Zach+P.+and+Gerald

Zach P. and Gerald

toc =**History George W. Swanger, served in Navy during Vietnam War from 11/20/69-11/19/73. Highest rank was an E-5. Served on the USS Constellation.**=

Veterans History Project Narrative By: Gerald Behm and Zach Pletz George W. Swanger was born on March 30, 1950. He grew up in Myerstown Pennsylvania. He graduated from Eastern Lebanon County High School. After graduating he went to California for a life experience. When he went to California it was the time of the draft for the Vietnam War. He had to come home because the draft warden was after him. He then went into the US Navy in November 1969. His mind was pretty much made up that he would join the Navy over any other branch of the military because he had three brothers that served in the Navy. Swanger said that during the sixties when he was growing up, it was pretty much a given that you would be drafted in the military because of the Vietnam War. The only way that you were not drafted was if you were in college or if you had a disability. Once he joined the Navy he had to go through Boot Camp. Along with staying in shape and going through boot camp he went to school in Memphis. The school he went to was an Avionics school where he learned the fundamentals of electronic apparatus and the basics of computers. In this time period, which was the late sixties early seventies, there was something called a Fortran computer in which he Swanger learned how to operate. Later when in Vietnam the Fortran computer was one of the items he worked on in the airplanes. His first trip to the West Packs in 1971, he was 21 years old at the time. They traveled on an aircraft carrier know as the //USS Constellation.// Swanger says that he didn’t really know what he was getting into. To get ready and prepare for life situations Swanger and the rest of the crew on board participated in carrier qualifications. Carrier qualifications were practices that got the pilots and the rest of the crew to be ready for live situations and to handle the situation smoothly. Swanger recalled that on the way over it was lounging around. They had drills and practices but no launch and recovery occurred Swanger explained life on the //USS Constellation// crammed. The ship was big there were 4800 to 5000 people on it. The sleeping arrangements were very close together. There was one guy sleeping a couple inches off the floor and another in the middle, and one on top. There was about five feet from the bottom to the top. There was also a two-foot aisle and then guys on the other side. He thinks the toughest part of the ship was the closeness of the living conditions. Although he was in enemy territory he could still sleep at night because of the protection of the ship. George Swanger also shared with us that the food was really good. You could get something to eat 23 hours of the day. You could get breakfast anytime. There were two galleys; the front one served breakfast in the morning and the one in the back of the ship served it at night. He recalls that for breakfast they had ham and eggs and chipped beef on toast. He says the crew always new when it was Saturday. On Saturday evenings they had steak or lobsters for dinner. During his work hours Swanger had to wear different equipment. First of all they had to wear a helmet. Their helmet had either their name of initials on them so that they could be easily identified. Also each work group wore a different colored shirt. George had to wear a green shirt because he did maintenance work. The planes captains wore brown, the refuellers wore purple, the bomb loaders and firemen wore red, the tie down people wore blue, the plane directors wore yellow, and the first aid people wore white with a red cross. The shirts were made of cotton and they were long sleeve and turtleneck. Before the launch and recovery cycle the air boss came over the loud speaker and would tell everybody to put on their shirts, roll down their sleeves and pit on their helmets and survival vests. They wore the shirts so that everyone could differentiate the jobs and who did what. On the ship George worked as an avionics and an electronics troubleshooter. His job took place between launches. He had to plug the airplanes into auxiliary power, get the computers up and running, and make sure the systems that he was responsible for worked. After recovery he would interview the pilots and find out if all the systems that he was responsible for worked. If they worked he could give his superior and ok and if not he would swing into action. Swanger worked on the control unit in the cockpit. He also worked on an important device called and ADI. The tools he needed to do his work were a socket set and a speed handle. Swanger was part of VA146 group, which was light attack unit of Carrier Group 9. In this group there were about 30 avionics people and 20 electricians. There were about 240 people total in his squadron. Among them there were 14 airplanes that they worked on. Overall there were about 5,520 people on the ship. Some of the men down below never saw daylight unless they made an effort to. Down below there were stores; there was a barbershop, two galleys, two small grocery stores, and two small shopping stores. When the ship was overseas there were around 70 airplanes on the ship. There were about five or eight planes that weren’t the best flyers that were left on the Philippines. But there were 65 that were actually ready and capable to fly. There were about six or seven different types of planes on the ship. There was also a helicopter squadron. Swanger worked on A7E planes, there were about 28 of those. Every day during combat they would launch 12 times and recover 12 times. Six in the morning to six in the evening was regular operating hours. First they would launch then a half an hour later, they would recover. Every launch had around 30 airplanes, half we take off, and then half would be landing. The one-day when a plane was coming in they had to rig the barrier, which is like a safety net. They had practiced for this in case it had happened. They had to catch the airplane. On the way over the Russians would fly big bombers that took pictures of them. That was one of the times when all of the cooks and the engineers and people from down below decks would come up and watch. They would fly low and they could see the cameras and see the guys looking out the window at them, and everyone on is looking up at them and taking pictures. Other than this they never encountered enemy ships so close. “The carrier was as safe as it gets” Swanger noted. “It was so big and so well defended, not only by our own airplanes but we had destroyers and many different war ships all around us.” On Easter of 1972 Swanger and a friend went to Tokyo on liberty, and it was the Easter Offensive. It was a really big deal. The North Vietnamese made a big attack. So they had to go back, the //Constellation// went back to the Tonga Gulf. At the time his friend and him were in Tokyo going to and from, so their ship left, without them. To get back to the ship and back to their jobs, they put them on a destroyer escort. It was whole number ten fifty, the //Albert David//. During that trip they did some shore bombardment and they were at general quarters one time for 24 hours, and they were shooting five-inch guns at the shore. They enemy were shooting back at them, and when we finally broke general quarters they were able to go out and walk around the deck. There were holes in their flag. And there were pieces of metal lying around on the ship from their exploding shells and rockets. The men were at sea for about 25 to 30 days at a time. The //Constellation// won a Presidential Unit Citation for the good job that they did. Swanger recalls that there were a few days where he didn’t really like being there. He knew it was a job and he kept himself going by reminding himself that they were all in the same boat, and h just made the best of it. His first trip was difficult. There was a fire and men were killed below decks. There were also planes that left and never came back; Swanger says he didn’t really understand what was going on. When he went over the second time he was older and he realized that everyone wouldn’t come back. He made sure the pilots were safe and became better friends with them. Swanger said that he loved his job and couldn’t have had a better job. He was in the fresh air half of the day and he saw the Navy operating around him. He could look into the ocean and see sea snakes, and flying fish, and porpoises. He loved his job and he made friends with the pilots and are till friends with some of them today. Swangers highest rank that he relieved was an E-5. He also received different awards. When Swanger was on the destroyer escort, when he got shot at, he received a Navy Combat Action Ribbon. He also received Vietnam campaign ribbons and service medals. He has some different memories of his time when he served. One thing he remembers was when two huge airplanes were being launched and they had a problem, the pilots ejected and the planes crashed into the water with a huge splash. He also remembers some times when pilots would come back from missions soaked in sweat. George remembers times when pilots would pull along side each other and get out and hug each other with relief. Swanger also noted that if there were something that he would want people to know about him during the time of the war it would be just that he served. =**Interview Tips**= http://stringers.media.mit.edu/interview.htm Interviews have four stages that precede the writing of a story: arrangements, preparation, the actual interview and the reconstruction.  **//PREPARATION-//**Do as much **research** as possible in advance on the person and/or topic you are working on. Sources might include the library, public records, the internet and people you know who can provide background information.Prepare your **questions** in advance in writing and bring them to the interview. Refer to them but don't show them to the interviewee, because it creates too formal an atmosphere. Ask other questions as they might arise, based on what the interviewee says or something new that might come to you on the spur of the moment. Bring two **pencils** (or pens) **and paper**. A stenographer's notebook is usually easier to handle than a large pad but use whatever is comfortable. Bring a**tape recorder** if you can but be sure to get the permission to use it from the person you are interviewing. You also should take notes, because it will help in the reconstruction phase, and, yes, tape recorders fail occasionally. //R//ECONSTRUCTION-As soon as it's practical after the interview, find a quiet place to review your handwritten notes.In your haste while taking notes, you may have written abbreviations for words that won't mean anything to you a day or two later. Or some of your scribbling may need deciphering, and, again, it is more likely you'll be better able to understand the scribbles soon after the interview. Underline or put stars alongside quotes that seemed most compelling. One star for a good quote, two stars for a very good one, etc. It will speed the process when you get to the writing stage. One other thing to look for in your notes: the quote you wrote down might not make a lot of sense, unless you remember what specific question it was responding to. In short, fill in whatever gaps exist in your notes that will help you better understand them when writing.
 * //ARRANGEMENTS--//**Spontaneous interviews, except in connection with breaking news, seldom contribute to thoroughness. Once you have decided to interview someone, **call in advance** to make an appointment. **Identify yourself** by your name and the name of your publication. If you feel the need to do so or are asked to describe what the story is about, be brief and general. The shape of the story might change as you continue your reporting. If you are interviewing several persons in connection with your story, interview the principal person last, because you will be better prepared based on what you learn from the earlier interviews.
 * //THE INTERVIEW-//**It is inadvisable to launch right into the interview unless you are only being given a few minutes.Some casual conversation to start with will relax both of you. Questions should be as **short** as possible. Give the respondent time to answer. Be a good listener. If he or she prattles on, it is appropriate to move on as politely as you can. You might say something such as: "Fine, but let me ask you this". Try to draw out **specifics**: How long, how many, when, etc. Absorb the **atmospherics** of the locale where the interview takes place, with particular attention to what might be a reflection of the interviewee's personality and interests, such as photos of children or bowling trophies or a paper-littered desk or a clean one, etc. Note **characteristics** of the interviewee that might be worth mentioning in your story, such as pacing, looking out the window to think, hand gestures and the like. Invite the person to call you if she/he thinks of anything pertinent after the interview. It often happens, so be sure to provide your name, email address and phone number on a card or piece of paper before you leave. If that person has a secretary, be sure to get that person's name and telephone number, too, in case there is some detail that needs followup and, again, leave information as to how you may be contacted. If a photo is needed and is not taken during the interview, be sure to make arrangements then to have one taken at a later time.

narrative http://more.headroyce.org/research/writing/narrative/narrcomponents.html In addition to picking a topic of appropriate scope, also be sure that you are writing a //narrative// essay, not a description. For example, the subject of a descriptive essay could be, “When I was a kid, I always used to ride my bike around the neighborhood….”; a narrative essay topic, in contrast, might be, “Once when I was five, I rode my bike …”) and something significant happened on that one particular bike ride. The topic should be a specific, one-time event with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Finally, for the purposes of the tenth-grade essay, you must pick an event in which **you** were a key player. Do not narrate something that happened in your absence, or in which you were a very minor presence.
 * Appropriate Topic Selection:** Pick an event that you can transform into an engaging story. The scope of this event should not be too broad or too narrow. An example of a topic too broad for a 2-3 page essay would be your //entire// experience at summer camp one year, while one too narrow might be a short conversation with another person. Keep the length of your assignment in mind when you select a topic.
 * Appropriate Point of View:** If you are writing fiction, you can choose in whose shoes you will stand to tell the story. With the nonfiction narrative essay, however, you must use the first person, "I," since you are a key player in the action and your viewpoint is the lens through which your reader will see the experience.


 * Element of Conflict:** A good story includes some kind of conflict, some complication that the protagonist (main character) runs up against. This doesn't necessarily have to be an external struggle between two people; it could also be an internal conflict (e.g. the struggle going on inside of the protagonist between what he/she wants as an individual and what he/she knows is best for the larger community). In the sample essay by George Orwell, the external conflict is between the narrator and the elephant, but the more significant conflict is internal: the struggle between the narrator's need to save face and his desire to get out of there, to avoid killing the elephant.


 * Climax:** The climax of a story is defined as the place at which the conflict comes to a point of crisis, a high point in the tension, an important turning point. After this high point, the narrative has some kind of resolution. However, resolution does not mean everything has to wrap up happily and neatly. Nonetheless, there does need to be a sense of having arrived at a new level of understanding or awareness.


 * Selection of Significant Details**: When you write about your event, you will not include every little thing that happened. A narrative is not an exact transcription. It is up to you to determine which of the many parts of the experience are important. But how do you make that choice? This is where the thesis comes in. What are you trying to illustrate with your story? Which of the details are essential to getting that idea across? Keep those. Which parts are unrelated to, even distracting from the main idea? Omit those.
 * Pacing**: Selecting the significant details is essential, but it is also important to think about how you move through the event in the retelling. You may spend one sentence breezily summarizing a week in which not much happened, and then invest four paragraphs on a five-minute interaction or event, if that is the crux of the experience. It is also important to think about the order in which you present the events, saving the key, climactic episode for last. This is called "climactic sequencing."
 * Use of [|Descriptive Writing]**: While the rhetorical mode here is narrative, a good story also makes use of description. When a character or setting is introduced, by all means, do some of the "show not tell" writing you have learned in previous years. But do so only if the idea about that person or place you are conveying is in some way related to the point of your story. Be careful not to let the descriptive mode take over the narrative.


 * Use of Appropriate Dialogue**: Although not required, most stories include the actual words of people involved in the event--fragments of conversations that actually happened. Dialogue can enhance the reader's sense of "being there" in the moment with the narrator. Be careful, however, not to put in dialogue for the sake of having dialogue. Just as you select significant details, so too should you select only significant verbatim snippets of dialogue. Dull dialogue is an instant turn off. What if you can't remember the exact words? Don't worry, so long as you are true to the voice of the speaker and content of what was said.

Veterans History Project By: Zach Pletz and Gerald Behm

Into: Our veteran is George W. Swanger. He was born on March 30, 1950. Served in the US Navy in the Vietnam War. His highest rank was an E5. We are at ELCO High School in Myerstown, PA. This is Gerald Behm and Zach Pletz, friends of Mr. Swanger. This interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. 1. When you first joined the Navy, was it hard for you or were you pretty fit and able to handle it? -I was pretty fit and was able to handle it. I had three older brothers that were in the service, and they clued me in on boot camp and what to expect. It was a shock though when I got there, but I could handle all the physical and mental riggers of boot camp; it was no big deal. 2. How old were you when you left for Vietnam? -I went in the Navy of November of 1969. Then there was boot camp and schooling and familiarization on the airplane that I worked on. Our first trip to the west pack was 1971. I was 21 years old. **1.47** 3. I guess you already explained that you had other relatives serving when you were enlisted in the government. Who were they? And what was their relation to you? -I have three older brothers and they were all in the Navy. After I graduated from high school, here at ELCO, I went to California just for a life experience, and it was the time of the draft. So I had to come home because the draft warden was after me, and because I had three brothers in the Navy, my decision was made up, and I didn’t want to join any other branch of the service. 4. Were you serving at all before you were assigned to go to Vietnam? If so how long? -It takes awhile for training in the Navy and any other branch of the military is very good. It was a year and a half from when I joined and until I went on my first trip to the west pack to Vietnam. 5. In your early life, did you ever think that you would be in a war on an aircraft carrier? -Well I thought if I ever would be in the service it would be the Navy because my brothers were active Navy men. I think in the time of the sixties when I was growing up, it was a given we had the Vietnam going on and on and on. If you didn’t go to college or didn’t have a disability, you were going into the service and were going to end up in Vietnam. So it wasn’t up to me it was just part of the deal. 6. Training wise, what were some of the requirements needed to go to Vietnam? -Well I had to stay in shape for one thing. After boot camp, I went to a school in Memphis, an avionics school, where you got the fundamentals of electronic apparatus and a pretty big overview it was, and the basics I might add was the basics of the computers. This was in the late sixties, early seventies, where there was something called a Fortran computer and things like that where they program computers with tapes and everything. Then the airplane I worked on had a computer system in it. That was pretty much the general training and the specific training happened in California where I learned about the airplane that I worked on. 7. How were you feeling and what was running through your mind when you were on the ship heading for Vietnam? -I really didn’t know what I was getting into, at all. We had something called carrier qualifications, and that happens off the coast of California where everyone practices and gets ready, and the pilots get ready, and interaction with everybody, and make sure the ship works, and everything goes smoothly. On the way over, I mean your just lounging around and waiting just to get there, it’s drills and practices, but no launches or recovering airplanes. Like I said, I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t understand. 8. How was life on the ship different from life at home? -The ship I was on was very big. There were 4800 to 5000 people on it. But they were all crammed in there. Sleeping arrangements were very close together. I mean one guy was sleeping couple inches off the floor, and another fellow was in the middle, and I was on the top. I mean were talking, you know, 5 feet from bottom to the top. Then there was a two-foot aisle and then there were three guys on the other side. So it was very close quarters. Living together, that was kind of stressful. The food on board was really good. You could get something to eat twenty-three hours a day. You could get breakfast anytime. They had two galleys, and the one in the front served breakfast in the morning and the one in the back served breakfast at night. It was all right. The closeness of the quarters, the closeness of the living conditions was probably the toughest. You couldn’t get away from anybody. 9. Could you sleep at night with being so far away from home and in enemy territory in a foreign country? -One of the things about being in the Navy, I never stepped foot in Vietnam. We just knew that we were there in the combat zone. We were doing our jobs as Navy people. Sleeping at night, yeah. We were very well protected. We had a ship full of airplanes and were always on alert. We were very well protected. 10. What kind of food did you eat, was it like normal food or was it a little different? -The food was very good. We were all in the same boat. Everybody, the cooks in the galley kept everybody well fed. You know, ham and eggs for breakfast and chipped beef on toast. We always knew it was Saturday. On board, the days went from one day to the next. We always knew when it was Saturday. Saturday evening for dinner we had steak or lobsters, and they were very good. The food was good. 11. What kind of gear did you have to wear? I see you brought you helmet along. What other gear did you have to wear? -I did bring a few things along. When you work on the flight deck. This is a brown shirt. It was a plane captain’s shirt. I was wearing a green shirt. I don’t have any left. I wore them when I got out. They are made of cotton, long sleeve with a turtleneck. Before every launch and recovery cycle, the main man, the air boss would come over the loud speaker and would tell everybody to put their shirts on, roll down their sleeves, and put helmets on and survival vest and everything, and get ready for the launch and recovery cycle. There were many different colors. The refuellers wore purple, and the bomb loaders wore red, and the firemen wore red, and I, the maintenance people, and the catapult and the resting gear people, they wore green. The first aid people wore white, with a red cross on them. The plane directors wore yellow. The tie down people wore blue. So that is how everyone can differentiate the jobs and who did what. I also brought along my helmet that everybody wore, it was standard equipment. Everybody I think had their name on the back of it, or initials so they can be identified. And once again mine is green. The bomb loaders wore red ones. The refuellers wore purple. It was an identification thing and safety again just a few of the things that I brought along. 12. What were some of your duties on the ship? -As an avionics and an electronics troubleshooter, the green shirt that I wore designated my job. It was made to make sure that the officers knew who to go to, to get somebody for a specific job. My job was between launches to plug the airplanes into auxiliary power and to get the computers up and running, and to make sure the systems that I was responsible for, to make sure they worked. After recovery, I would interview the pilots and find out if all the systems that I was responsible for, if they worked, if the radar worked, if the navigational and weapons delivery system worked. If they did work, then I could tell my superior that we were ok with that airplane, if not, then we would swing into action and try to fix them and get them going so that they can turn around and fly off the ship again for the next launch. 13. What parts of the planes did you fix? -In the cockpit I had a control unit a keyboard to enter coordinates of the day’s targets. We had to look their location of the ship up where we were at, and things like that. There was a big instrument right in the middle of the chest level in front of the pilot. It was a very important instrument called ADI an attitude directional indicator. I had to be responsible for that, and that it worked in the cockpit. Then on the side of the airplane, and the avionics bay would control units for that. For the systems that I worked on. Just to give you an idea, the computer system that everything was interfaced with, it was made by IBM and weighed a hundred and four pounds. It was a square thing, heavy and solid. That was in the seventies, early seventies. That’s how big it was. You would have to program this computer. They used the taped system with punch holes. It was quite the deal. Huge, Cumbersome. Compared to what they do now, they run your cars and everything else. Those were the main systems. 14. What are some of the tools or items needed to do the kind of work you did? -Probably the main tool that we used, we had a socket set, and a speed handle, and that was what we used to unhook the equipment and put it back in, you know the nuts and bolts. There were a lot of them. They were quick fast that you could take off and put back on very fast. Everything was safety wired, so you had to make sure that the riggers of launch and recovery and the flying around the gyrations and that the airplane went through. Everything had to be secured with safety wire. 15. What were some of the avionics that you have worked on, on the planes? -Getting back to this computer, that was the main brain of the airplane and everything, all the systems went through there. The shop that I worked at, the avionics shop, we were very involved; it was navigational and weapons delivery. That was what the airplane was designed to do. Put the bombs where they were supposed to go, which was weapons delivery. Then being able to navigate to and from the target. There was a radar system in the nose, and that went through the computer. All the bombs sights and bomb deliveries, there was a heads up display system that the pilot could look where he was flying. He could look ahead and look through an angle glass, kind of like a T.V. prompter. All the information was displayed on there. The compass directions and the altitude, air speed, wing altitude. While he was flying straight, he could look out the windshield. He could see all the instruments, and how his airplane was performing. So I was responsible for all of that. 16. Around how many people were in your unit? -I was with VA146, which was a light attack unit of Carrier Group 9. Out of that group my little shop, my work center, perhaps there were 30. And 30 avionics people, and 20 electricians. The engine mechanics, those were all the people that wore green shirts. So there were 240 people in my squadron, and we worked on 14 airplanes. **18.30** 17. About how many people were on the ship? -I think a lot of times it was mentioned around 5,520 people. I guess there were. There were some people onboard ship, that the guys that worked out on the engine room like that, that never even saw daylight, unless they made an effort, because maybe ninety feet down from the flight deck, from fresh air down to the bottom. We had barbershops. We had stores, two galleys to eat. These were on enlisted quarters, and then the officers had their own living areas, and we had a big hangar deck where all the maintenance from the major aircraft maintenance happened. So it was a lot of people in a very small area doing a very big job. 18. What were the kinds of stores that were on the ship? -There were two grocery stores, two shopping stores. You could buy towels and toothpaste, and cigarettes, deodorants, t-shirts, and work clothing. They were not big. Maybe 10 by 20 feet. Everything was jammed in. Couple fellows worked there. Ship store people as they were called. I think they were AK’s or something like that as rates go. But all the necessities on an aircraft carrier or Navy life were in that store. 19. Around how many planes were on the ship? -When we were overseas, I think there were maybe 70, and we used to leave maybe five or eight that weren’t the best flyers that had all kinds of maintenance problems. We would leave them in the Philippines. There was a naval air station at Cuba point, and if they couldn’t fly off, we would off load them with a crane. Then we would leave them there then someone would try and fix them. But at anytime on board ship there were about 65 airplanes that were flight ready and capable. 20. What kinds of planes were on the ship? -There were quite a few, six or seven different kinds. There was a helicopter squadron that, they called them plane guards. So during launch and recovery the plane guards would watch alongside the ship in case the plane would have any problems that the pilot would have to ditch the plane then the helicopter would fly over and rescue them quickly. There were tanker squadrons. They were the biggest airplanes they were known as "The Whales", and they would take off first. Then would fly wherever and hang around so if anybody was low on fuel they could go there and would have enough fuel to continue the mission and get back safely. I worked on an A7E. There were 28 of those. There were A6 intruders. They were a light attack airplanes. There were maybe 30 of those. There were two fighter squadrons. VF92 and VF96. They protected the fleet and fight off the enemy. The mail plane. There were electronics-jamming airplanes. We had two or three of those. They would fly above the bombing area and jam the enemy radar. There was something called an EC a prompter of an airplane. They would fly off, and they were the air born communications. They were the air controllers, like you would have at an airport. Well these guys, they sit in there and direct the traffic. So there were a big variety of planes that we had on board of those 60, 70 airplanes. We could get the job done. 21. Around how many planes left the ship each day? -Every day during combat we would launch 12 times and recover 12 times. Most of the time we would fly from sun up to sun down. Six in the morning to six in the evening was regular operating hours. These fellows that I showed the brown shirt, they worked longer. They worked from what they called flight quarters, which was an hour or few until the first launch so they could spot all the airplanes. Then at night they had to button them up. So they were the hardest working group. One of these 12 launches per day, you launched. Then a half an hour later, you would recover. It was like a cycle, a launch and recovery cycle. Every launch had around 30 airplanes, half we take off, and then half would be landing. Then we’d work on those, refuel them, put more bombs on them, make sure they worked, and made sure they were going. All the maintenance was ok. Then they would respot them and get them ready to launch. So at any one time there was probably 50 or 60 airplanes that were, you know 30 out, and 30 coming back. 22. When the planes were out, did you stay busy or what did you do when the planes were out? -It happened pretty quick as soon as the last one came off, They cleared the sky, and you could see the other ones coming back right away. So you would just change position on the flight deck and keep heads up to know what was going on, so when they started landing again. 23. Was there ever a time when a plane was coming in to land and a problem occurred and the plane crashed? -None of the airplanes crashed. Not serious where they struck another airplane or anything like that. I remember one time, we had to rig the barrier which is like a safety net, like a volleyball net and made a thick nylon strapping. Some of the things we would practice to do in case it happened. So we had to catch one airplane one at a time, and it wasn’t a crash it was what I needed to do. I didn’t witness any crashes. 24. On the ship, did you sleep at regular time like you do now or did you have to stay up and work or keep watch? -That totally depended on when we were working. When they decided to fly. I said most of the times they flew six or seven in the morning to six or seven in the evening. There were other times when we would fly from eleven in the morning to eleven at night. Usually a twelve-hour day. So the sleeping part of it, one of the benefits of working the shifts that I worked was it was quiet. There wasn’t any launch or recovery going on. So it wasn’t a lot of noise. 25. Did the ship ever run into any conflicts? -No. On the way over the Russians would fly big bombers that took pictures of us. That was one of the times when all of the cooks and the engineers and people from down below decks would come up and watch. They would come flying so low that you could see the cameras and see the guys looking out the window at us, and everyone on is looking up at them and taking pictures. That was about the only time that we encountered any enemy airplanes or anything like that. We were so protected by our own fighter groups that no one came around. 26. Did you feel safe on the ship or would you have rather been on a smaller boat? -The carrier was as safe as it gets. It was so big and so well defended, not only by our own airplanes but we had destroyers and many different war ships all around us. We were like the queen bee. We were well taken care of. In Easter of 1972 I was. A friend of mine and I went to Tokyo on liberty, and it was the Easter Offensive. It was a really big deal. The North Vietnamese made a big attack. So we had to go back, the //Constellation// went back to the Tonga Gulf. At the time my friend and I, we were in Tokyo going to and from, so our ship left, without us. To get back to the ship and back to our jobs, they put us on a destroyer escort. It was whole number ten fifty, the //Albert David//. So to get back to that, we went on a pretty big trip and your question was did I ever think that I was in danger? Well during that trip we did some shore bombardment and we were at general quarters one time for 24 hours, and we were shooting five-inch guns at the shore. They were shooting back at us, and when we finally broke general quarters we were able to go out and walk around the deck. There were holes in our flag. And there were pieces of metal lying around on the ship from their exploding shells and rockets and all that. So it was pretty intense. I know the danger I was in, but that was as close to the real deal as I got. 27. How long was it until you stepped foot on land again? -When we were at sea, it would be 25 to 30 days. There were times when it went longer than that. The //Constellation//, we won a Presidential Unit Citation for the good job that we did. So we did whatever was necessary. At least 25 or 30 days and the one time we were at sea for 41 days. That was pretty long. You do get tired of it. 28. Did you ever have a day when you wanted to go home or just not do your job? -When I first went over there, got on board the ship and left, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I was 21 years old. I had done some traveling, but I just didn’t know what I was getting into. The Vietnam War was very unpopular. It was very decisive here in America. When we first started operating, and I used to see all the bombs fly off the front and not come back, I didn’t really like it. I really didn’t understand it. The days that I didn’t understand it I wished I would be somewhere else. Perhaps I should have gone to college. A lot of it had to do with the time, the sixties and the seventies. It was tough. 29. What kept you going the whole time you were in Vietnam? -It was a job, and the old saying was we were all in the same boat. Well, we were all part of the same boat. Quitting wasn’t an option. So you just made the best of it. The first crews, the first trip to the west pack was difficult, because I didn’t understand what was going on. We lost some men off the ship. There was a fire, and people were killed below decks. The airplanes flew away and didn’t come back. I didn’t understand that. I didn’t realize that was going to happen, that everybody that was on the ship that everybody wasn’t going to come back. That was the toughest part of it. 30. Was there ever a time when you regretted being there? -No. I was going to be in the military and that was part of it. Finally when I got it into my head that to get it over with and do it the best I can, it was a lot easier. When I went over the second time, I was a year older. I had been there. I had the experience of it all. I realized that everybody wasn’t coming home. So my job mentally changed from loading bombs and all that and getting upset about that too. Making sure the pilots were safe, making sure the airplane worked and the bombs fell off. Be happy to see them come back and that the systems that I worked on did their job and got them back, and that is how it went the second time. 31. Did you like your job or would you have rather have done something else on the ship? -I had a great job. I couldn’t have had a better job. I was in the fresh air half of the day. I could see the Navy operating around me. I could watch the ships pull up along side. Between launches and recoveries you could walk around, see what was going on. You could look into the ocean and see sea snakes, and flying fish, and porpoises. It really was a very good job. The avionics people were good people. There was a lot of respect. It was really good and I got to know the pilots personally and still are friends today with some of them. I just keep coming back to this; we were all in the same boat. We were all doing a job. That was expected of us. 32. Did you receive any medals or honors for any of your achievements? -I mentioned earlier the //Constellation// we made every effort to be very good. We got a Presidential Unit Citation as a ship. When I was on that destroyer escort, when we got shot at. I received a Navy Combat Action Ribbon. The Vietnam campaign ribbons and service medals. Those are standard medals. The two that I am most proud of is the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Combat Action Ribbon. 33. Are there any scenes or mental pictures that have stuck with you from the war? -There were things that I remember. One of the first things I remember we had 2 airplanes on board. I forgot to mention them earlier. They were photoreconnaissance airplanes, and they were very big. We launched one of them off the bout catapult, and It just took off and went over like this and into the water, and when the pilots knew they were out of control they ejected out of it. That airplane crashed into the ocean and made the biggest splash, I mean it was absolutely huge. I remember that and catching that airplane rigging the barrier. What else, just a lot of things. There was a time, I don’t know what the operation was, but we were mining Hai Phung and we were bombing Hanoi. It was really, really tense. We used to launch a lot of airplanes, but we only did it three times a day. Then we would launch them all at the same time. When they would come back from those missions, the pilots, some of them, were soaking wet sweated and in nervous wrecks. The Siam missiles that were being launched and all that. You see pilots shut their airplane down and another guy pulled up along side of him, and they would absolutely run over to that guy and give each other hugs. They were that happy that they made it. It was really intense. Planes from the group that I worked on had holes in them, planes landing on fire, not big fires but they would have to be put out. A lot of little things that were nerve racking and interesting at the same time. 34. If there was something that you would want people to remember and know about you during the time of the war what would it be? -That I did it. That I served. Thank-you very much.
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 * 41.18 **