Video Log Esteban Ramirez Vietnam Era U.S. Navy Born: 12/24/1949

Interview Date: 11/18/2011 Interviewed By: Owen Rogers

00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:22 His highest rank was E-3. 00:00:32 Ramirez was drafted by the Army, but the Navy “offered him a better deal.” The Vietnam War was at its peak and the Navy assured him that for two years of Active duty and four years inactive reserve, he would not be deployed there. 00:00:55 He enlisted in the Navy in 1970. 00:01:00 He was raised in a coastal city in Puerto Rico, which had an active Naval and Coast Guard presence. These factors influenced his decision to join the Navy, as opposed to the Marine Corps or Air Force. He was also attracted to the uniforms of these service branches (especially the bell bottoms!). 00:01:51 He enlisted 06/30/1970 and was sent to boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. From the moment the bus doors opened, they were barraged by orders from their training instructors. Fortunately, his recruiter has advised him that as long as he followed their instructions, he would have no issues during his training. 00:03:29 He was nineteen when he joined the Navy. 00:03:37 He had several relatives who served in the U.S. military. His uncle died in the Korean War, his cousin was wounded in the Korean War, and knew of many friends’ older brothers who had died in Vietnam. 00:04:08 Ramirez recalls a Mr. Alexander from his basic training. 00:04:59 By adhering to the rules, he made it through boot camp with no issues. He feels that there was less of a physical component than Army or Marine training, but more classes that prepared you for your MOS aboard a ship. 00:05:56 Following boot camp, naval enlisted men were declared seamen or firemen. At first, he was assigned to the engine room, but as he was skilled with typewriters, he applied to the typewriter repair shop. He took the seaman’s exam, passed, and was transferred. 00:07:00 As a typewriter repairman, he did not receive a new naval rating. The other repairmen were very skilled. 00:07:38 The first time he went to sea was on a solo exercise. They were shadowed by a Russian “fishing trawler.” In actuality, it was an intelligence gathering vessel. Their cruise was in the vicinity of Florida and Cuba. They fired a warning shot towards the ship and it turned away. The ship was the submarine tender USS Hunley (AS-31), which carried 1400 men. 00:08:45 The ship was bigger than a cruiser, perhaps a quarter of the size of an aircraft carrier.

00:09:05 They did not deploy with surface craft escorts, but rather, were protected by submarines. For most of the deployment (nine months) they were stationed in South Carolina, then travelled to Guam via the Panama Canal. The canal was very busy, being trafficked by cruise ships. It took them eight hours to make it through all the locks. 00:11:21 From Panama, they sailed for three days to Acapulco, where they stayed for eight days. There, he met his sister, who was on vacation with two of her friends! From there, they sailed to Pearl Harbor, where they stayed for another seven or eight days. The weather reminded him of Puerto Rico. 00:13:26 There was a massive military presence in Hawaii. Hotel Street was full of servicemen, as there was both lodging and restaurant / bar areas. Hawaii “was nice, but expensive.” From there, they sailed fourteen days to Sydney, Australia. On the way, they were caught in a storm. He was sent to the sick bay and prescribed cheese and crackers to keep his stomach dry (which would prevent vomiting and seasickness). He passed through the bridge, which was a very impressive sight. He regrets not reenlisting in the Navy and pursuing a service career. 00:16:50 Life on the ship was like living in a neighborhood. There were cliques of friends all over the ship, so on their eight hour breaks, there was always something to do. The ship was so massive that there were barber shops, theatres, and basketball on the helicopter pad. 00:18:55 When they reached shore, there was a liberty call, where the soldiers could leave ship and be expected to return by 7:00 the next day. At 7:30, there would be a headcount and the returning sailors would return to their division for inspection. They always made sure to be presentable after returning from liberty call, for the better behavior they displayed on ship, the more privileges they had when it came time for shore leave. 00:20:09 At the time, the naval work uniforms consisted of dungarees, sneakers, and in the event of some kind of guard duty, they would wear the summer or winter dress uniform (depending on the season). They had knit caps and peacoats for the winter and shorts in the summer. 00:21:25 Ramirez stood watch on the quarterdeck, where he was required to carry a holstered .45 pistol loaded with blanks. He was assigned to work with a Chief or a Chief Petty Officer, who would ensure that sailors leaving for liberty would sign in and out. Guard duty usually lasted four hours. He enjoyed this duty because it allowed him to see sailors in various states of drunkenness returning to the ship. 00:24:01 At sea, guard duty mainly just enforced safety rules, such as “no running on the deck.” 00:24:57 He wished for his children and nephews to enter the armed services and sees selective service as a positive thing for the youth. He’s very impressed to see so many servicemen volunteering for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. 00:27:18 Submarines only carried about three months of supplies. They would coordinate with sub tenders, who would rendezvous with them at sea and furnish them with food, repairs, and parts. The submarine tenders also carried torpedoes and Polaris missiles. The submarines would come alongside and tether to the ship. They would also be responsible for cleaning and painting the submarines, clearing them of the rust acquired at sea. Seamen earned the nickname “swabbies” for all the cleaning they did at sea.

00:30:23 There was a Marine division aboard the ship to protect the nuclear arms cache. The sub tenders carried Polaris missiles, which were armed with nuclear warheads and loaded into submarines. The guards wore RAD detectors to monitor radiation levels and the lights were blue, to allow them to better read the detection equipment. 00:32:15 The Marines on board were tough. They would often take shore leave together and look out for one another. 00:32:59 The submarines would be resupplied in port. They could resupply four submarines at the same time. He recalls a three day “working party” of sailors loading their ship for a long deployment. They different sections aboard made the ship seem like a community, with its own post office, barber shop, and bakery. 00:35:02 Everybody ate well and they were well supplied, they could even have seconds! The ship had a wide variety of foodstuffs and beverages, it felt “luxurious.” 00:36:11 The sailors woke up at 6 Am every day, be inspected, then go to breakfast. Breakfast was just as luxurious, with choices of eggs and sausages. 00:37:01 He only saw combat when his ship fired on the Russian trawler. Although, he did see many soldiers who had been wounded in Vietnam and sent to naval hospitals in Guam and Hawaii. He saw men with missing limbs and horrific burns, the worst wounding he saw was a man who survived a mine explosion, in which he was thrown into barbed fire. There were some sailors aboard his ship that had completed tours in Vietnam. 00:39:54 A sailor told him a story about a place in Japan called “Whisper Alley” because of the aggressive, albeit discreet, prostitutes who worked there. 00:40:41 The most humorous moments were watching the drunken sailors returning after liberty call, some of them trying to smuggle women into their bunks. He also joined the softball and baseball team aboard the ship, having played it in Puerto Rico. 00:41:50 He didn’t like gate duty, for it could get cold in the evening, even in South Carolina. During one of his liberty calls in South Carolina, he and a few crewmen found themselves “unwanted” in a white neighborhood and were chased back to the ship, one of them being severely beaten in the process. They found some Shore Patrolman and had the wounded sailor sent to the corpsmen. He was hurt so badly that they needed to insert an artificial airway into his chest. 00:43:39 There wasn’t any racial “tension,” on the ship, but the racist sentiments were always there. The cliques on board, however, were mostly divided by geography and interest, rather than race. Of the 1400 person crew, there were 60 blacks, 19 Hispanics, and 10 Filipinos. They formed a minority group with two black CPOs, one of whom was Carl Brashear, the first African American Navy Diver and Master Diver. He was a full staff CPO Master Diver and was about 6’ 1” tall. Every morning, he would jog around the ship, which was impressive, for one of his legs was replaced with a prosthetic limb. Along with Chief Davis, he started the minority council aboard the ship. 00:47:48 When he was in Guam, he saw a USO show. He recalls that at the time, he was unfamiliar with popular American music, for he had spent so many years in Puerto Rico. There were comedy acts and a barbecue arranged for the servicemen and servicewomen stationed there. Raquel Welch was not there, but there was a coveted signed poster of her aboard their ship. He saw the Jackson Five and Miss Black America while he was stationed in Pearl Harbor, HI.

00:50:18 He was never wounded in the service, however, he was circumcised. The procedure required a weeklong recovery. Sailors would fall down every now and then – but he never suffered a serious injury. 00:51:21 When he was stationed in South Carolina, he was able to call his family nearly every day. Aboard the ship, there was radio communication only. It was only when they reached port that phone lines would be pulled aboard the ship. From Guam, sailors could make direct calls to the United States. He recalls the massive US military presence on Guam. 00:53:37 He was never stationed in the Philippines. 00:54:14 He took leave while he was in the service. They were allotted thirty days of leave each year. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of taking leave immediately after boot camp. He was engaged at the time and returned home to see his fiancée. From there, he traveled to Puerto Rico, then flew back to Columbia, SC, then a bus to Charleston, SC. He recalls how proud he was to wear his uniform when he returned to his neighborhood. 00:57:10 There were very few people in his neighborhood that joined the Navy. Most of them joined or were drafted into the Army or Marines. His uncles warned him during the draft to avoid the Army because he would be “carne de canone” - meat for the cannons. 00:58:10 After seeing the wounded soldiers in Guam, these words rang true, especially, a very young man who had used his brother’s birth certificate to join the service prematurely. 00:59:09 His discharge date was 06/02/1972. He finished his military service in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which was convenient, for he had family in Brooklyn and would take the subway home after his shift was completed. He recalls the long flight from Guam to New York, NY. He left on May 15th and landed on May 15th, due to the time difference. 01:04:04 He doesn’t keep in touch with anybody from the service. There was a Bobby Cruz from New York, who lived in Spanish Harlem. The two of them were close and since Cruz signed up for six years, Ramirez would help him keep in touch with his family. Once he was transferred to a destroyer, however, it was difficult to keep in contact. He recalls a Westbrook from Tennessee and a McCluster, who was the karate instructor aboard ship. They all referred to one another by their last name, so that is all he can recall. Often, the Latinos and Blacks would associate aboard ship, for they were both extreme minorities among the 1400 person crew. 01:07:21 He experienced racism while in the service. He recalls an incident in a South Carolina restaurant. They were the only non-white clientele in the dining room and the wait staff completely ignored them until the sailors opted to leave. Among the minorities in the U.S. Navy, there were unofficial boundaries in town where it was recommended they did not visit. He recalls a story about some enlisted sailors that drove outside the city to a country club and were beaten up. Whenever their ship entered a port, the Navy informed them of the “off limits” areas to best avoid these types of situations. 01:10:40 He never joined any veterans organizations. When he returned, he was married and resumed working for the Singer sewing machine company. 01:11:22 With the GI Bill, he completed his GED. He went to the NYC Adult Training Center, which helped him complete his GED and earn a certificate as a typewriter repairman. He was compensated for his time in the program as well.

01:13:09 His naval service left him with a positive view of the Navy. He feels that it made him more responsible and a better listener. It also encouraged him to keep himself presentable. To make his point, Ramirez recounts a story from boot camp where he would use textbooks to press his t-shirts and uniform. They were not issued steam irons or clothes pins, so they would have to use heavy textbooks to iron their clothes and also to tie their clothes to a clothesline with tiny, neat, knots. This was necessary, as their drill instructors would closely examine their appearance, both personal and living space, each day. Also, they were not issued deodorant in boot camp, just toothpaste and bar soap. 01:19:28 Ramirez describes the Shellback Ceremony aboard his ship, performed when a sailor crosses the Equator for the first time. Before becoming a Shellback, the sailors were referred to as “Pollywogs.” They covered the deck in foodstuffs and a Chief greased himself up for the role of the “Royal Baby.” The Pollywogs would have to crawl through the grime to the Royal Baby and eat a cherry out of his belly button. From there, sailors would go to the Royal King and Queen, who would throw food all over them, then they would be hosed off and awarded their Shellback certificates. It was also the only time they were allowed to have beer on the ship. There would be a barbecue on the ship and celebration afterwards. He refers to the crew as “a bunch of grown up kids!” 01:25:10 Thank you Esteban Ramirez for your service in the U.S. Navy and for being here today.