski: Great Lakes, Illinois.

Colin: What was the climate like there?

Mr. Habowski: It was in the summer and spring like it is here in Pennsylvania but in the winters it was very cold and lots of snow.

Colin: Can you recall any specific memories from boot camp?

Mr. Habowski: Well you know all the, boot camp was difficult. It was all about cleanliness. They taught you to clean. You get up. You take care of yourself. You brush your teeth. You shower. You wash your clothes. You fold your clothes. You make your bed. Everything had to be spick and span and perfect and there was a lot of emphasis put on that, and I remember some of the guys in our camp that weren’t in too good of a cleanliness mode, and it was depending on the rest of the people to take care of them and shape them up and scrub them and things like that.

Jeremy: How long was your basic training?

Mr. Habowski: My basic training was supposed to be nine weeks, but at the time, the war was really getting going so what they did was they kept us an extra four weeks to give us additional training for the ones that might end up going over in the actual battle.

Jeremy: During basic training, were you issued a firearm for the Navy?

Mr. Habowski: Well yeah. We all had our rifles okay. There were no pistols even though you did get issued a pistol for the firing range for shooting, but we all had our rifles and they were numbered and you took care of it and cleaned it and that’s what you shot and marched with.

Jeremy: And then what rifle did you get?

Mr. Habowski: An M1. It was an M1.

Jeremy: and then did you also train specialized training at the Great Lakes Region?

Mr. Habowski: Yes, I had advanced training for radar repair for different gunnery systems, five inch guns, eight inch guns and missiles, so it was actually a 20 week school on repairing the different systems to make sure they functioned correctly.

Jeremy: And then why did you decide to become a fire control technician?

Mr. Habowski: Well, in boot camp, you had daily tests or weekly tests and they were in math, science, all these IQ type tests and they determined from your grades in these tests what you would be best suited for in the military and my grades came out that I would be best suited for the electronics field or something heavily involving math so there was either radar repair, radar man, electronics repair on general communications systems, or fire control repair on missiles and apparently my grade slid into the category of fire control technician.

Jeremy: and what did you do as a fire control technician?

Mr. Habowski: Well you know we took gunnery mounts keeping them clean, painted, sharp, the radars, antennas, the doplers, the power supplies, all the electronics and back then there was a lot of tubes. There aren’t a lot of tubes now, printer circuit boards, stuff like that. We had daily functions where we would go in and run our pumps to check to make sure the gear was clean and make sure the checkpoints had the right voltage amounts at each point, resistance amounts. All these different technical terms we had daily logs that we had to keep and keep record of what was happening everyday at every point and equipment, very interesting.

Jeremy: and then what type of vessel did you work on?

Mr. Habowski: I worked on two different vessels I worked on a, I forget what they called it there, amphibious assault ship transport. It was out of Norfolk Virginia, and I worked on a destroyer and our home base was in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, so I worked on two different ships, two different kinds of equipments in my career.

Jeremy: Did you ever nickname either of the vessels?

Mr. Habowski: Well this troop transport. No it was just called a troop transport really even though they called it an amphibious assault ship and the destroyer they were nicknamed, I didn’t call it anything. It was a common nickname in the service to call them tin cans because they were so small and fragile.

Jeremy: and then when you were on the troop transport ship did you ever see any of the marines go ashore?

Mr. Habowski: Yeah, we used to put them ashore quite often. There were drills about every three days where the ship go to an island or beach or whatever, and we would start the drills. They would call for the battle stations, and everybody would go to their battle stations and the marines would gear up the bosun's mates, the gunners mates and whoever else from the Navy, and sometimes fire control technicians would get in there with the squadron of marines and if there were a squad of six or eight or some of the boats landing would carry 60 to 80 marines and we would go and hit the beach and they’d go out, have their fun, get all wet, and come back on the ship. Two days later we’d do the same type of things to get very efficient at it.

Jeremy: And as a fire control technician, what was the average day like for you?

Mr. Habowski: Well, you’d wake up at six, you’d have breakfast, you’d muster, your squad would get together and take road call to make sure everyone was there, then you’d start your day around seven, seven-thirty, in the morning by running all your tests on the equipment, assigning people things to do for the day, make sure all the log books were checked every third day you had duty where you had to have a watch and go shore patrol or go ashore for the day or something like that, every third day you had that where you were on duty for a full 24 hours. A lot of times on the ship they have what they call and after watch and what that is these ships are guided and you know they’re up there like you see the captains up in the ships and driving the ships, and a lot of times what happens is in the war, these ships get attacked and that’s where they bomb and shoot to knock the steering out of the ship and every ship is equipped with after steering back here so you go back there you change the gears and you actually sit there and you control the ship and where it’s going to go from back there and that’s not a target of the enemies. Because they blew this up in here but you can still drive the ship from the back and that was the duty of gunnery department and we would also steer the ship encase of casualty.

Jeremy: And then was it a hard job?

Mr. Habowski: no, no it was not a hard job it was an interesting job it took a little while and it was hard to stay awake because a lot of times you’d be back there for midnight to four in the morning, it was your turn and if you heard that alarm go off you better be ready. So a lot of people would go back there and read and things like that.

Jeremy: Then do you remember where you served?

Mr. Habowski: Where I served? As far as?

Jeremy: areas or countries.

Mr. Habowski: oh gee, well yeah we were, my first ship was out of Hawaii, and that ship we served in the Subic bay and Philippians, Guam, up and down Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, and that whole area there. I was on that ship and my parents were in an automobile accident and they were killed. So they had to fly me home from the Philippines to Pearl Harbor, then to home. Then I came home and took care of everything, and that’s how I got on this other ship. And after everything was taken care of with my brothers and sisters, the burial was over I got transferred down to Virginia, so I could be closer to my family at home. They didn’t send me back over to the Pacific.

Jeremy: did you feel like you were serving a purpose when you were in the navy?

Mr. Habowski: well of course we all did. We joined, and we grew up real quick. I really believe that people should join the military before they even go to college because they will be more mature. There was a purpose why you were there. To serve your country in case of a war and we knew that when we joined.

Colin: were you ever in an active combat zone?

Mr. Habowski: No but the ship that I left ended up being in one.

Jeremy: was it sunk?

Mr. Habowski: no.

Colin: were any of your friends wounded or killed?

Mr. Habowski: one was on this ship here, the //Francis Marian//. And I had two of the gunner’s mates on the ship that I left in Hawaii killed. I wasn’t there but I looked it up on the ships reunions and they were listed as diseased during the war.

Colin: did you ever take part in any campaigns or missions?

Mr. Habowski: not in an active military zone.

Colin: did you communicate with friends or family when you were overseas?

Mr. Habowski: yes with girlfriends, brother, sister, aunts, we would write letters. In the beginning every three days, every week then after a while it would turn into every month. You know after a while the communications would get less and less.

Colin: did the navy ever supply you with paper or pencils or did you have to buy them?

Mr. Habowski: no, you bought all of your supplies, just like you bought all of your own clothing, after your initial issue of clothing during boot camp anything after that, you had to purchase on your own.

Colin: from where or how often did you buy them?

Mr. Habowski: as needed you know the supplies you would run out of them or people would steal them, sometimes you would lose them. The same with your clothing, whenever you needed it you bought it.

Colin: were you excited to come home?

Mr. Habowski: yes I was, when I was supposed to get out I was really looking forward to coming home. I was asked to reenlist and I thought about doing it, but I thought no I will try civilian life, so I was excited to come home and the week of my discharge supposed discharge to go home, I was extended because of the war. So I had to stay a longer time and that was sort of disappointing, but other than that yeah, I was very excited to go home.

Colin: when you got home how were you treated?

Mr. Habowski: I was treated well by my family, but you know at the time there were people that were hippies, flower girls, and people that were against the war and they sort of didn’t treat you too well as a military person. And it was sort of not too nice.

Colin: it the protesters would have served, do you believe that their view of the war would have changed?

Mr. Habowski: yeah I think so. I think you had to be in the military to understand the military and why they were there and even these protesters now what are they doing when they pledge allegiance to the flag, don’t they think of anything?

Colin: was your family excited to see you again?

Mr. Habowski: well my present wife and some of my friends were excited but my family was dead at the time. When I came home they were killed. But my brothers and sisters were all younger and yes.

Colin: was it difficult to readjust to civilian life?

Mr. Habowski: no, I had no problem. The hardest part was getting a job, and once you secured a job, you had to pay for your education, and life just went pretty good for me after that.

Colin: after you were done serving did the habits you developed in the military stick with you in civilian life?

Mr. Habowski: yeah a lot of them do, I mean like you get nice clean haircuts, brush your teeth in the morning, and you try to keep your room clean.

Colin: how was military life different form civilian life?

Mr. Habowski: it’s very much more structured. That’s the only way to say it.

Colin: if you could serve again would you?

Mr. Habowski: if I had to yes, I would, but I’m too old. But if our country called for it I’m sure that everybody who served would.

Colin: last question, do you believe after you served that you were more patriotic?

Mr. Habowski: yeah, you never thought about patriotism before you joined and even when you’re in there you don’t think of it too much. But when you get out of the military that’s when you think of it and how patriotic you should be.

Jeremy: and looking back are you glad that you served?

Mr. Habowski: yes!

Jeremy and Colin: thank you!

Mr. Habowski: thank you guys.

Jeremy: and you have a couple items here.

Mr. Habowski: that hat is from 1962. That’s old and my brother had it, and I didn’t even know he had it. This is a boot camp book. You can see some of the training that we went through shots that we had to get, the haircuts, the marching, and the drilling with the guns and I’m in quite a few of these pictures here. And how to tie knots on ships and how the radars worked.

CHET HABOWSKI Mr. Chet Habowski was born on May 27 1944 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. He had five brothers and sisters. One of his sisters died when she was one year old due to breathing problems. He has two brothers and two sisters that are still living. He was the oldest child. When he was a kid, their family was very poor, but he really didn’t notice it or mind it because everyone else was the same way. His mother worked in a sewing factory and his father owned a coal mine, but also worked in it. When he was 14, his dad made him work in the mine over the summer, and he also worked there for the next two summers. In those nine months, he had decided that he didn’t want to be a coal miner. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the navy. Some of his friends joined with him and trained with him. He enlisted because at time if you lived upstate there wasn’t any work available. You had to either be a coal miner or join the military. His father was in the navy and so were his two brothers and he said that’s why he decided to join the navy. However, his father wasn’t too excited that he joined the service. His mother was also upset, but she knew that it was the best option he had. After he enlisted he said that he enjoyed training now that he looked back on it but at the time he thought it wasn’t fun. He attended basic training at Great Lakes Illinois. In Illinois he said that the summers were like Pennsylvania but the winters were bitterly cold, and they got tons of snow. He remembers that boot camp was all about cleanliness, and it was very difficult. Basic training for him was supposed to be nine weeks, but because of the war, it was an extra four weeks for the ones who would go overseas. He also had advanced training in the Great Lakes Region. His advanced training was in radar repair, and gunnery systems. That was a 20 week school because of the amount of information he had to learn. He also said that he went to advanced training for this because he had to. The navy decided this because every week they would issue the sailors some tests and those tests would determine what their jobs would be. Those tests determined that he would best be suited for something that heavily involved math. The options were a radar technician, electronics technician, or a fire control technician. As a fire control technician, he was responsible for the radars, the Doppler, the power supplies, and all of electronics. Every day he would have to run tests on all of the electronics and record the data in a log book. He would also have to serve as an after watch. This is a person that sits in the engine room and be ready to steer the ship in case an enemy knocked out the command tower. As a fire control technician, he got to work on a destroyer and The //Francis Marion//. The troop transport ship was based out of north Virginia while the destroyer was based out of Pearl Harbor. They nicknamed the destroyer a “Tin can”. They called them this because of their size and durability. When he was on the other ship every three days they would normally send all the marines ashore to practice taking beach heads. Sometimes he would even sneak on one of the boarding ships and go ashore with them. After awhile everybody was very efficient at it. During the war he served in an array of countries. He served in the Sumac Bay, the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and a lot of other places. Then his parents got in an automobile accident and neither one of them made it. Mr. Habowski was then allowed to fly home to his remaining family. When he got home, he took care of everything. Then he was relocated to Virginia, where he was assigned a different ship. This ship was the troop transport ship, and he was assigned this ship because then he would be closer to his family. While he was in the navy, he said that he felt like he was serving a purpose. He thought that everyone did, and that’s why he joined. Three of military friends died during the war; however, he didn’t witness any of them die. When he was overseas the main form of communication was through letters, and he had to buy his supplies to write the letters. He was also very excited to come home, but because of the war, his service was extended by a couple of weeks. When he finally got home, his family treated him well but the hippies and protesters didn’t treat him well as a military person. He also said that if the protesters would have served that their views would have changed because one had to be in the military to understand the military. After serving, Mr. Habowski said that it wasn’t hard to readjust to civilian life, and the hardest thing to do was get a job. He got a job in Philadelphia working for the General Electric Company and during the day he would work there but then instead of going home he would drive to Temple and take classes. Since he was in the navy, he got educational benefits and they paid for his degree. He majored in Electrical Engineering and graduated in 1971. The habits of cleanliness that he formed in the military stuck with him for the rest of his life. He does not regret serving in the military and he said that if his country called for it he would take up arms and serve again, and he believes that any veteran would.