1 10 26 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/0f70d634d980b560c08804e1f0c93dd9.pdf 6b0b5f6cda3e59307102e4f5a008ea9c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Burke, Gina. Interview transcript, November 13, 2025. Description An account of the resource Gina Burke served during the Vietnam War as a First Lieutenant operating room nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Burke spoke about her family background in the Philippines, immigration to the U.S., and father’s military service. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps so she could complete nursing school with financial aid. Burke deployed to Vietnam and served mostly as a scrub nurse at a time when operating room nurses were in high demand. Burke reflected on the difficult working conditions and traumatic experiences that characterized her wartime service. She spoke about her social life and experience as a woman in the military. In this oral history, Burke shared how the military shaped her life and worldview. She spoke about her transition to civilian life and struggles with PTSD. Burke reflected on how counseling, community service, and veteran associations helped her feel better about her military service. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gina Burke Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-13 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Gina Burke License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BurkeGina_BeyerJason_2025-11-13_transcript Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army Nurse Corps Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Catholics Tagalog language Cebuano language Iloko language World War, 1939-1945 MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964 Leyte, Battle of, Philippines, 1944 Nursing education Military nursing Fort Sam Houston (Tex.) Fort Bliss (Tex.) William Beaumont Army Medical Center (El Paso, Tex.) Travis Air Force Base (Calif.) Vietnam. Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Corps, 1st United States. Army. 95th Evacuation Hospital Quonset huts Scrub nurses Medical Civic Action Programs American National Red Cross Fort Hood (Tex.) San Marcos Vet Center (Calif.) San Diego VA Medical Center (San Diego, Calif.) Agent Orange Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. American Legion Palomar College (San Marcos, Calif.) Cruisin’ Grand (Escondido, Calif.) Post-traumatic stress disorder Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Vietnam San Marcos (Calif.) Philippines California United States Leyte (Philippines) Cebu (Philippines) Luzon (Philippines) Denver (Colo.) Escondido (Calif.) El Paso (Tex.) Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) Da Nang (Vietnam) San Diego County (Calif.) El Paso (Tex.) Los Angeles (Calif.) San Diego (Calif.) Chula Vista (Calif.) Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/f7ff35808abcdac1c1144cc25c62378d.mp4 f5d5e76bd74da158c13f108487480121 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral history of Gina Burke, November 13, 2025 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gina Burke Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Vyanh Vo Felty Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-13 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Gina Burke License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</span></a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BurkeGina_BeyerJason_2025-11-13 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Description An account of the resource Gina Burke served during the Vietnam War as a First Lieutenant operating room nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Burke spoke about her family background in the Philippines, immigration to the U.S., and father’s military service. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps so she could complete nursing school with financial aid. Burke deployed to Vietnam and served mostly as a scrub nurse at a time when operating room nurses were in high demand. Burke reflected on the difficult working conditions and traumatic experiences that characterized her wartime service. She spoke about her social life and experience as a woman in the military. In this oral history, Burke shared how the military shaped her life and worldview. She spoke about her transition to civilian life and struggles with PTSD. Burke reflected on how counseling, community service, and veteran associations helped her feel better about her military service. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army Nurse Corps Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Catholic Church Tagalog language Cebuanos Ilokano people World War, 1939-1945 General Douglas MacArthur Battle of Leyte nursing school military nursing Fort Sam Houston (Tex.) Fort Bliss (Tex.) William Beaumont Army Medical Center Travis Air Force Base (Calif.) I Corps (ARVN) 95th evacuation hospital (Vietnam) Quonset hut scrub nurse MEDCAP Medical Civic Action Program China Beach (Da Nang, Vietnam) American Red Cross Fort Hood (Tex.) San Marcos Veterans Center (Calif.) San Diego VA Medical Center (Calif.) Agent Orange Veterans of Foreign Wars Vietnam Veterans of America American Legion Palomar College (Calif.) Cruisin' Grand (Escondido, Calif.) Post-traumatic stress disorder Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Vietnam San Marcos (Calif.) Philippines California United States Central Philippines Leyte (Philippines) Cebu (Philippines) Luzon (Philippines) Denver (Colo.) Escondido (Calif.) El Paso (Texas) Saigon (Vietnam) Da Nang (Vietnam) San Diego County (Calif.) El Paso (Tex.) Los Angeles (Calif.) San Diego (Calif.) Chula Vista (Calif.) Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Jason Beyer Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Thomas Galyean OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=GalyeanThomas_BeyerJason_2024-11-12_access.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. United States. Army—Veterans;Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975;chicken farm;U.S. Forest Service;El Cariso Hot Shots;Reserve Officers' Training Corps;San Marcos High School (Calif.);University of California, Los Angeles (Calif.);helitack;Loop Fire (Calif.);flight school;Fort Wolters (Texas);Fort Knox (Kentucky);The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam;We Were Soldiers;hunter-killer team;Bell AH-1 Cobra;Pleiku (Vietnam);Phan Rang (Vietnam);Bearcat (Vietnam);napalm;Fort Rucker (Alabama);Fort Hood (Texas);1968 Democratic National Convention;Gray Air Force Base (Texas);Ground-Controlled Approach;Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association;7-17th CAV;University of Virginia;Qui Nhon (Vietnam);My Lai (Vietnam);free-fire zone;return fire;law school;attorney;Fort Polk (Louisiana) OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Galyean, Thomas. Interview November 12th, 2024. SC027-071 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm United States. Army—Veterans ; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 ; chicken farm ; U.S. Forest Service ; El Cariso Hot Shots ; Reserve Officers' Training Corps ; San Marcos High School (Calif.) ; University of California, Los Angeles (Calif.) ; helitack ; Loop Fire (Calif.) ; flight school ; Fort Wolters (Texas) ; Fort Knox (Kentucky) ; The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam ; We Were Soldiers ; hunter-killer team ; Bell AH-1 Cobra ; Pleiku (Vietnam) ; Phan Rang (Vietnam) ; Bearcat (Vietnam) ; napalm ; Fort Rucker (Alabama) ; Fort Hood (Texas) ; 1968 Democratic National Convention ; Gray Air Force Base (Texas) ; Ground-Controlled Approach ; Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association ; 7-17th CAV ; University of Virginia ; Qui Nhon (Vietnam) ; My Lai (Vietnam) ; free-fire zone ; return fire ; law school ; attorney ; Fort Polk (Louisiana) Thomas Galyean Jason Beyer Moving image GalyeanThomas_BeyerJason_2024-11-12_access.mp4 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/719f129d05a256f9cb4708d531ea8735.mp4 Other video English 0 Interview Introduction 0 56 Personal Background Thomas Earl Galyean was a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He grew up working on his family’s chicken farm in San Marcos. His grandfather and uncle served in the military, and his father worked for Consolidated Aircraft building the B-25. Prior to entering the military, Galyean fought forest fires for the U.S. Forest Service with the El Cariso Hot Shots. U.S. Army ; Vietnam War ; San Diego (Calif.) ; Spanish-American War ; World War I ; World War II ; B-25 ; Consolidated Aircraft ; chicken farm ; U.S. Forest Service ; El Cariso Hot Shots 0 154 Military Enlistment There was compulsory military service for all men physically qualified for combat from Galyean’s high school graduating class of 1964. Galyean enlisted in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps when he enrolled at UCLA, which gave him the military deferment necessary to complete college before entering active duty as a Lieutenant. Galyean says he enlisted in the Army because it had a year-less time commitment than other branches. While on summer break before returning to UCLA, twelve members of the El Cariso Hot Shots died in the Loop Fire. Galyean says that the helitack units who helped save some firefighters inspired his interest in helicopter flight. Reserve Officers' Training Corps ; Army ; Army ROTC ; ROTC ; San Marcos High School ; UCLA ; helitack ; Loop Fire ; U.S. Navy ; U.S. Marines ; U.S. Airforce 0 329 Early Days of Military Service and Training Galyean completed flight school for fixed wing aircraft while in his senior year of college. Once on active duty, Galyean went to the officer basic course at Fort Knox, Kentucky as an Armor. He then began rotary wing flight school at Fort Wolters in Texas. Armor Officer ; basic training ; Second Lieutenant ; training ; Armor ; flight school ; fixed wing ; rotary wing ; platoon ; Fort Wolters ; Texas ; Fort Knox ; Kentucky ; helicopter ; TH-55 ; Howard Hughes ; Hughes Tool Company 0 455 Deployment to Vietnam Galyean references a documentary called The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam. He says he personally experienced most of what was described in the documentary, but his experience with the rules of engagement regarding return fire was different from the documentary. Galyean then describes his general experience of military service in Vietnam as part of an Air Cavalry troop. Galyean describes the organization of his platoon, their typical responsibilities, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Montagnards, free-fire zones, hunter-killer teams, napalm strikes, capturing enemy POWs, and evacuations. Galyean mentions the film, We Were Soldiers, and says it depicted much of what he experienced. Amazon Prime ; The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam ; Air Cavalry ; light observation helicopter ; OH-6 ; Central Highlands (Vietnam) ; Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam) ; Vietnam ; South Vietnam ; Laos ; Cambodia ; free-fire zone ; Montagnard (Vietnam) ; 4th Infantry ; battalion ; Cobra (AH-1) ; scout (helicopter) ; hunter-killer team ; command and control ; Huey (Bell UH-1 Iroquois) ; F-100 ; Pleiku ; Phan Rang ; Bearcat ; napalm ; We Were Soldiers ; P.O.W. camp 0 1071 Promotions and New Responsibilities Galyean finished his aircraft training at Fort Ruckers, Alabama before beginning a stateside tour at Fort Hood, Texas, where he was assigned a unique responsibility for his first six months. After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the U.S. President ordered there be developed a response team so the military could suppress riots. Galyean, then a Flight Operations Officer, worked with the Air Force from nearby Gray Air Force Base to organize an immediate response team and coordinate drills. For his second six months at Fort Hood, Galyean was commanding officer of the aviation support detachment for headquarters as part of the 501st Supply and Transport Battalion. Their main responsibility was quickly building temporary runways and landing strips for the Air Force, so that the armored division practically had its own portable airport. They used a Ground-Controlled Approach, which was a radar unit with a small control tower on a trailer used to call down aircraft. Vietnam ; Fort Rucker ; Fort Wolters ; flight school ; Huey ; First Lieutenant ; Fort Hood ; First Armored Division ; 1968 Democratic National Convention ; riot ; Chicago (Ill.) ; National Guard ; United States ; U.S. Air Force ; C-130 ; Gray Air Force Base ; Mechanized Infantry Battalion ; aircraft ; flight operations officer ; Brownsville (Tex.) ; aviation support detachment ; headquarters ; 501st Supply and Transport Battalion ; Deuce-and-a-Half ; pierced steel planking ; Desert Storm ; armored division ; Ground-Controlled Approach ; G.C.A. ; aero rifle platoon ; radar unit ; captain ; commanding officer 0 1565 Air Cavalry Assignment By the time he completed his stateside tour and deployed to Vietnam, Galyean was a Captain assigned to an Air Cavalry troop. He was made commanding officer of the aero rifle platoon, securing landing zones for aircraft throughout the week and conducting maintenance on Sundays. For his last six months in Vietnam, Captain Galyean was an Assistant S3 for the operations section of headquarters. He operated the control center assigning the Air Cavalry squadron and worked in conjunction with attack helicopter companies. At headquarters, he kept track of which units were flyable and ensured that aircraft got their assignments for supplying units. Vietnam ; Table of Organization ; Air Cavalry ; Air Cavalry Squadron ; Air Cavalry troop ; maintenance troop ; Huey Cobra ; Huey ; Cobra ; OH-6 ; gunship ; pilot ; platoon ; rifle platoon ; scout platoon ; light observation helicopter ; Assistant S3 0 1905 Adapting to the Military Lifestyle, and Media Representations of Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Galyean says that his general experience in Vietnam was difficult to adapt to, but he was forced to adapt quickly. He says the wives of American GIs especially struggled. The best writing he read on what it was like as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam are John Steinbeck’s writings as a war correspondent in Vietnam. Galyean again positively references the documentary, The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam. He discusses rules of engagement for return fire. He says scouts often had to shoot first or they would be killed before they found enemy combatants. Vietnam ; We Were Soldiers ; Mel Gibson ; wife ; Facebook ; Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association ; John Steinbeck ; Lady Bird ; Claudia Alta Johnson ; Lyndon B. Johnson ; L.B.J. ; University of Virginia ; Pleiku ; Air Cavalry ; Google ; Amazon Prime ; documentary ; helicopter pilot ; return fire 0 2292 Mechanical Issues with Huey Helicopters and Civilian Casualties in Vietnam Galyean describes some of the mechanical issues that Huey helicopters had. He tells a story from his time as an Assistant S3. He says a Cobras for one of his troops working along a beach had a rocket misfire and injured a little boy’s leg. Galyean says the My Lai massacre’s exposure to the public resulted in a standing order requiring investigations of civilian casualties to ensure whether they were intentional or accidental. Galyean was called upon to investigate the situation, and he says that, at the hospital where the boy was, the mother did not want to see the pilot chastised. Assistant S3 ; 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment ; helicopter ; Cobra ; Huey ; Huey B ; gunship ; rocket pod ; jet ; F-4 ; F-100 ; rotor system ; single rotor ; Qui Nhon ; boy ; My Lai ; Lieutenant William Calley ; civilian ; village ; Kit Carson Scouts ; NVA ; North Vietnamese Army ; platoon ; Lieutenant ; hospital ; Jeep ; Vietcong ; 7-17th CAV 0 2730 Good Luck, Recreation, Comradery, and Communication with Family While in Vietnam For good luck, Galyean prayed often. For off days and days without flying, Galyean recalls relaxing and listening to music with his comrades. Sundays were maintenance days and typically the first or last day of someone’s deployment, so they would throw parties for all the incoming and outgoing GIs. Galyean tells a humorous story about how they once cooked steak and lobster for their dinner. He says everyone he served with was like brothers to him. While in Vietnam, he would write to his wife often. After returning from Vietnam, he has kept in touch with some of the people he served alongside. prayer ; recreation ; music ; maintenance ; party ; 501st Supply Transport Battalion ; commanding officer ; food distribution ; First Armored Division ; Army ; Qui Nhon ; Tuy Hoa ; steak ; lobster ; Mess Sergeant ; friendship ; comradery ; infantrymen ; pilot ; scout ; family ; letter ; Vietnam 0 3030 End of Military Service, Adjusting to Civilian Life, and Joining a Veterans’ Organization Galyean ended his service while at Fort Hood, Texas, from which he drove to Brawley, California, where his wife was living with her parents and working for a car dealership. In the newspaper, he learned of a job opportunity for Imperial County leading the creation of a public employment program for Vietnam veterans. He worked for Imperial County for five months until he started law school in San Diego. Galyean says he was received well upon his return from Vietnam but mentions a fellow pilot with PTSD who committed suicide. He says his wife excelled as an accountant working for her parents’ car dealership, so she had no problem finding similar work elsewhere. Galyean joined the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and attended their convention in San Diego. He was also involved in writing some of the history of the 7-17th CAV. service ; Fort Hood (Tex.) ; Escondido (Calif.) ; newspaper ; law school ; advertisement ; Imperial County (Calif.) ; Public Employment Program ; veteran ; Vietnam ; Vietnam War ; Vietnam veteran ; personnel analyst ; Sacramento (Calif.) ; San Diego (Calif.) ; family ; community ; Navy Marine ; F-4 ; pilot ; car dealer ; high school ; accountant ; Ford ; GM ; Chrysler ; Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association ; convention ; 717th CAV 0 3478 Reflections on Military Service Galyean says it was a godsend that he survived and calls his wife the angel of his life. He thinks it is a natural response that most veterans who have seen combat have some PTSD. He says military service taught him to have faith in the Lord’s will, follow your heart, and defend the U.S. political system. wife ; PTSD ; life lessons ; military service ; war ; veteran ; faith ; attorney ; constitutional system ; government 0 3673 01:01:13 Association with North County San Diego Galyean grew up on his father’s chicken hatchery in San Marcos, California. After spending time on military bases across the country, he and his wife wanted to return to San Diego. Galyean tells the story of how his father migrated from Arkansas to San Marcos and were employed by Fred Williams, who owned multiple businesses in the city. He says that his family never left San Marcos and all of his siblings still reside there. San Marcos (Calif.) ; chicken farm ; chicken hatchery ; Fort Polk ; Louisiana ; Fort Rucker ; Alabama ; Fort Hood ; Texas ; San Diego County (Calif.) ; John Steinbeck ; Grapes of Wrath ; Arkansas ; Fred Williams ; cottage 0 3808 Final Reflections on Military Service and Veterans Galyean emphasizes that the documentary, The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam, and the movie, We Were Soldiers, are good representations of his military experience. He wishes more people knew that veterans are “just good, ordinary, responsible people.” He says his experience taught him to love your life and work, do what you love, and do it the best you can. movie ; love ; life ; ordinary ; brotherhood ; veteran ; experience ; responsible 0 Oral history Thomas Earl Galyean was a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He served with the 7-17th CAV as commanding officer of the aero rifle platoon, securing landing zones for aircraft. Galyean then served as an Assistant S3 for the operations section of headquarters, ensuring that aircraft received their assignments. Raised on his family’s chicken hatchery in San Marcos, California, Galyean narrates his family history, his decision to join the U.S. Army, and his interest in helicopter flight. Galyean describes his experience in flight school, including reflections on media representations of military training and the Vietnam War. Galyean describes his unique role while serving stateside, forming a military response team to suppress riots in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Galyean meditates on the impact of controversial topics, such as the My Lai massacre, civilian casualties, and the rules of engagement. Galyean reflects on religion, comradery, family, and how the military changed his life. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.985 --> 00:00:57.994 My name is Jason Victor Byer. I'm a graduate of California State University San Marcos. Today I will be interviewing Thomas Galyean. Today's date is Tuesday, November 12, 2024. We are located at the Kellogg Library at California State University San Marcos at 333 South Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, California 92096. My relationship to the interviewee is that we are both military veterans. The names of people attending this interview are the interviewer, Jason Beyer ; the interviewee, Thomas Galyean ; and Adel Bautista, the camera operator. The purpose of this interview is to conduct an oral history. Please state your full name. 00:00:57.994 --> 00:01:00.725 Thomas Earl Galyean. 00:01:00.725 --> 00:01:02.000 Your branch of service. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.635 U.S. Army. 00:01:04.635 --> 00:01:06.484 The highest rank you attained. 00:01:06.484 --> 00:01:08.254 Captain. 00:01:08.254 --> 00:01:11.275 And any war or conflicts you served with. 00:01:11.275 --> 00:01:13.935 The Vietnam War. 00:01:13.935 --> 00:01:21.905 Thank you. So I'll begin by asking you your biographical details. Where were you born? 00:01:21.905 --> 00:01:24.795 San Diego, California. 00:01:24.795 --> 00:01:30.325 Does your family have any past affiliations with the military? 00:01:30.325 --> 00:02:10.544 the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. And my uncle was a B-25 pilot in World War II. And my father though not in the military worked for Consolidated Aircraft, building the B-25. 00:02:10.544 --> 00:02:15.504 Did you hold any jobs prior to entering the military? 00:02:15.504 --> 00:02:34.835 The only job that I had besides working on the chicken farm I grew up on was—I did fight forest fires with the U.S. Forest Service, while I was in college one summer, with the El Cariso Hot Shots. 00:02:34.835 --> 00:02:42.324 When and why did you choose to join the military? Were you drafted or did you enlist? 00:02:42.324 --> 00:04:39.805 Actually, I ended up going to, enlisting through Army ROTC because I graduated from San Marcos High School in 1964. And when I graduated, there was compulsory military service. Everybody in my class who was a male who was physically qualified for combat—if they didn't have a deferment for ROTC, Reserve Officer Training Corps, at some college—were instantly drafted. Everybody else in my class who didn't go on a deferment and who was physically qualified were drafted. So, when I enrolled at UCLA, I took Army ROTC, and that gave me the deferment necessary to complete my degree and then be able to go on active duty as a Lieutenant. So, the one job that I had before that was fighting forest fires. And that particular crew, a month-and-a-half after I went back to school, was caught in the Loop Fire. Twelve of 'em burned to death. A thirteenth one died later. But, so, uh—and that could have been my fate had I not returned to UCLA for ROTC. But in the—seeing what happened and working with those guys and the helitack units—a couple of which helped save a couple of them—interested me in helicopter flight, which is what I ultimately did in the Army. 00:04:39.805 --> 00:04:46.915 You say that you entered into the branch known as the Army. Why did you choose that specific branch? 00:04:46.915 --> 00:05:29.584 Well, actually, I had the choice at that point—because UCLA had the ROTC for the Navy and Marines as well as the Air Force—to do any one of 'em. But I at that point picked the Army because, frankly, it had a year-less time commitment. After I was done with the military—'cause it had one year less than the others did—but then when I ended up volunteering for flight—to fly—then my commitment ended up being the same. 00:05:29.584 --> 00:05:34.774 For your early days of service, what type of training or school did you have? 00:05:34.774 --> 00:17:51.243 First school I had was Armor Officer Basic, because when you graduated as a Second Lieutenant and you were gonna fly, they had already—while I was during my senior year—they had already provided me with fixed wing training. So I learned to fly a fixed wing aircraft. But they then assign you a branch for a combat branch to serve in in the event you don't make it through flight school or—and depending on what branch you ended up with, the type of assignment you got when you got done with a rotary wing flight school. So they assigned me to Armor Officer as an officer in the Armor branch, which meant that as soon as I went on active duty, I went to Officer's basic course at Fort Knox, Kentucky for Armor, where basically they teach you to be a tank platoon leader. And then from there—that was basically a three-month course—then they send you to rotary wing flight school. Now the flight school is in two four-months consecutive portions. The first portion was at Fort Wolters, Texas, and that's where they teach you to fly a helicopter. They used a couple of different aircrafts. The one that I got trained in was what they call the TH-55, which was built by Howard Hughes and Hughes Tool Company, which we then learned to fly in at Fort Wolters, Texas. Now for anybody who really wanted to see what that involved, I just found out here a few months ago that on Amazon Prime there's available a about-an-hour video which is called Personal Experience of Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam (The Personal Experience - Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam). And it shows all the different trainings you got and then different types of experiences that you would have in Vietnam. And the only one in there that didn't, wasn't exactly what I experienced all the time—and I could identify with everything in that movie—was that we were always allowed to return fire if we were fired upon. Because what we did as an Air Cavalry troop, which is what I was in, you had three platoons: one platoon was a platoon of light observation helicopters—OH-6. The idea was we would be assigned an area, and most of my flights were in the Central Highlands area of Vietnam, along and in the vicinity of the Ho Chi Minh Trail—the western boundary of South Vietnam where it bordered up against Laos and Cambodia—and it was all jungle type of activity areas, so they would assigned to us a free-fire zone, they call it a (unintelligible) area, where we knew there were no friendlies at all. The only indigenous population that could be there in some of the places were what were called Montagnards. They were individual little communities of mountain people that lived in little villages that were built up on stakes. You knew where they were, you stayed away from 'em. They stayed away from everybody. They were the—so when we would go into whatever area they would give, if it moved, we could kill it, because it was the only humans we would see would be the enemy. So the way it would work is they would give us an area to work from—and what I mean by that, there'd be a clearing or an area someplace within about a 10 to 15 minute flight from the area where you're supposed to observe and search, where they would take out a fuel truck and there would be a fuel truck for us to be able to land and refill at. And frequently there would be, depending on whether we were working with the 4th Infantry or a South Vietnamese unit, there'd usually be an extra company to a battalion of soldiers there that were friendly soldiers from where we would work. So the scouts would fly in the area, they would try and find the enemy. And above them would be flying a couple of Cobras. The press called them hunter-killer teams of two scouts and two Cobras. And they'd be on station for a couple hours, and we'd be out there with two sets. So they would come off the search and they'd be replaced immediately on station by another team of two scout light observation helicopters and two Cobras. So what would happen—and then I would have—my infantry platoon would be—fly out and land at the staging area, usually. The only time that didn't happen was if the scouts found something before we got landed. And so once the scouts found something, our command and control ship that would be out there with the hunter-killer team, they'd try and assess as quickly as possible what kind of enemy we were looking at—how big the units were there, what was it gonna take to engage. We'd try and get a first landing zone, a place where we get at least hopefully four helicopters, but a minimum of two. And so what we would do is we would take my Hueys (Bell UH-1 Iroquois) with our infantry platoon, and we'd fly into that area first, and we'd put my infantry platoon, which usually went—it was reduced because at that time we were hard—it was hard to get replacements. 20 to 30 infantrymen we would put on the ground first to secure the landing zone. And then if we needed more troops to engage whatever enemy was found, then we would, with my Huey Platoon, be ferrying in the additional troops that were needed into that landing zone. Meanwhile, as soon as the enemy was found, the scouts, if they could, would throw a smoke grenade in the area they wanted hit the hardest. The Cobras would come in there and spray up the area. We always had the—the CNC (command and control) always had extra radios with the frequencies of the closest artillery unit that was usually on a fire base on hill round. And so, they would be able to immediately call in artillery if needed. There were different points that the artillery units that were out there would have marked. We knew where they were, they knew where they were. We'd give 'em the point to fire, to first start firing, and then we would be able to adjust because we had—we were all trained, but our CNC were trained in how to adjust artillery—and so we would adjust artillery, and our CNC always had available tactical air support jets—F-100s, usually—out of Pleiku, Phan Rang, or Bearcat. Those were the three closest Air Force bases that always had F-100s available for immediate response. So we would call in a fire strike—our command and control—which would come in and shoot up the place wherever we wanted a napalm strike. And then we would bring in the rest of whatever infantrymen we wanted to engage the enemy. And then if you ever saw a movie, We Were Soldiers, that movie depicted a lot of what we did just about every day. But, plus, the one thing they learned, that movie was about the very first Air Cavalry operation. But what we learned at that point, because we were always putting people in where there was no other friendly around before dark, we would withdraw all of the people that we'd put on the ground, because there was a decent chance if we didn't, they wouldn't be there the next day. So that's basically the way we would work. If—once we were on the ground, if we had found a bunch of materiel of the enemy, our infantrymen would burn it or capture some of it. If we captured the enemy—and a lot of times we did—then we would fly the enemy to a P.O.W. camp in Pleiku. Frequently we would end up, if somebody—whether it was the enemy or some of our own soldiers that were—had been wounded, we would fly them to the hospital at Pleiku to evacuate them there. And that's basically the general way we worked from day to day. 00:17:51.243 --> 00:17:55.634 Did you receive any promotions? And if so, could you tell me about them? 00:17:55.634 --> 00:31:45.355 Yeah, well, I was—originally I was a programmed to go to Vietnam directly out of flight school, because for the first five or six years of the war, as soon as a class graduated in Fort Rucker, they immediately went to Vietnam. They had a three-year flight commitment, which meant they would go to Vietnam, come home—if they were still around—for a year, and then go back for a second year in Vietnam. But because of when I graduated from flight school—I mean I was fortunate. I was fortunate because I ended up an extra two months after the first half of flight school because my wife was pregnant and she was about ready to deliver. And the flight surgeons and her doctor at Fort Wolters said it was not safe for us to travel and her to move to Fort Rucker. Since my commitment started at the end of flight school, they said, "We'll just let you join a later class"—which is what happened. So the class that I originally started with, started the second half, about a month before I ended up starting. And as it turned out, two weeks before we graduated from the second part of flight school, which was during our tactics and combat training in a Huey, I got a stateside tour first. So I was—because of the way that it worked, I was a First Lieutenant by the time I got done with flight school. And then I ended up, as a First Lieutenant, going to Fort Hood to the First Armored Division where I was the flight operations officer for the division. Now, I had a very interesting job when I got there because besides being in charge of the flight operations, making sure all the pilots that were at Fort Hood from in the First Armored Division that were between tours of Vietnam got all their flight time, 'cause they still had to fly. But at that point in time, the year—in 1968 there had been riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. And so the president had ordered that there be developed a program—because it took so long to get soldiers and National Guard to Chicago for that riot to have an immediate response team. Some teams already set up to where if there was some kind of a riot in the United States that needed to have military control, they didn't run into the problem they had run into at the Chicago Convention of getting them there in time to do a lot of good. So my job was to work with the Air Force there first and organize a situation where we had a Mechanized Infantry Battalion from the First Armored Division on standby to meet with a bunch of Air Force C-130s at Gray Air Force Base—which was right next to Fort Hood, which was where we were—where they could at a moment's notice—they called the drill twice. We did it twice while I was there. Where they would say, we need to scramble like we were going to some place. So, we had it organized, which the—where the Air Force C-130s would come from and marry up with the Mechanized Infantry Battalion of the First Armored Division that was to be used to get 'em over there, load them, take 'em up and fly 'em around for a few hours to make sure, you know, that the timing was such, we could get 'em gone as quickly as possible, you know? (Galyean smiles and laughs.) And so that was kind of a screwy job. Nobody ever had it before. But that was one of the things I got to do. So that, and during that period of time, because for that first six months that I was there, I was the Flight Operations Officer, we'd have—when a Huey got a thousand hours or whatever it was of flight time in Vietnam, they would bring them back to be rebuilt—put in a new engine and do all kinds of rebuild to these aircraft that were still in shape to be rebuilt. And they would fly 'em into Gray Air Force base, take off the tail rotors and the tail boom and the rotors. And they would fly 'em over, put 'em back together there at Gray Air Force Base, and then we would get pilots there who—and we're talking 30 aircraft at a time, 30 or 40—we would just have fly down to Brownsville, which is where they were rebuilt, and then bring them back, and then the next week there'd be a bunch. So that's basically what I was doing the first six months. The second six months that I was there, I was the commanding officer of this aviation support detachment, of which the headquarters was a little part of—which is part of the 501st Supply and Transport Battalion, and the whole mission and ability of that aviation support detachment was—they gave—we had some Deuce-and-a-Halfs with a lot of PSP, pierced steel planking, that we could go out and set up a runway that the Air Force could bring in that would be a portable runway. The theory was when you're in an armored division and you're moving as hopefully you'd be moving like we saw later in Desert Storm, you'd have the ability to take with the armored division its own airport. And we had a little G.C.A. (Ground-Controlled Approach), which was a radar unit that you could call down aircraft through a cloud, you know, and a little control tower that was on a trailer that you could pull. So basically you could have your own airfield with the armored division as it was moving. So that was my job for the second six months. But by the time I was then—I went to Vietnam, I was a captain. I was—I'd had a six month commanding officer experience as a company commander of this aviation support detachment. So when I got to Vietnam for the T.O.R.—the Table of Organization—when they, I got there, they assigned me to an Air Cavalry troop. The Air Cavalry troop being consisted of three Air Cavalry—I mean, the Air Cavalry Squadron had three Air Cavalry troops and a maintenance troop. And so each one of these Air Cavalry troops would be the separate units that would go out and have a certain area to look at and to study. So I was then a Captain, which called for—when I got there, they made me the commanding officer of the aero rifle platoon, which consisted of 10 Hueys of which four or five we needed to fly every mission. And then the other two platoons—of the other platoons of Air Cavalry troop were the scout platoon, that had a dozen light observation helicopters with a pilot for each and a door gunner crew chief for each ; and a dozen Huey Cobras, gunships, and the pilots for those. So, like I say, I had the rifle platoon, so what we did was bring in my platoon every day to wherever we were gonna be to secure a landing zone if we needed one to engage the enemy. And then at the end of the day, whatever we'd put in to fight the enemy, we'd take 'em back at the end of the day. And, during the six months that I did that, it was basically, out of a week, we would probably have an average of five days that we would actually fly. Sundays were always a maintenance day, and we could pretty well count on one of the days during Monday through Saturday for some reason, whether we had too many shot down or not enough flyable because it takes a lot of maintenance to keep a helicopter in the air. We used to figure an hour of maintenance times for an hour of flight time for a Huey, and for a Cobra and an OH-6, an hour-and-a-half to two hours of maintenance time for every hour of flight. So, that's what we would do for an average, I'd say, of like five days a week for the six months that I was there in that position. Now, the last half of my time in Vietnam—and I was still as a Captain, which is what I did for the rest of the time—I was in the headquarters. And in the headquarters I was what they called an Assistant S3—S3 being the operations section of the headquarters. And my job was, for part of the time, to man the control center, which meant that we would assign the Air Cavalry squadron—also worked in conjunction with a couple of attack helicopter companies. And our headquarters would get in the assignments for what aircraft in our area needed to be supplied to what units. We'd get the—and we usually would get that by about midnight—then by two or three in the morning, hopefully we would have received from each unit's maintenance how many aircraft they had that were flyable. So we could sit there and we immediately assign what aircraft units were gonna supply what aircraft to what units, you know, to support, so we could get 'em out to where they could fly—take off as soon as the sun came up. And that's basically what I did for the last six months. 00:31:45.355 --> 00:31:56.214 What was the hardest part of military lifestyle for you to adapt to? 00:31:56.214 --> 00:38:12.885 Oh, I would say just Vietnam in general. The—it was harder probably for my wife. If you ever saw the movie We Were Soldiers by Mel Gibson, that's the only movie I've ever seen that really showed what our wives went through. But it didn't take very long to adjust though, because you had to adjust real fast (laughs). You didn't have much, much choice. The—one of the—people have asked me a lot what it was like to fly over there. And as a matter of fact, somebody had posted and asked on Facebook for some—on the website for the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association—for people to describe what it was like. Well, probably the best thing I've ever read that describes what it was like to fly in a Huey one of the missions like we flew on was something written by John Steinbeck. It turned out that John Steinbeck's wife and Lady Bird (Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson) were very close friends in college. So L.B.J. (Lyndon B. Johnson) commissioned John Steinbeck to go to Vietnam for a year, do as many things as he could, and send back daily dispatches that went to LBJ. And they got published at some time in a magazine, but ultimately the University of Virginia a few years ago collected all these and published them. And there is a three or four page dispatch that he wrote that describes his experience in flying out of Pleiku on a Air Cavalry operation in which he was flying out of the same exact place that we flew out of, into the same area with an Air Cavalry troop, a couple of years before I was there. So, anybody who wanted to read something, that's all they gotta do is Google: Helicopter, John Steinbeck, and Vietnam. And it'll pop right up and you can read it. That's—now for other means to be able to see what it was like, I saw here a month or two ago on Amazon Prime, they had done a documentary—it's about an hour long—of personal experiences of Vietnam helicopter pilots. All you gotta do is Google that, if you're on Amazon Prime, and it'll come up with this one-hour presentation that goes through the steps of flight school and then what it was like flying there. And I experienced just about everything you can see in that video, except one thing: one of the units evidently said they were not allowed to return fire if they were shot at without specific authority after that. We always had the right—as far as our unit knew—to return fire if fired upon. There was a point in time when they came down and said we couldn't fire until we were fired upon. But that presented a problem for the scouts, because usually the first way they would find the enemy—and when they would find them, the enemy would find them and start shooting at 'em. So if you didn't—if they didn't fire first, well, the usual way that the scouts would do it is if they saw the enemy, they'd target the enemy, shoot to break off, so they could get away. And then the Cobras would come down and rake the area. And then we'd bring in whatever else. So we always had the power to return fire, our unit did. And frequently our scouts had to shoot first or they were dead by the time they found the enemy. But other than that, I think that one hour documentary just about shows everything that guys experienced that—and I could identify with all of it. 00:38:12.885 --> 00:38:20.875 What were your interactions like with local cultures and the people you encountered during deployment? 00:38:20.875 --> 00:45:30.755 During the period of time that I was the Assistant S3, scheduling things and running the operation center during the day when there was an emergency—something had to be done, they'd call in and we'd scramble whatever ship—because we always had standby ships available for emergencies. There was a situation that happened—and frankly the unit I was in, was the only unit that ever had a complete history that was written afterwards, 7-17th CAV (7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment), that from which they solicited recollections of actual pilots and crews from the battle plan (Galyean's cellphone rings and he silences it) things of all of the different units in the 7-17th., and it described it a little bit in this. What happened was, you see the rockets that were fired from helicopter from a Cobra or a Huey, when they used the Huey B models for gunships, were from rocket pods that that were developed for jets—for the F-4, the F-100, which is a very solid platform. Now with a Huey and a Cobra—with the type of rotor system they have, which was a single rotor—every time that the rotor is perpendicular to the direction of flight, you get a little (Galyean bounces once in his chair) bump, a little increase lift. And so you're always like this—(Galyean bounces side to side in his chair)—when you're flying. And you—that's that (Galyean points up, twirls his finger, and imitates a helicopter sound) wha, wha, wha, wha, wha that you hear when you hear a Huey go by. And they didn't have for those all of the solid state electoral connections for the firing operations like the jets had. Some of the things had to be soldered as part of making it work for that kind of aircraft. When you do this (Galyean bounces in his seat) to soldered electrical wires, sometimes they become disconnected. And so occasionally what would happen is it would get disconnected and when they would try to fire a rocket, it wouldn't fire. So there was a procedure that we would do when that happened—'cause it would happen from time to time. You'd take that—that Cobra would fly to the nearest Air Force base, where they always had a place that you could, at the Air Force base, that you could land, you could hover over to and sit down, and they would remove the—they had the ability to remove that pod and then disarm it so nobody accidentally got hurt. And so we had this—I got this call that a—one of the Cobras for one of our troops that had been working up north along the beach area had had a misfire on one of these rockets. And that the rocket had hit on the beach near where a little boy was playing, and he got some injury to his leg. So I scrambled a Huey to go out there and pick him up and his mother and take him to the—we were near Qui Nhon at that point—to the hospital at Qui Nhon to tend to his injury. Well this was a couple of years after an incident that happened at a place called My Lai, where an infantry Lieutenant had allowed his unit to shoot up some civilians in a village and they couldn't without really identifying for sure that they were the enemy. And as a result of that incident with this Lieutenant Calley (Lieutenant William Calley) and My Lai, there was a standing order, like the military does from time to time, where somebody screws up, they go to the leaders above that to try to analyze what could that higher leader have done to prepare for—to make sure it doesn't happen again. Did he chastise 'em for not having done whatever they felt they should have done? But at that point in time, then there became a standing order that if there was a civilian casualty as a result of our operation, there would be investigated to make sure as to whether or not it was intentional or whether it was accidental. So I get this call to take, to go investigate—and it just so happened we had in our headquarters at that time, what we call the Kit Carson Scout, that was an NVA (North Vietnamese Army) First Lieutenant who had defected. And as a matter of fact, he'd worked with my platoon on the ground, so I was very familiar with him 'cause I'd been on the ground with him in operations. And so I took this—and we went over to the hospital, which was only less than a half-hour drive in a Jeep. So we went over there to interview the mother. And when we got there and the mother found out why we were there, her comment was, "I know it was a mistake, I know it was an accident, don't chastise the pilot because he might get mad and not come back to help protect us from the Vietcong." So I thought that was kind of a unique experience. 00:45:30.755 --> 00:45:35.355 Was there something that you did for good luck while you were in Vietnam? 00:45:35.355 --> 00:45:40.684 Prayed a lot. 00:45:40.684 --> 00:45:46.885 What did you do for recreation or when you were off duty? 00:45:46.885 --> 00:48:42.355 Well, when we were off, like on the days we didn't fly for summer or on the Sundays, we'd relax, play music. Because Saturdays—because Sundays were always a down day for maintenance—we would usually on Saturday nights—and on Sundays were usually the day that we had new guys coming in and the old guys going out. When you arrived, you knew if you were living at the end of your tour, the day you already knew when you were going home. And so it was always on Sundays—so we had people leaving and more people coming in. So we had kind of a situation where, what we used to do is if you were one of the one or two or three of the officers who were—or pilots—who were gonna be leaving the follow a week after that, you would throw a party for the guys who were leaving the next day. And so what would you do? You get drunk, and you just have a party. (Galyean laughs) I had kind of a funny situation if we were able to do. Because of when I was in the 501st Supply Transport Battalion, the guy who was the commanding officer of the food distribution for the First Armored Division and I were good friends, because we were in the same battalion, and he had just happened to be responsible for the food distribution for the Army in Qui Nhon in the area that we were. And I was able to call him, and—because he was so close—and he got us a couple of cases of steaks for our party. And that morning—that Saturday morning, since we were able to—we were near a place called Tuy Hoa where there were lobster boats that came in every morning. We flew out and landed on the beach, and our Mess Sergeant went with us with, and we got a bunch of live lobsters that he took back and immediately put in a boiling pot, 'cause they had to be boiled while they were alive. So we—our party that night had steak and lobster (Galyean laughs). But I mean, that was the kind of things you did for recreation, and that was about it in our unit. 00:48:42.355 --> 00:48:52.054 What kind of friendships and camaraderie did you form while serving and with whom? 00:48:52.054 --> 00:49:43.304 Every single one of my infantrymen and the pilots I knew, we were like brothers. There was never any problem when we would have a scout go down and we weren't sure the condition. I had infantrymen volunteering at any time to repel down there to help 'em and help get 'em out. You know, Jason. You're brothers. So— 00:49:43.304 --> 00:49:51.844 How did you stay in touch with family and friends? Did you choose to keep communication with them while deployed? 00:49:51.844 --> 00:50:30.425 Um—(Galyean laughs)—you really didn't have much time. While I was in Vietnam, I'd write a letter to my wife frequently. But after that, yes. I from time to time have kept in touch with some of the guys, as I have with some of the guys that I was visiting who were burned from that fire when I was in the forest service. But yeah. 00:50:30.425 --> 00:50:39.594 So now we're coming towards your end of service. Do you recall the day your service ended? Where were you when your service ended? 00:50:39.594 --> 00:50:43.505 Fort Hood, Texas. And yes, I do remember (Galyean laughs). 00:50:43.505 --> 00:50:47.005 Did you return home or where did you go? 00:50:47.005 --> 00:53:55.625 From there, my wife's parents at the time had moved from the Escondido area. They lived in Brawley. He had a car dealership then, down there. So I went to—we drove back across the—from Fort Hood, Texas to their place. First I picked up a newspaper. I was scheduled to go to law school. So when I got out it was April, and I was scheduled to start law school in the fall. And I just happened to pick up a newspaper and there was an advertisement for somebody at the—to work at the county of Imperial as—and they wanted a vet. And it was because the government, as it turned out, had just passed a law. It was something they called the PEP program, which was a program for—public employment program—for Vietnam vets. And what they were trying to do is get state and local governments to come up with jobs for vets that were coming out of the Vietnam War now, because now we're standing down. We're getting outta Vietnam. And so it just so happened they needed somebody to administer the beginning of their program so—for the county of Imperial. So they hired me as a personnel analyst to go to Sacramento for a weekend to help figure out the rules of how this was gonna work and then start the plan and program for the county of Imperial. So then I was going around to school districts and different city governments and everything, trying to get them to come up with a job, and then the government would pay half of the salary with the idea they would do that for the first year, and then hopefully the public employer would continue in the future. And so I did that from the time that I got out of the Army for the county of Imperial for basically five months until law school started for me in San Diego. 00:53:55.625 --> 00:54:02.275 How were you received by your family and community when you returned back from Vietnam? 00:54:02.275 --> 00:55:00.675 Well, well frankly, because my family was always very supportive, and of course then I was at Fort Hood, so I mean—and when I was in law school, which was—and working for the PEP program and then in law school—I was well received. The only thing that was kind of a real bummer was the other pilot in my unit that had been a Navy Marine F-4 pilot evidently had PTSD so bad that on our contracts final, at the end of the first year, he stuck his head in an oven and killed himself. 00:55:00.675 --> 00:55:06.005 How did you readjust to civilian life? You said you went back to law school? 00:55:06.005 --> 00:56:50.824 Yeah, I went to law school, and let's just say I was highly motivated (laughs). I really worked. And my wife's father had always been a car dealer, and she had while she was in high school worked as an accountant for him—'cause there's a—it's a—car dealerships have an incredibly complex accounting system, particularly since they gotta have parts for just every kind of car, you know,? If you're a Ford, you gotta be able to repair GM, Chrysler, et cetera. So you got a complete inventory and financial accounting for the different parts sections. And she had did that when she was in high school for her dad. So she had no problem while we were, while I was in law school in San Diego. The first car dealership she walked into hired her on the spot to do accounting for them for parts. And so she had no problem adapting really, really quickly, 'cause she got a job doing exactly what she had done while she was in high school and what she did somewhat while I was in Vietnam for her dad. They lived—she lived with her parents. She and my son lived with her parents while I was in Vietnam. 00:56:50.824 --> 00:56:56.000 Did you join any veterans organizations after you returned home? 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:58.000 Yeah, I did. Eventually when they came up with this Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, I joined that and went to their convention when it was in San Diego and participated in a couple of activities that they had and was involved in the writing of the history of the 7-17th CAV, because it turned out the guy that replaced me in Vietnam was the one who did all the work to get all of the after-action reports from all of the different units and generated this history. And then he would send it to people before the last edition was published to be able to add to it what their old personal recollections were. So I worked on that with him, but that was about it. 00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:09.585 So we're moving on to reflections. How has your service impacted your life, your community, your faith, and your family? 00:58:09.585 --> 00:59:43.315 My faith. I think it was a godsend that I was—I survived. And my wife, she was—she's the angel of my life. And she's a very spiritual person. I think it—particularly through what I've been going through—appreciate what veterans have gone through since then. And it's—I cannot fathom that there are very many veterans that have seen the things that most veterans who are part of the point of the sword in any of these war activities wouldn't have to some degree some PTSD—would just be human. I'm sure you know. 00:59:43.315 --> 00:59:53.905 What are some life lessons you learned from military service? 00:59:53.905 --> 01:00:21.114 Always do your best and have faith that the Lord's will will be presumed—will occur—if you give it a chance—if you follow your heart. 01:00:21.114 --> 01:00:33.414 What message would you like to leave for future generations who will view or hear this interview? 01:00:33.414 --> 01:01:13.934 I've spent the rest of my life as an attorney. I would say without a doubt, this constitutional system that we have is probably the best governments—governance—system there is, and it's worth defending. 01:01:13.934 --> 01:01:21.184 How did you become associated with the San Diego North County region? 01:01:21.184 --> 01:03:28.000 Well, I grew up in San Marcos on a chicken farm. My dad had a chicken hatchery. And so it wasn't hard when you've been places like Fort Polk, Louisiana ; Fort Rucker, Alabama ; Fort Hood, Texas ; to come home and realize that San Diego County is a good place to come home to. So that's why my wife and I knew that's where we wanted to come back to. Same reason my dad, when he was—my dad settled ultimately in San Marcos because if you ever read John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, my father and his uncle and cousins, when they lost or were losing their little walnut ranch in Arkansas, came out and were traveling all over picking crops and doing that. And when they got to San Marcos, a guy gave him a job at that point, and he decided, This is where I want to live. And this is where he—so that's—it was a guy's name, was Fred Williams. Fred Williams had a square dance barn, he had the first gas station, and he gave my dad a job there. He had these four little cottages that were adobe cottages. My dad got his mother and three younger siblings here. And we never—he never left and we never left. We came back, as did all of my siblings. 01:03:28.000 --> 01:03:44.864 Thank you for taking the time to share your recollections of military service. In conclusion, is there anything you've always wanted to share about your service or veteran experience that you never have? 01:03:44.864 --> 01:04:01.554 No, I think I've probably just about hit—I mean, like I say, all you gotta do is see those two—see that one—those two movies, and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about. 01:04:01.554 --> 01:04:10.485 What do you wish more people knew about veterans? 01:04:10.485 --> 01:05:09.905 There just good, ordinary, responsible people. And they've experienced some things that I think give them an understanding of what our society is worth and what it means to be a part of a brotherhood. They experienced it. 01:05:09.905 --> 01:05:16.914 In your unveiling of the journey, what are the lessons learned from your military experience? 01:05:16.914 --> 01:05:29.000 Love life. Love what you're doing, do what you love, and do it the best that you can. 01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:32.704 Thank you for your time today. 01:05:32.704 --> 01:05:34.204 You got it. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en video Property rights reside with the university. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. This resource is licensed for noncommercial educational use using CC NC-BY 4.0. Please contact Special Collections at archives csusm.edu if you need reproductions made. Please see the related “Preferred Citation note” for language on citing materials from this collection. &#13 ; Permission to examine Library materials is not authorization to publish or to reproduce the examined material in whole, or in part. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=GalyeanThomas_BeyerJason_2024-11-12_access.xml GalyeanThomas_BeyerJason_2024-11-12_access.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galyean, Thomas. Interview November 12th, 2024. Description An account of the resource Thomas Earl Galyean was a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He served with the 7-17th CAV as commanding officer of the aero rifle platoon, securing landing zones for aircraft. Galyean then served as an Assistant S3 for the operations section of headquarters, ensuring that aircraft received their assignments. Raised on his family’s chicken hatchery in San Marcos, California, Galyean narrates his family history, his decision to join the U.S. Army, and his interest in helicopter flight. Galyean describes his experience in flight school, including reflections on media representations of military training and the Vietnam War. Galyean describes his unique role while serving stateside, forming a military response team to suppress riots in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Galyean meditates on the impact of controversial topics, such as the My Lai massacre, civilian casualties, and the rules of engagement. Galyean reflects on religion, comradery, family, and how the military changed his life. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-071 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-11-12 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thomas Galyean Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army—Veterans Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Poultry farms United States. Forest Service El Cariso Hotshots (Calif.) Reserve Officers' Training Corps San Marcos High School (San Marcos, Calif.) University of California, Los Angeles Loop Fire, Calif., 1966 Air pilots—Training of Fort Wolters (Tex.) Fort Knox (Ky.) Bell AH-1 Cobra (Attack helicopter) Phan Rang (Vietnam) Bearcat (Vietnam) Napalm Fort Rucker (Ala.) Fort Hood (Tex.) Democratic National Convention (1968 : Chicago, Ill.) Gray Air Force Base (Tex.) Ground-controlled approach (Aeronautics) Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association United States. Army. 7th Cavalry Regiment University of Virginia My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968 Legal education—United States Lawyers Fort Polk (La.) Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Texas California Kentucky Vietnam Tây Nguyên (Vietnam) Vietnam (Republic : 1954-1975) Laos Cambodia Chicago (Ill.) Brownsville (Tex.) Brawley (Calif.) Escondido (Calif.) Imperial County (Calif.) Sacramento (Calif.) Louisiana Alabama Arkansas Pleiku (Vietnam) Phan Rang (Vietnam) Biên Hòa (Vietnam) Qui Nhon (Vietnam) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Thomas Galyean License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Community history San Diego Veterans History Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/bf4f4b113bcc11eb37cf6ce6bdf0b1fc.pdf 8c4371b5c262998739da418766fb3436 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shaffer, David. Interview transcript, November 20, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource David Shaffer Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-20 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. David Shaffer License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20_transcript Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Description An account of the resource Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force Cold War Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Convair Victory over Japan Day Fort Bliss (Tex.) San Diego State University Keesler Air Force Base (Miss.) United States. Army Corps of Engineers Six-Day War Sinai Peninsula Lajes Field (Azores) Strategic Air Command (U.S.) Hahn Air Base (Germany) Lackland Air Force Base (Tex.) United States. Federal Aviation Administration Tinker Air Force Base (Okla.) Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Germany) World War, 1939–1945 United States. Air Force—Occupational specialties Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (Ariz.) McGuire Air Force Base (N.J.) Ramstein Air Base (Germany) Hitler-Jugend European Recovery Program (1948–1952) Andrews Air Force Base (Md.) Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 United States. Department of Veterans Affairs McClellan–Palomar Airport (Calif.) Germany. Luftwaffe Mikoyan (Firm) Sukhoi (Firm) Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908–1973 Fulda Gap (Germany) Freemasons Agent Orange Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Europe Colorado Springs (Colo.) Colorado San Diego (Calif.) California Texas Philippines Pennsylvania Cortez (Colo.) Shelter Island (San Diego, Calif.) Azores (Portugal) Portugal Germany San Diego County (Calif.) San Antonio (Tex.) Oklahoma City (Okla.) Tucson (Ariz.) Arizona Mississippi New Jersey Israel Middle East Austria Bavaria Kastellaun (Germany) Koblenz (Germany) Libya Africa, North United States Winston-Salem (N.C.) North Carolina Iowa Vietnam Berlin (Germany) Frankfurt (Germany) Berlin (Germany : West) Germany (East) Germany (West) Soviet Union Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Kitzbühel (Austria) Zweibrücken (Germany) Moscow (Russia) Munich (Germany) Philadelphia (Pa.) Ohio New Zealand Australia France Canada Carlsbad (Calif.) Fallbrook (Calif.) Arkansas Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/e60dc869cbce01c35fe843aa0a4ca62d.mp4 6ebe11ea2ac78a7b141b1066d32dad13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral history of David Shaffer, November 20, 2025 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource David Shaffer Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-20 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. David Shaffer License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving image Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Description An account of the resource Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force Cold War Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Convair Victory over Japan Day Fort Bliss (Tex.) San Diego State University Keesler Air Force Base (Miss.) United States. Army Corps of Engineers Six-Day War Sinai Peninsula Lajes Field (Azores) Strategic Air Command (U.S.) Hahn Air Base (Germany) Lackland Air Force Base (Tex.) United States. Federal Aviation Administration Tinker Air Force Base (Okla.) Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Germany) World War, 1939–1945 United States. Air Force—Occupational specialties Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (Ariz.) McGuire Air Force Base (N.J.) Ramstein Air Base (Germany) Hitler-Jugend European Recovery Program (1948–1952) Andrews Air Force Base (Md.) Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 United States. Department of Veterans Affairs McClellan–Palomar Airport (Calif.) Germany. Luftwaffe Mikoyan (Firm) Sukhoi (Firm) Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908–1973 Fulda Gap (Germany) Freemasons Agent Orange Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Europe Colorado Springs (Colo.) Colorado San Diego (Calif.) California Texas Philippines Pennsylvania Cortez (Colo.) Shelter Island (San Diego, Calif.) Azores (Portugal) Portugal Germany San Diego County (Calif.) San Antonio (Tex.) Oklahoma City (Okla.) Tucson (Ariz.) Arizona Mississippi New Jersey Israel Middle East Austria Bavaria Kastellaun (Germany) Koblenz (Germany) Libya Africa, North United States Winston-Salem (N.C.) North Carolina Iowa Vietnam Berlin (Germany) Frankfurt (Germany) Berlin (Germany : West) Germany (East) Germany (West) Soviet Union Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Kitzbühel (Austria) Zweibrücken (Germany) Moscow (Russia) Munich (Germany) Philadelphia (Pa.) Ohio New Zealand Australia France Canada Carlsbad (Calif.) Fallbrook (Calif.) Arkansas Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Judith Downie Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Jim Carr OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=CarrJim_DownieJudith_2017-09-26.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. Distribution Services;CSUSM;Asset tracking OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Carr, Jim. Interview, September 26, 2017 SC027-091 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm Distribution Services ; CSUSM ; Asset tracking Jim Carr Judith Downie sound CarrJim_DownieJudith_2017-09-26.m4a 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/31e232bd190157b0333d3c3a3d37e764.m4a Other audio English 0 Introduction 0 28 Accountable fixed assets for CSUSM Jim talks about the folder he brought into the interview that documents Cal State San Marcos' fixed assets across 82 pages. That folder is included in CSUSM library Special Collection. Fixed assets ; Cal State San Marcos ; Asset tracking 0 333 Education and Employment in the CSU System Jim talks about his education at San Diego State University where he received a Bachelor's degree in English and worked as a student assistant. His work as a student assistant at SDSU eventully led him to his career as a property manager at SDSU and then CSUSM. Asset tracking ; Education ; San Diego State University ; Cal State San Marcos ; Student employment 0 1008 Watching the University Grow Jim discusses how CSUSM has grown in his 24 years working on the campus. Blossoming into a campus with over 17,000 students. CSUSM ; Expansion ; Student experience 0 1379 Barcoding Assets Jim talks about one of the largest projects during his tenure at CSUSM, barcoding all of the fixed assets on campus. Barcodes ; Fixed assets ; Asset tracking 0 1604 Sustainability and Purchasing Jim talks about the ways that his department worked with other departments on campus to create sustainable plans for the retirement of assets and how on campus purchasing plays a part in that project. Sustainability ; Asset retirement ; Asset planning ; Asset tracking 0 2175 Technology Growth in Higher Education Jim talks about how technology has been implemented within the CSU system over the course of his career. Email ; Technology development ; Higher education ; CSUSM ; SDSU 0 2292 Retirement Jim talks about his plans for retirement which include staying active on the Retiree's Association and backpacking with his grandson. Backpacking ; Retirement ; Retiree's Association 0 2542 Asset End of Life Planning Jim talks about how assets are retired from the CSU system through sustainable means. Donations or reselling old er assets are often used as ways to retire old assets and keep them out of landfills. Sustainability ; Asset retirement ; CSUSM ; Donations 0 2898 Crunching the Numbers Jim talks about how he did some quick calculations to see how many thousands of miles he drove during his commutes and how much money was spent on fuel. Trivia ; Commuting ; Expenses ; CSUSM 0 Oral history Jim Carr spent 23 years at California State University San Marcos working for the Distribution Services team and was instrumental in implementing the first barcoded inventory tracking system for the University. Jim discusses his time working for CSUSM as part of Distribution Services and how his education and background led to him this job. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:01.314 --> 00:00:16.155 Okay, this is Tuesday, September 26th, 2017. Judith Downie, Special Collections and History Librarian at Cal State San Marcos with Jim Carr, of Materials Management at CSUSM to record an oral history. 00:00:16.155 --> 00:00:19.545 Okay, so this picks up very, very well. So-- 00:00:19.545 --> 00:00:19.885 Very well, 00:00:19.885 --> 00:00:20.714 Don't worry about speaking. 00:00:20.714 --> 00:00:21.942 Good morning, Judith. 00:00:21.942 --> 00:00:23.047 Good morning. Jim 00:00:23.047 --> 00:00:28.995 Jim Carr here, also known as James Carr, in case any official documents need to be-- 00:00:28.995 --> 00:00:48.704 Okay. So let's go back to what you were talking about before I got the recorder started. There's about three quarters of an inch of eleven by four or --eight and a half by fourteen (inch) paper. Computer printout with signatures from Ernest Zumwalt, Patricia Harris, and Ron Neu-- 00:00:48.704 --> 00:00:49.395 Farris 00:00:49.395 --> 00:00:50.085 Harris. 00:00:50.085 --> 00:00:51.005 Farris. Farris. 00:00:51.005 --> 00:01:12.355 Farris, I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've used her name. And Ron New who, in regards to an inventory of assets here at Cal State San Marcos. And Jim is giving it to us for storage in the archives as part of our campus startups. The document is dated 1994. And so this will be in the University collection when it is processed. 00:01:12.355 --> 00:01:13.685 Okay. Yes. 00:01:13.685 --> 00:01:14.754 So you wanna explain this document? 00:01:14.754 --> 00:01:50.484 It's 82 pages of, the accountable fixed assets that the university, first accounted for after a long process of converting, manual inventory labels into barcoded assets. And once we were all accounted for, this is what we used and was signed up for as a dollar amount and a number of items that the University was gonna start accounting for in the fixed asset category, for accounting purposes. 00:01:50.484 --> 00:01:55.954 And what I love is I'm seeing computer monitors. Apple. Back in the days when we had Apples. 00:01:55.954 --> 00:01:56.525 Yeah. There's-- 00:01:56.525 --> 00:01:59.564 Then we went to PC and then we came back to Apple. So. 00:01:59.564 --> 00:02:00.000 Yeah, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.000 We've kind of gone full circle here. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:32.044 Yeah. We kind of went back and forth there for a while and of course back then we were asset tracking at a $500 threshold. And then around the year 2000 we went to a $1,500 threshold and now we're at a $2,500 threshold. Hopefully at some point the Chancellors office will find a way for all the campus' to be on common ground in that regard. But right now every campus is a little different in how they track assets, so there we are. 00:02:32.044 --> 00:02:35.155 That's kind of a campus system standard it seems like. 00:02:35.155 --> 00:02:48.914 Yeah. I also have some old, letterhead that I happen to have acquired somehow that actually talks about, the old address at the University before it moved onto our current location here. 00:02:48.914 --> 00:02:50.564 Without a logo or anything. 00:02:50.564 --> 00:03:00.555 Yeah. Without a logo. It's from the College of Arts and Sciences, and the address on it is 820 West Los Viacitos Boulevard in San Marcos. So, in other words, when we were across the freeway. 00:03:00.555 --> 00:03:03.965 With the area code of 619. That's been a long time. 00:03:03.965 --> 00:03:27.000 Yeah, that's right. Also some old one with our old logo here. From accounting. That's nothing much there. I also have something,(19)91 that was just kind of interesting. back in the earlier days of the University, of course we had a program called Central Stores and it was kind of like what would later become Office Max or Staples or something. And-- 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:28.354 I had forgotten about that. 00:03:28.354 --> 00:03:36.485 --chargebacks at the time, 1991. Just little things of what we used to carry in the warehouse that we would deliver to campus when somebody was interested in that. 00:03:36.485 --> 00:03:39.205 I remember ordering reams of colored paper and things like that. 00:03:39.205 --> 00:04:21.444 And then of course, in the early days too, being a small university, our department, and our warehouse workers were responsible for every move on campus at the time. And Ron Neu at the time, used to track who had asked for a particular move on a date, when it was completed and how long it took. So anyway, that's just kind of interesting in that it references a lot of the employees that were on campus at the time, in fact there's even a few that are still around, like Kathy Martin. It won't be around much longer. Or, Marcy Boyle up in, the provost's office, that kind of a thing. So there's some very interesting history to look at. So if you're interested in that. 00:04:21.444 --> 00:04:22.764 Oh, that's fabulous. Yes! Thank you. 00:04:22.764 --> 00:04:24.444 You're more than welcome to archive that. 00:04:24.444 --> 00:04:32.095 That's in the manila folder. Yeah, I, let's see, Mitchell, I wonder if that's Dannis Mitchell or. 00:04:32.095 --> 00:04:34.264 Susan Mitchell. It's probably Dannis. 00:04:34.264 --> 00:04:38.345 And then there was also another D. Mitchell. It was Judy Taylor's daughter. 00:04:38.345 --> 00:04:39.644 Oh, really? 00:04:39.644 --> 00:04:46.774 Oh, what was her name? She worked in, boy. Yeah, this is going back. Oh, I see. Yee. So that would be probably Michael Yee. 00:04:46.774 --> 00:04:48.963 Mike Yee or Criselda Yee maybe. 00:04:48.963 --> 00:04:50.426 Yeah, who just retired. 00:04:50.426 --> 00:04:51.706 Yeah, he just retired. 00:04:51.706 --> 00:04:52.475 Oh, there's Theresa Handy. 00:04:52.475 --> 00:04:53.764 Yeah. Still here. 00:04:53.764 --> 00:04:58.125 Oh yeah, I'm seeing a lot of names down there that take me down-- 00:04:58.125 --> 00:05:04.925 Yeah, interesting names. So I, again, I just kind of thought something I found when I was going through my files that I thought maybe the archives would be interesting. 00:05:04.925 --> 00:05:17.725 Yeah, no, definitely. Wonderful. Okay. Very good. Well, here's a rough idea of kinds of questions you could answer. And of course, if you take off from those and talk about something else, that's absolutely fabulous. 00:05:17.725 --> 00:05:19.463 Okay. That sounds good. 00:05:19.463 --> 00:05:33.485 And here is a clipping from the San Diego North County Times with-- this goes through 2004. So that's not, of course exhausted by any means, but it might trigger a few things 'cause. 00:05:33.485 --> 00:05:51.024 Absolutely. And I can certainly, relate to this in, in several regards. And I'll tie in my history here. I'll start with where I was before. CSUSM back, of course my history with the CSU actually spans 44 years. 00:05:51.024 --> 00:05:51.634 Wow. 00:05:51.634 --> 00:08:53.206 When you count the idea that I actually went to San Diego State and was a college student there, starting in the fall of 1973. And I graduated in May of 1978. And during that time, I was able to be employed as a student assistant in the property office there under a gentleman named John Hines at the time. And, he put me to work as a inventory student to go around to different buildings and do inventory. So I'd take a clipboard and a piece of paper and I would write down asset tag numbers and record those and give them to John to, you know, do his tracking and accountability for those. And I remember, at the time we had just opened a brand new art building and I was very excited 'cause John handed me his master keys, said, Jim, go through every room in this building and find every asset you can find 'cause we wanna make sure we know what got moved into that new building. So that was fun. And it was a very good experience and a very good precursor to learning all the things that I did that I brought to Cal State San Marcos. But before I got to San Marcos again, I spent a couple years as a student assistant. I also worked over in, what was called the Duplication Department, doing deliveries of printed materials as, what they would call secretaries back then needed particular copies made. And of course, back then they had their great big printing machines. There was no such thing as, printers. There were still mimeograph machines and all that back then and typewriters by the galore 'cause that was the mid seventies (1970s). So, apparently I was well-liked as a student assistant. 'cause I did graduate and I worked off campus for a couple of years. And during those couple of years off campus, I worked for a delivery service that handled a lot of medical accounts. It was kind of like a small, say like a FedEx home delivery type business. And our accounts were mainly, medical at the time. So we delivered to a lot of pharmacies, medical labs, dental labs. And for a short while, there was actually a veterinary account that we carried. And one of my routes during that time carried me from Kearney Mesa, all the way up to the small town of San Marcos. So this would see be around 1979, 1980, somewhere in there. And on one trip at the end of my day, I remember driving down this long road delivering to a chicken ranch, and I can almost guarantee that it was the Prohoroff Chicken Ranch. And I delivered a small box of veterinary supplies. And I don't remember much of it other than it was a long road. And I found someone out there that could sign for the package. I handed it to 'em and off I went. But it's just fascinating that I probably came to the Chicken ranch once in my career. 00:08:53.206 --> 00:08:56.195 And no inkling you were going to be back there for something. 00:08:56.195 --> 00:09:01.294 I had no idea. Absolutely. So that was just a great story. 00:09:01.294 --> 00:10:51.645 later on, I found out that there was an opening in the department, that I had worked for at San Diego State, and I applied for that position and, took that position in September of 1980. And that began my employment career in the California State University system. So I went to work, in the property office. And, I spent twelve and a half years working at San Diego State. And during that time, I certainly remember that, San Diego State, of course had a satellite campus out in Imperial Valley at the time. Well, up there in the North County, growing as it was, the University wanted to establish a North County campus up there. And, again, based on your history here, I can see that in September of 1979, a satellite branch of the university opened in Vista, for 148 students. And I remember, it may have been after this point, but at one point, the North County satellite campus moved to a location on the Lincoln Middle School, I believe. And they actually, assigned an admin coordinator, secretary, whatever you wanna say, in a trailer there at that location. And that secretary needed some furniture. She would need a desk, she would need a table, a file cabinet, maybe, bookcase, something like that. And, John, my supervisor, said, well, Jim and Larry, my coworker at the time, go to our surplus area, pick out a nice desk, pick out some furniture, and you're gonna make a road trip up to that location and deliver that for that secretary. So I do remember making a trip up to Vista at the time and delivering some, surplus furniture. So that staff employee-- 00:10:51.645 --> 00:10:53.725 Yeah. Was this Prison Industry's furniture do you remember? 00:10:53.725 --> 00:12:27.384 It probably-- Well, I, no, it wasn't Prison Industries. It would've been an old, like World War II type metal desk. That would've been what we had a lot of at San Diego State. A lot of that type of furniture at the time. So that was kind of another little piece of history. And of course, as the, North County satellite campus grew larger and larger, we would make trips up there when they would order tablet armchairs that would come into our receiving at San Diego State. And then we'd have to make, again, another road trip up to deliver a tablet armchairs or other furniture as it grew and grew and grew. And then, obviously it got to the point, at San Diego State, John Hines retired and I became the, the property clerk there for a while. So, it became obvious that San Marcos was going to be dedicating a brand new campus up there in North County. And it was about the time I had become the property clerk. So employees were getting hired up there at, the new campus. It officially dedicated again in, I believe, July of 1989. It was, established. And, some of the new employees would come down to San Diego State, like Ron Neu, who had been hired in there at the time, would come down to San Diego State and visit with me to kind of get ideas of how we did processes and set up policies and how we did that kind of business to support the University in categories such as fixed asset tracking, shipping and receiving, if you had a central store's mail, that kind of thing. 00:12:27.384 --> 00:14:21.825 So, I would talk to Ron and, he was impressed with, how we ran things at San Diego State. And it wasn't too long after that, that burgeoning campus there at, Cal State San Marcos, was now going to be separating completely from San Diego State. There was a little transitional time where San Diego State supported Cal State San Marcos in some of their processes and business practices. Well, once the split occurred, I was tasked to go up to Cal State San Marcos when they're still at the Jerome's location. And do an inventory again, of tracking fixed assets to find out what assets the University (CSUSM) was gonna keep that used to belong to San Diego State. And which ones they wanted to relinquish back to San Diego State. So again, I went up to the Jerome's location and went through all the buildings and track things. And I walked around with Ron who said, okay, we're gonna keep these pieces and these, you're gonna, you know, gonna be moved back to San Diego State at some point. So that was, again, a great experience. And again, meeting more people at the new campus and being very excited for them. And, so went back, took care of that project. And then before long I was getting calls from Ron Neu, asking if I might be interested in coming to work at Cal State San Marcos. And this was in, late 1992. And, that was one of the times when, our CSU system was undergoing one of its budget downturns. And there were some, tough times there. There was new management coming in. There were workers that were getting laid off, only because they were temporary, but there were some tough times. And the prospect of a new, vibrant, exciting university just up the road, was very appealing. And, again, Ron was wooing me, and it didn't take me too long to realize that this would be a very good move. 00:14:21.825 --> 00:16:47.004 So in, December of 1992, right before Craven Hall (Academic Hall) was occupied, I came up to the campus and submitted my application for a warehouse worker position that had opened up in, Support Services there at the USB (University Services Building) building, one of our first buildings on campus. And, Human Resources was in Academic Hall at the time. And I submitted my application and I interviewed with, Ron and Ivalee Clark and a gentleman, from procurement at the time, and ended up getting the job. So in February of 1993, I had given my notice, and I came up, started working at Cal State San Marcos, and, a couple years later I got reclassed into the property clerk position. And again, we were starting to barcode all our assets, and it was a very exciting time at the, the young campus. The, Craven Hall building was dedicated in April of 1993. And that was exciting, to go through that ceremony. And, one other interesting thing about, my previous history at San Diego State was when I was a college student, I took an English class and it was called, John Milton. And it was about that writer, John Milton, and a lot of his writings. And the particular faculty member that taught that class was none other than Mr. Richard Rush, who was one of the very first, administrators here at the new university. I think by the time I started, he had already moved on to become president back at, the University of Minnesota that he was. But, it was neat to, have had him as an instructor. And find out he was an administrator here. And then of course, he spent a very great distinguished career up at, (CSU) Channel Islands. And I think he came down to campus a couple times to visit. And I think I got a chance to talk to him a few times and mention that I had been a student of his and, put a smile on his face there. He was a good instructor. So, that was kind of another neat little piece of history. And then I've of course spent 24 and a half years here at Cal State San Marcos, always down there in the University Services Building, whether we were called Support Services or Materials Management, or now we're Distribution Services. And it's been a--it's been a great career and I've loved working here. 00:16:47.004 --> 00:16:48.754 I've always seen you with a smile on your face. 00:16:48.754 --> 00:17:08.755 Well, thank you. It's-- there's been great people here. There were of course, great people working at San Diego State too. So--but to see the university grow and blossom from, you know, just the few buildings that were here when I started to our large vibrant campus now with 17,000 students has been--has been a great experience. 00:17:08.755 --> 00:17:11.204 Yeah. Very. It's been amazing. It's definitely been amazing. 00:17:11.204 --> 00:17:13.243 Absolutely. So-- 00:17:13.243 --> 00:17:16.607 I came in (19)91 as a student, so yeah, I've done that. 00:17:16.607 --> 00:17:17.125 Oh. There you go. 00:17:17.125 --> 00:17:22.924 It's very similar trajectory of being here to help schlep all the stuff. 00:17:22.924 --> 00:17:25.434 Yeah. Yep. And been a lot of schlepping over time. 00:17:25.434 --> 00:17:26.194 Yeah. Yeah. 00:17:26.194 --> 00:17:56.444 It's been great to see the buildings come up and people move and the students come in and, and the technology change to, to see how education has grown over the years. It would've been neat to have been a little more involved on the academic side, but, I was very proud to have, supported the University with our customer service and the frontline people that are behind the scenes on the business side of the University that, you know, really keep it going. 00:17:56.444 --> 00:17:58.404 Yeah. You're the grease that makes the wheels turn. 00:17:58.404 --> 00:18:00.233 That's, that's kinda it. Yeah. 00:18:00.233 --> 00:18:01.684 Very essential to getting things done. 00:18:01.684 --> 00:18:20.005 Yeah. And the nice thing about San Marcos, we've generally had pretty good, support from management to, you know, continue our operation and make sure that we provide the service that's best for the campus. So, very glad to have been part of that. Very good. So thank you, Judith. 00:18:20.005 --> 00:18:26.045 Well and so, you talked about being a student at San Diego State. What was your degree? 00:18:26.045 --> 00:18:27.869 My degree was in English. 00:18:27.869 --> 00:18:28.599 Oh, okay. 00:18:28.599 --> 00:19:11.505 And, I guess I could have pursued a teaching credential or something might've been the logical direction to go, but the employment that I had experienced as a student assistant was really good. And, my mother in fact was a department secretary there at San Diego State for about 20 years. And, her promoting the benefits of state employment kinda said, well, you know, this would be a good direction. I kind of like what I was doing. And, so again, when, that position opened up, it was a great draw and I'm glad I did, because, our benefits are very good. 00:19:11.505 --> 00:19:26.444 And do you think that having been a student assistant maybe also helped you decide to go that way? Just because you had worked with good people, you also saw how the system worked rather than going blindly into something completely different and saying wait a minute I don't think I like this? 00:19:26.444 --> 00:19:57.000 Absolutely. Yep. The student assistant definitely was part--it was fun to work on a campus. You worked with really good people. You worked with, other student assistants that were, you know, enjoying being employed before they headed off in their careers and things. And, working with people that, had--were actually in second careers. Because a lot of the people at the time I worked with were veterans from World War II and they were working in that support business for the University, because that's what they had done in the military. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:00.964 The military runs on logistics and things, so, yeah-- 00:20:00.964 --> 00:20:16.275 Exactly. So it was, it was kind of neat. And I had always, enjoyed logistics like that. So it was a very good fit. And, so the student assistant experience was a very good precursor to going into that business. And I was glad I did. Yeah. It was a good fit. 00:20:16.275 --> 00:20:19.785 Okay. So, have you ever attended any classes at Cal State San Marcos? 00:20:19.785 --> 00:20:46.243 I never did, other than, some, you know, classes that you get sent to as an employee. I did join a national association called the National Property Managers Association, which is a nationwide group of property professionals, again, property having to do with fixed assets and tracking. 00:20:46.243 --> 00:20:47.315 As opposed to real estate? 00:20:47.315 --> 00:21:41.674 Correct. Correct. Tracking fixed assets in all kinds of different applications. Everything from the military, a lot of federal programs, universities, cities, counties, state agencies. So, it's a very good support group for property professionals. And I got my certification in that. And, kept that for a while. I wish I could have pursued it more, but at some point, the University decided that, we'd move a different direction in that regard. So I'm hoping maybe, anyone that follows me in the fixed asset world might be able to join that association. Because it's a very great support group along with the other property clerks. In the CSU system, which are also very good resources. 00:21:41.674 --> 00:21:47.894 So is there anything formal in the CSU for the property? 00:21:47.894 --> 00:22:42.855 No, not really. Other than, like the Chancellor's office attempting to, you know, set new standards and guidelines for, tracking assets. Whether it be capital assets, non-capital assets, theft sensitive assets. But the property clerks, had some meetings that they would get together in the late nineties (1990s), early two thousands (2000s). They kind of fell off during the recession, but about three years ago (circa 2014), they started having them again. So, the CSU property clerks are getting together for a conference, in fact next month in October at San Diego State and my successor is gonna be joining that conference and a couple other people here on campus. So I'm glad to see that that's been revived. And that, they get together and talk about different challenges that they have amongst the campuses in their business practices. So it's good to share that information and learn something. 00:22:42.855 --> 00:22:47.134 And communication is only augmented when you can do face to face and build some relationships that way. 00:22:47.134 --> 00:22:48.214 Exactly. 00:22:48.214 --> 00:22:49.365 So that's great. That's great. I'm glad to hear that. 00:22:49.365 --> 00:22:52.674 I'm glad to hear they're doing that. Yeah, absolutely. 00:22:52.674 --> 00:22:58.000 And you talked about your mother working at San Diego State for 20 years and being a champion. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.515 Yes! 00:22:59.515 --> 00:23:06.585 but what are some of the most notable projects you can remember having worked on? I mean, the barcoding the assets was a huge project-- 00:23:06.585 --> 00:25:10.434 Right. That's a big project because even ongoing, as we add new buildings, you have to go into each building and kind of update where all your equipment is moved. So if everything was in the first science building (Science Hall 1), now they've opened a new science building (Science Hall 2), first thing you have to do is go through the whole building and barcode all the rooms so that you can track locations. And then, you kind of go through and have to update, locations within all those labs, what centrifuges--microscopes, whatever it might be, have moved. And, of course we've been very lucky as a campus that, we have centralized computing on our campus, but we used to barcode every computer that came into the campus. And of course, computers were very important piece of equipment. And even more so these days in our information age where computers are holding a lot of data and basically have become a very, very strong security risk. As we all know, when you're talking about data breaches and things like that. So, IITS we're lucky on our campus being very centralized as we have it, makes it a lot easier for them to kind of grab the reins on tracking data security with the new software and technology that they have, which makes tracking computers much better for them to do than (have) me slap on my paper asset tag and go, it is located here. Well, the datas are the most important part. So, we actually haven't been tagging, with our barcodes, computers in some time because they've been tracking that on their own with their own asset tags. And, the important part of course is tracking the data security of that. Because when a computer is now not gonna be used, they'll pull a hard drive and make sure that's taken care of. Or wipe a computer because you don't want any information to be disposed. Because again, you've got assets that come into the university, they have a life, well, at some point that life's gonna end. And so how do you dispose of assets? 00:25:10.434 --> 00:26:30.164 It's very important that you wanna make sure everything is--there's no data on them. How are you gonna dispose of it? Is it--'cause again, with sustainability, a big part of dispositions of assets, you're gonna avoid having to go to the landfill at all. So you have assets that you might be able to sell. You have assets you can donate to a charity. If you can do that. You have assets that go to an e-waste vendor because of their particular criteria that makes them e-waste. So you do the best you can. Which is a big part of, asset tracking of accounting for how you dispose of assets. How do you think sustainability and you think going forward, okay, what is the University procuring that at the end of its life, it's not going to be, you know, having to be disposed of in the landfill. Is it made of something that can be recycled? Is it made of something that, you know, can be reused for a long time that is gonna have a good life to it. So there's a lot of thoughts that you can use, as the University moves forward to kind of, you know, follow that sustainability. So that's now become kind of a part of my thought process. And hopefully others in that process going forward as, the University grows, 00:26:30.164 --> 00:26:33.964 Which means you collaborate a lot with the recycling program that Carl Hanson kind of-- 00:26:33.964 --> 00:26:34.650 Correct. Yeah, exactly. 00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:44.000 --Spearheaded. And you have to think, not just something's come in or I have to make sure I know where it is, but what's gonna happen to it over a long run. So there's a lot of planning and forethought going into this as well. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:27:30.000 Correct. Exactly. And, we now have a department on campus called, Sustainability. It's part of, sustain,--well, what we used to call, Risk Management. They're in that department. So we work a lot with them to say, going forward, you know, how are we gonna be sustainable in our dispositions? That kind of a thing. So they have a good Sustainability Committee on this campus. They put forward a policy that the University's now been following, and I've been--I believe it's been approved by the President. So, that's a step in the right direction also. So working with them, and again, like you say, the recycling program, under Energy Management, which is now a part of, Facilities Management. So-- 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:35.674 yeah, we have shifted things from department to department to division to division. And, well. 00:27:35.674 --> 00:27:42.434 When you have a brand new campus, a lot of things are gonna change over time and it's exciting to watch those happen. 00:27:42.434 --> 00:27:45.045 Yeah. So any other projects. 00:27:45.045 --> 00:28:54.984 Well definitely have watched procurement change and implement system-wide power of purchasing to bring in our office vendors like, OfficeMax and Staples that we have. So that the unit that the CSU is now again using their purchasing power to try and save money. Certainly makes it better than the central stores that we used to have. So that transition's been good. Of course, as we procure things. Now, of course we've seen procurement go into the credit card business, so Pro Card (procurement card) is happening. But, that kind of implements a new level of asset tracking because now you have to track pro card purchases. Because again, it's the technology of our new world. You know, that's the way to procure. Now all of a sudden you've got Amazon being used significantly, and that's a major development that we have to look at to make sure we're able to account for those kind of packages as they come in. So, the technology is changing and it brings new challenges. Those are always exciting to work with. 00:28:54.984 --> 00:29:08.285 And my impression, since I don't do--I don't order supplies, I don't do any of that stuff anymore, is that the Pro Card and Amazon are generally the smaller ticket items, which means a lot of little stuff coming in. 00:29:08.285 --> 00:29:46.434 Right. And you have to look at those Amazon packages and go, well, okay, yeah, someone can be using the university credit card to buy things and they're getting their packages, but how do we know they're not using their personal credit cards, buying things that they have come into their office through Amazon, you know, how can we in receiving look at those and say, what's a personal package and what's a University business related package? There's no way to tell anymore. So that, that leads to challenges that, you know, we're looking at. And hopefully, we'll come up with a process to check those, so yeah. Other than the end user, which might really be the only genuine way to do it. 00:29:46.434 --> 00:30:00.724 Yeah. And we already have so much workload, but people are here so much all the time. It's kind of like, well, I'd rather have it delivered at my work because I know it's gonna be secure, as opposed to, you know, being left on my doorstep at home and not be there when I get home and stuff. 00:30:00.724 --> 00:30:11.994 Right. Yeah and it doesn't help that the news focuses on look at the thieves taking these packages from this poor person's porch. So, yeah, so there's a challenge right there. 00:30:11.994 --> 00:30:18.065 Just to complicate issues. What campus events are most remarkable in your memory? 00:30:18.065 --> 00:31:07.184 Oh, gosh. The dedication of any new building was always something new because it just showed how fast we were growing and, becoming more focused in our community as we grow, because we're certainly putting a greater thumbprint on our local area. So each time a new building came on, it just showed that, you know, the campus is just becoming more and more of a fixture here in North County. The Kellogg Library was a huge addition because of course, it freed up a lot of space in Craven Hall and enabled the Library to actually be a functioning department that it was meant to be all along. And, was, I'm sure that was great. It was a great project for Marian Reid, and, I'm sure it was the feather in her hat, and it was --that was a great moment in it-- 00:31:07.184 --> 00:31:12.005 It was a delight to get rid of those horrible old hand me down copiers from SDSU. 00:31:12.005 --> 00:31:25.805 Yeah, there you go. Yes. And microfiche readers and all those things that were there at the time. And, of course it made for, you know, much more securing the library to make sure, you know, your archives were good too. Yeah. All your books. 00:31:25.805 --> 00:31:28.684 And a multitude of access points in the new building. 00:31:28.684 --> 00:32:27.755 Exactly. So Library was big. Gosh, just as new programs came on, whether it was, you know, we didn't have a physics program. Visual and performing arts came on, you know, all those different programs as we grew, of course, as we started, we only had upper division. Then all of a sudden we had freshmen and sophomores were coming in so we were a full four year college, which was notable. Again, building a parking structure, it's like, whoa, we are getting big. That kind of a thing. Sports came in, where we had nothing for a long time. All of a sudden, look, we have a memorable and notable coach. Steve Scott is coming. He's bringing a track program, and then all of a sudden we have golf, and then it's like, well, look at this. We're now--we're playing basketball and baseball and, getting big, you know, down the line who knows? I don't know if we'd get football, but, eh (inaudible). 00:32:27.755 --> 00:32:32.265 Well, we are-- they are retiring the first Crash, the Cougar costume. 00:32:32.265 --> 00:32:32.964 Oh, okay. 00:32:32.964 --> 00:32:35.881 And it's coming to the archives. 00:32:35.881 --> 00:32:36.714 Oh, neat. 00:32:36.714 --> 00:32:41.285 And they said it's an off-the-shelf costume, so we're having a custom design costume the second time around so-- 00:32:41.285 --> 00:32:42.884 Oh, okay. Well that's gonna be neat 00:32:42.884 --> 00:32:49.394 That shows they're growing up, too, but, yeah. I wish we'd been able to get an oral history from Debbie Dale about her years with the Athletics. 00:32:49.394 --> 00:32:51.964 Oh, absolutely. In the early days. Yeah. 00:32:51.964 --> 00:32:57.565 Because I know she mentioned to me one time that the athletes used to change in her office because there was no place else. 00:32:57.565 --> 00:34:03.644 Oh, look at that. That's a great--that's a great piece of history right there. Yeah. So things like that. So, just watching the University grow, of course, we've had some of the great challenges that are somewhat memorable. Like, the fires that have gone through were always memorable. They would have to send us home or, something like that. Very scary times. But again, the university's been very blessed that we haven't really been affected by that luckily. Of course, I remember 9/11 (2001) coming to work the day that happened, and then the University sent us home, things like that. And, other events like that. But, again, usually focus on all the memorable things. Of course, we had commencements down at Del Mar for a long time when the students would graduate, and it's like, how many did we graduate? It's like, wow. And then now we're back on campus because we have our athletic fields and things. So, that was exciting. The building of the McMahon House was kind of neat, because it's like, well, they were looking at building something there for a long time and it finally happened, and it's like-- came out very nice. 00:34:03.644 --> 00:34:08.545 I remember the big piles of compost that used to be down there, along that front corner. 00:34:08.545 --> 00:35:41.925 Oh, down there. Yeah. And now that's, it's all been cordoned off as an environmental area of some kind. So that's interesting there. We'll have to see how the University expands in that direction, if anything will change in that regard. Of course, remember the early days just watching some of the springs and waters that would come up out of the ground and flow off in that direction. And, I believe now the university is getting groundwater to help with some of our irrigation. There's some wells that are coming in from further up, La Marea (Carlsbad, California), I believe that flow onto our property. So we're tapping into that to, for irrigation now. So we're using some well water and trying to get very energy sufficient on our own. If we can do that. Solar panels have gone on some of the new buildings now, and they may further that, I know they're looking at--they have the fuel cell going. I don't know how successful that's been, but I'm sure they're gonna be looking at other energy changes as we move on. So, little things like that. They're in the background too. I believe, Procurement's finalizing, working with AT&T to partner with them for a cell tower, but that's gonna be a win-win for them and us, because it's gonna enable us to get some, new, very efficient and, well used, lighting for our baseball fields and any other expanding for sports in that direction too. So, that's something we'll look forward to. So again, all these changes keep happening and it's, good to see. 00:35:41.925 --> 00:35:47.525 Yeah. The side of the house you work on, you know about things that I had no idea. We were talking cell towers-- 00:35:47.525 --> 00:35:57.965 Yeah. Until they happen. Yeah. It has been a very, very long process. Because there's been a lot of issues with AT&T and getting permission from the Chancellor's office, that kind of thing is always something. 00:35:57.965 --> 00:36:03.244 Yeah. You get the state involved, you probably get all sorts of environmental agencies involved. You know, there's just. 00:36:03.244 --> 00:36:03.905 Yep. 00:36:03.905 --> 00:36:09.605 You know, and so many strictures about what we can accept. So it doesn't look like a bribe probably. 00:36:09.605 --> 00:36:15.285 Right. Exactly. Exactly. There's all that, legal-ease involved in that kind of a thing. And, of course, budgetary and logistics and, and all that. You know, what's it--what are we gonna get out of this? So, a lot of tough questions have to be asked. 00:36:15.285 --> 00:36:31.304 One thing I-- that crossed my mind while you've been talking is did you use email at San Diego State at all? 00:36:31.304 --> 00:37:18.445 No. In fact, when I left San Diego State, we were actually just in the early, days of using computers, we had gone through the whole transition of--remember typewriters, well, typewriters were a big thing when I was a student. And then, slowly transitioned into word processors. And then in the mid eighties (19080s) there, the first computers were coming into some of the student labs to use. And, they gradually made their way into our offices. Because being a support agency, we weren't always needing the technology. We had our old business practices. And, that change was a tough time coming. So really didn't start using email until I got to Cal State San Marcos here. And it--the first one was implemented and I think, Netscape was our first-- 00:37:18.445 --> 00:37:20.244 Or was it Eudora? I seem to remember. 00:37:20.244 --> 00:37:23.994 Well, Eudora was the email program. I think Netscape was our first. 00:37:23.994 --> 00:37:24.844 Browser system. 00:37:24.844 --> 00:37:36.445 Browser system, yeah. And then we eventually went to, Windows, of course. But, yeah, I think, I'm trying to remember what we were using for barcodes. It might have been Windows 95 back then, something like that. 00:37:36.445 --> 00:37:41.005 Yeah. And you're scampering out just in time to miss this whole move to SharePoint and OneDrive. 00:37:41.005 --> 00:38:04.635 Yeah. All that going on. So, exactly. So it's been fun to, to work with the new technology and, of course phones are in now, and I'm sure there's, a lot of adjustment to our Millennials coming in that are, only familiar with, you know, telephones and things. So, that technology is something I'm sure they're using. 00:38:04.635 --> 00:38:08.885 They're using equipment and media. Their expectations are so very different than-- 00:38:08.885 --> 00:38:10.364 Yeah, esactly. 00:38:10.364 --> 00:38:12.875 Who've been there through all of this growth and development. 00:38:12.875 --> 00:38:30.965 Yeah. It's been fascinating. So, it'll be, fun to watch and change as I keep contact with the University through the Retirees Association to kind of talk to people to see how things are changing in the education business. So, it'll be fascinating to watch. 00:38:30.965 --> 00:38:38.144 Yeah. I did wanna ask what your plans were for retirement. And it sounds like you're gonna be active in the Retirees Association which-- 00:38:38.144 --> 00:38:39.244 Yes. In fact-- 00:38:39.244 --> 00:38:41.875 I see their newsletter and they do lots of great stuff. So-- 00:38:41.875 --> 00:39:24.744 Yeah. I've been to a couple of their meetings and one neat thing that they advise, they say, well, when you first jump into retirement, you know, don't jump too hard, too fast into like, another part-time job or volunteering or something. But, for someone in, say, a type A personality, which is more like me, it's like, it's gonna be hard to just spend six months chilling, as they say, to transition into retirement. But, you know, that's good advice. So, can certainly do a blend of that. There'll be plenty of things around the house for me to work on and catch up on. I would love to do more traveling. I've got a grandson now. So I'll be definitely spending time with him. 00:39:24.744 --> 00:39:26.566 How old is he? 00:39:26.566 --> 00:40:12.824 He's 13 months. And just a joy. We're-- my wife's been retired for a couple of years, and she's babysitting him two and a half days a week. Because my daughter went to work-- back to work part-time after he was born. And, so we're helping her out by babysitting. So I'm sure I'll be helping with that. And--but I would love to do some more backpacking. I love going up to the Sierras and hiking. I've summited Mount Whitney nine times now. My goal is to get my grandson up to the top. And that would mean four generations have actually summited Mount Whitney, because my parents did it and took me up when I was very young. And then, of course, both my brothers and I summited and two of my daughters have now summited. And I would look forward to seeing if I can get my grandson up. 00:40:12.824 --> 00:40:14.153 That's a wonderful goal. I'm sure you will! 00:40:14.153 --> 00:40:15.335 That would be would be neat. 00:40:15.335 --> 00:40:36.676 Thank you. So, you know, I've talked to a lot of people that have retired and they say, I don't know how I had time to work. I'm so busy. So we'll just see how it goes. But, I'm a little anxious of course, because I've had this wonderful family here at Cal State San Marcos for over 24 years. And, it'll be kind of hard to step away from that. So-- 00:40:36.676 --> 00:40:41.048 Well, the retirees will certainly be a transition. Because that's part of the family. 00:40:41.048 --> 00:40:54.164 Yeah, absolutely. That'll definitely help. So I'm looking forward to that. And, I do see some things they do, and they do look like they're a lot of fun. And to touch base with previous employ--employees who have been here will be a lot of fun. 00:40:54.164 --> 00:40:55.394 And swap those stories. 00:40:55.394 --> 00:41:05.155 Exactly. Exactly. So, that'll--I'm looking forward to that. So, we'll just transition in gently and see how it goes. 00:41:05.155 --> 00:41:08.724 Well, since your wife is already retired, it sounds like she'll be able to help you transition as well. 00:41:08.724 --> 00:41:12.085 Absolutely. I'm sure she'll have a "honey-do" list for me. 00:41:12.085 --> 00:41:52.585 Yeah. What free time? Yeah, I think the same way. I just --I think that all sounds so wonderful, and this is--you have reminded me of some things--and I forgot about Central Stores. I mean, I forgot that that's how we used to order things. And then the whole decentralization where, you know,--because it used to be, back in the old days at Jerome's where you needed something done, you just grabbed whoever was available and they came over and did it. Now it's fill out forms, get permission. Plot everything. Track everything. And so it has been a big change, but we--it's a sign of our maturity. It's not a negative, it's just a sign of our maturity. 00:41:52.585 --> 00:42:02.195 It absolutely is. So, yes, there's always challenges going forward, but, so far we're doing very well. And I look forward to the University continuing that path. 00:42:02.195 --> 00:42:08.224 Yeah. And so how much do you have to do with the (inaudible) building to refer to it by its old name? 00:42:08.224 --> 00:42:10.284 Oh, the one that's being built now? 00:42:10.284 --> 00:42:11.485 No, with the, existing-- 00:42:11.485 --> 00:42:12.445 Oh, the old Foundation (CSUSM Foundation)-- 00:42:12.445 --> 00:42:14.445 You know, where we had the Library collection stored for a while. 00:42:14.445 --> 00:42:20.644 Yes. In fact, I had some pictures of that. I might still have, of the collection that was over there because 00:42:20.644 --> 00:42:22.074 Oh, that'd be fun. 00:42:22.074 --> 00:43:50.545 I'll send them over to you if I can--if I can find them. I hopefully, well, I hope I haven't deleted 'em. But anyway, that was an interesting building because, as the University has grown, of course, in the early days it was--it seemed like we were almost required or mandated that we had to buy Prison Industries furniture. So every year we would expect, okay, we're gonna have another 20 faculty, so we'll need to order 20 more Prison Industries desks, and 20 more--or for each faculty three more bookcases. And a couple of file cabinets. And a chair. And a lot of this was, from Prison Industries. Everything was standalone. And as the University has matured and aged, all that thought process has gone away, and now we've just entered Cubicle World. So it is been very change--much of a change. So as each new building's come online and people have moved as desks and those old pieces of furniture have gone away, we needed a place to put them. And that's what we always used, was that old Foundation building. And it became a challenge to dispose of all that kind of equipment. So we finally were able to find charities that would take those, whether it be Goodwill or we found a very excellent, charity from Mexico that supplies schools and classrooms and libraries down in, the Tijuana area with some of our old furniture that's still usable. We can't use it. Sometimes it's very hard to donate or sell furniture. 00:43:50.545 --> 00:43:52.324 We have regulations within the state system that really restrict what you can do. 00:43:52.324 --> 00:43:59.217 Right. You wanna account for, again, your disposition. So, that's why we were able to find charities to take these and made the process a lot easier. 00:43:59.217 --> 00:44:01.371 That's wonderful. 00:44:01.371 --> 00:44:50.394 So, that building now, after these many, many, many years, looks like it's going to be--we're gonna give up the lease on that. So the admin offices upstairs will come over to campus or into the new Extended Learning building, depending on how all that pans out. And, as far as the warehouse space, that's something University's gonna have to kinda figure out to see how we're gonna work on, you know, moving out, pieces of furniture as they become access. So again, that's part of something we're working on with our Sustainability group, with the Recycling group. And, it's gonna be a little bit of a challenge. So, space is something the University has always struggled with. So, this will be another a little example of how we can adjust to that challenge. 00:44:50.394 --> 00:45:08.695 Yeah. Well, I have to say, the last time I was over at the Foundation slash (inaudible) building, it seemed like there was a lot less down in the Land of Misfit Furniture as I called it. So it shows that you've been very effective in weeding things out and getting them moved through. But yeah, there will always be a need for some sort of holding space. 00:45:08.695 --> 00:45:55.744 Space holding space, right. Staging area. Yeah. And in fact, kudos to, Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) who have really sort of stepped up and taken the lead in finding ways to reuse a lot of that surplus furniture on campus because now we're getting more and more of the cubicle surplus. So as departments sometimes can expand or need extra space, they can refurbish and reuse some of the cubicle furniture that's there. That Prison Industries furniture is kind of finally--there's not much of it left out there. So really PDC has stepped up and has really done very well in reusing a lot of that. They're kind of continuing that. So I've sort of stepped away from that part of it as they've stepped in. 00:45:55.744 --> 00:46:04.664 And the Prison Industry furniture was never ergonomically appropriate, which is something that campus has really been placing a focus on very wisely. 00:46:04.664 --> 00:46:08.545 Wisely. Very important. And it was also very heavy. 00:46:08.545 --> 00:46:29.264 Oh, I remember one time my--the desk, because I still have a Prison Industries desk in my office. And I cannot remember his name, but he was a very-- he was a shorter, very stocky built man. And he was underneath the desk and he just kind of got on all fours and then arched his back to push the desk up. And I was just like, oh. 00:46:29.264 --> 00:46:30.704 Oh, that might've been Eli. 00:46:30.704 --> 00:46:35.525 No, it wasn't Eli. I know Eli hurt his back and ended up going over to Parking Services. 00:46:35.525 --> 00:46:36.125 Went over to Parking. 00:46:36.125 --> 00:46:51.114 But, no, this-- Bobby, maybe his name was? I really don't remember. It's been a lot of years. I mean, I've been in the same office since we moved into the library. And that's--it's kinda like, gee, when I--when do I get a wall painted in my office or something? 00:46:51.114 --> 00:47:27.284 Yeah. Well that you've been in your space for that long is something unusual on this campus. Because so many people have moved so many times, I think there have been people that have moved 20 times just because of--a building comes online and so people move around and you have the whole domino effect. So you move from one place to another, to another, to another over the course of your history. And I may have actually set the record for actually been in the same office for the longest amount of time, in the building that I am. Although once I actually did move from downstairs to upstairs where I am now. But, I think I was 19 years in the exact same location. 00:47:27.284 --> 00:47:29.195 Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. I don't quite make that. 00:47:29.195 --> 00:47:30.445 Yeah. I think-- 00:47:30.445 --> 00:48:14.505 I think all of my colleagues up on the third floor, with maybe the exception of one person have moved because there's an office down at the end that's not very desirable. It's kind of dark, odd shape. And so every time somebody shifts position, it's kind of this, okay, everybody's playing musical offices again and--My office is--it's fine. It serves my needs. So, really haven't gotten--I've moved the furniture around it a couple times. But not moved out of that office. But there are very few of us that are probably in the same location simply because of the, the numbers of buildings. All of a sudden you school or your unit, whatever you're in, has the whole thing's been moved over to another building, which you know, is great because you've expanded. You need that room. But yeah so-- 00:48:14.505 --> 00:48:17.763 But then you have to move all your stuff. 00:48:17.763 --> 00:48:18.000 A lot of people don't move outta choice. 00:48:18.000 --> 00:49:29.125 Yep. Exactly. Exactly. So that was kind of neat to stay in one place. Another thing I was thinking, one day, it's like, well, what is my legacy? And it's like, well, I certainly have a lot of history here, but it's like, I was thinking, it's like, well, in the business that I am, I'm very fortunate that I often get to go over to campus and meet people one-on-one because I'm either doing deliveries or maybe I'm doing inventory or tracking a piece of equipment. So you're out on campus and you're going from building to building. And it was the same thing I was doing at San Diego State. I spent many years doing central stores deliveries down there, shipping and receiving deliveries. So I'd be out on campus quite a bit, and I was thinking, it's like, wow, I might be the only person in CSU history that may have used almost every bathroom on two different campuses. It's like, ah, okay. There's a little bit of trivial information. So it's like, of course then San Diego State has changed immensely since I left. But, at the time, you know, I could say it's like, no, that's an interesting little fact. You know, when you're out and about, you know-- 00:49:29.125 --> 00:49:30.764 That's a wonderful trivia question. 00:49:30.764 --> 00:49:39.204 It's like, yes, it might be--my best legacy right there. 00:49:39.204 --> 00:49:48.875 No you've certainly made an impact on the campus and certainly facilitated a lot of the growth and a lot of the changes we've been through. And like I say, always done it with a smile, but.-- 00:49:48.875 --> 00:49:51.724 Well thank you. I appreciate that. 00:49:51.724 --> 00:49:54.074 Having been in nearly every bathroom-- 00:49:54.074 --> 00:51:03.000 Some of 'em are very nice. Yeah. You know, I don't think I use the president's bathroom at San Diego State, but I did see ours here. That was a little trivia. And, you know, people talk about, serving the campus community and you know, they usually talk about the amount of time that they spent, someone was here for 25 years. I had 24 and a half, 37 in this system. But you never really think about how many miles did you spend working for the CSU driving to work? Okay. How much money over your long tenure, if you are blessed enough to have a long tenure, did you spend on gasoline going to work? And most people don't think about that. Well, when you're in the fixed asset business, you deal a lot with numbers. You have, barcode numbers that you place on equipment. That piece of equipment has a serial number, it has a model number, it has a dollar value, it has a building number location, it has a room number location. There's a lot of numbers. There's-- 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:05.000 And you just have quantities. 00:51:05.000 --> 00:52:17.000 Correct. So I got to thinking, it's like, well, okay, my brain thinks in numbers a lot. It's like, you know, I'm gonna really do quickly, I'm just gonna do the math. Because having lived in San Diego and working at San Diego State, well that was a short commute. But when I had to start traveling to San Marcos, all of a sudden I became a commuter and I was putting on a lot of miles. So I thought, well, how many miles did I put on driving like five different cars that I had in the course of my time here, 24 and a half years, how many miles did I drive? And I thought, well, okay, this is gonna be a little bit of fun math because you have to figure out a lot of different factors involved, right? So I figured, okay, 365 days in a year, but working days are only about 260 because you have your weekends, right? Well then you'd subtract from the 260 working days, the holidays, well, there's about 15 that come off. And then you figure out, okay, over time you accrued more vacation as you worked, you started with two weeks, you ended up with about five weeks. so I kind of rounded it off. Did some calculations and figured on average we work around 200 days a year. 00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:19.000 Right. I think it's between 200 - 220, depending-- 00:52:19.000 --> 00:53:29.525 Something. Sort of again, depending on vacation and, and how much sick leave you use. I looked at kind of my sick leave, 'cause I used to track it and I--most of my time off was like appointments. So you'd go to work, but you'd leave to go to your appointment and actual days I was actually sick, luckily, knock on wood, I was very healthy and didn't take too many days. So I subtracted that too. And again, it came out to around 200. So, for like the first, 16 years or something like that, I--my round trip to work was about 60 miles and then I moved once and it became maybe 55 'cause I didn't move too far. So I put that all in. And to make a long story short, I calculated that I drove to San Marcos about 286,000 miles. Back and forth over the course of my 24 and a half years. And figuring the price of gas somewhere, maybe averaging around $2 a gallon, I think it ended up like $23,000 worth of gas just driving to work. And it's amazing, you think about that, how far, I mean, people probably come from Temecula and may have put on even more miles. And they had the commute to San Diego State that might been another 30,000 miles. And another $3,000 worth of gas or something like that. 00:53:29.525 --> 00:53:30.364 Yeah. You are a numbers man. 00:53:30.364 --> 00:53:38.724 So it's definitely numbers, but it's just fascinating to think how many miles you put on. It's like 286, somewhere around there, thousand miles. Close to 300,000. 00:53:38.724 --> 00:53:40.795 Wow. No wonder you went through so many cars. 00:53:40.795 --> 00:53:44.324 Exactly. 00:53:44.324 --> 00:53:58.474 Yeah. But that also says something about our, our commuting system here. In San Diego still is not adequate to serve the needs of people. It's gotten better over the years. I mean, we've gotten the sprinter, we've gotten the coaster, things like that-- 00:53:58.474 --> 00:54:21.844 It's great for the students to be able to do that. The ones that either live here or can commute by using the Sprinter. And, I know our, our Parking Services tries to get the commuter information out to everybody. To have them take advantage of that whenever they can. But, yeah, we don't realize how much time we spend behind the wheel when we come to our jobs. So, it's fascinating to kinda look at that. 00:54:21.844 --> 00:54:24.565 Oh my gosh. 00:54:24.565 --> 00:54:25.514 A little trivia. 00:54:25.514 --> 00:54:26.844 Yeah. 00:54:26.844 --> 00:54:27.235 Absolutely. 00:54:27.235 --> 00:54:35.206 Well, at that point I will bring this interview to a close. I wanna thank you, Jim. That's been absolutely phenomenal. Just so much fun. 00:54:35.206 --> 00:54:36.706 Thank you, Judith. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en audio Property rights reside with the university. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. Please see the related “Preferred Citation note” for language on citing materials from this collection.&#13 ; Permission to examine Library materials is not authorization to publish or to reproduce the examined material in whole, or in part. Persons wishing to quote, publish, perform, reproduce, or otherwise make use of an item in the library’s collections must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of the copyright holder.&#13 ; The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of the material and agrees to hold harmless the University Library, and California State University, against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of the library's materials.&#13 ; In assuming full responsibility for use of the material, the researcher also understands that the materials they examine may contain Social Security numbers, other personal identifiers, and/or sensitive material on potentially living and identifiable individuals (e.g., medical, evaluative, or personally invasive information). The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=CarrJim_DownieJudith_2017-09-26.xml CarrJim_DownieJudith_2017-09-26.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carr, Jim. Interview, September 26, 2017 Description An account of the resource Jim Carr spent 23 years at California State University San Marcos working for the Distribution Services team and was instrumental in implementing the first barcoded inventory tracking system for the University. Jim discusses his time working for CSUSM as part of Distribution Services and how his education and background led to him this job. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-091 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio Subject The topic of the resource Barcoding Distribution Services California State University San Marcos Fixed asset tracking San Diego State University Sustainability Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Jim Carr License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Jason Beyer Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed James Robert Forster II OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=ForsterJamesRobert_BeyerJason_2022-11-22_access.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. Veteran United States Air Force;Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975;Korea;aircraft mechanic;Staff Sergeant OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Forster II, James Robert. Interview November 22nd, 2024. SC027-070 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm Veteran United States Air Force ; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 ; Korea ; aircraft mechanic ; Staff Sergeant James Robert Forster II Jason Beyer Moving Image ForsterJamesRobert_BeyerJason_2022-11-22_access.mp4 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/ec56e576cd1e3f6843c0218021dd47d3.mp4 Other video English 0 Interview Introduction 0 69 Military Background Forster served in the U.S. Air Force and attained his highest rank of E5 Staff Sergeant. He served in Korea during the Vietnam War. United States Air Force ; E5 Staff Sergeant ; Korea ; Vietnam War 0 91 Youth and Enlistment Raised in Wichita, Kansas then San Jose, California, Forster had a high draft number, so he enlisted into the Air Force for aircraft maintenance training. Wichita (Kan.) ; San Jose (Calif.) ; West Valley College ; Kenny's Shoe Store ; newspaper delivery ; enlistment ; aircraft maintenance ; training 0 201 Training and Promotions As a crew chief and flight mechanic, Forster did maintenance for many aircraft. He also recalls his training instructors and promotions. crew chief ; C-97 ; C-121 ; C-47 ; flight mechanic ; McClellan Air Force Base ; Sacramento (Calif.) ; wing commander ; 552nd Air Control Wing ; airborne early warning and control ; North American Aerospace Defense Command ; instructor ; promotion ; Airman First Class ; Korea 0 431 Adapting to the Military Lifestyle Forster recalls his challenging unaccompanied tour to Korea, which strained his marriage and included harsh weather. He appreciated the military’s reliable chain of command. Forster tells a story about refusing to let a colonel fly his airplane and how the chain of command supported his decision. unaccompanied tour ; Korea ; Sacramento (Calif.) ; winter ; monsoon ; chain of command ; non-commissioned officer ; full bird colonel 0 615 Reflections on Serving in Korea during the Vietnam War Forster was part of the replenishment of relieving the Air National Guard from Korea. Most of his work entailed flying passengers and mail. In hindsight, he reflects on how much better he had it than the aircraft mechanics in Vietnam. Navy ; USS Pueblo ; North China Sea ; Air National Guard ; Korea ; Frontier Airlines ; Braniff Airlines ; American Airlines ; Transamerica ; Douglas AC-47 Spooky ; Agent Orange ; Osan (Korea) ; Kunsan (Korea) ; Gwangju (Korea) ; Daegu (Korea) 0 749 Camaraderie and Recreation Forster’s fondest memories with his military comrades were in the bar they set up in the barracks day room. The bar was their main place to recreate when off duty, although some did Taekwondo and other activities. He also mimics a Korean houseboy who took care of the common areas. camaraderie ; friendship ; non-commissioned officer ; Air Force Times ; flight engineers ; flight mechanics ; day room ; barracks ; bar ; the Airman's Club ; beer ; recreation ; Taekwondo ; Korean ; houseboy 0 909 In-Flight Emergencies Forster recalls flying over Japan at Mount Fujiyama in a C-47. It was during a severe winter storm with strong winds, and he almost ran out of fuel. in-flight emergencies ; pre-flight ; Mount Fuji (Japan) ; C-47 ; Tokyo (Japan) ; wind ; storm ; winter 0 1007 Socializing with Locals, Sea Survival School, and Interactions with the Second Chinese Air Force in Taiwan Forster had great experiences with local people. While in Sea Survival School in Okinawa at Kadena Air Base, he saw flying missions to Vietnam, including an SR-71. He also recalls flying to Taiwan to pick up a C-47. He was very impressed by the “Second Chinese Air Force.” Japan ; Okinawa (Japan) ; Korea ; locals ; Sea Survival School ; Kadena Air Base ; SR-71 ; inspect and repair as necessary ; Taipei (Taiwan) ; Taichung (Taiwan) ; Second Chinese Air Force ; gunship ; C-47 ; C-119 ; C-130 0 1315 Ending Service, Returning Home, Readjusting to Civilian Life, Work, and the G.I. Bill Forster drove across the country from MacDill Air Force Base to San Jose, California. He recalls returning home during the height of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement. In his words, “There was no welcome for the returning veteran.” Nevertheless, he went back to school, met his wife, and got an MBA using the G.I. Bill. He worked at an insurance company and had a Farmers Insurance agency for 10 years. MacDill Air Force Base ; Tampa (Fla.) ; San Jose (Calif.) ; parents ; veteran ; protest ; college ; sociology ; wife ; marriage ; Farmers Insurance ; insurance agency ; G.I. Bill ; National University ; Master of Business Administration 0 1484 Continuing Friendships and Veterans Organizations Forster lost track of most friends from military service. He joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) but left because they could not decide whether he was an Army veteran or an Air Force veteran. friendship ; Portland (Or.) ; Veterans of Foreign Wars ; Army veteran ; Air Force veteran 0 1532 Reflections on Life After Military Service Forster talks about his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and his travels with family. He says military service taught him that “your word is your bond.” CSU San Marcos ; San Diego (Calif.) ; Sapphire Princess Cruise ; Caribbean ; Disney World ; COVID ; El Cajon (Calif.) ; school 0 1656 What People Should Know About Veterans and a Message for Future Generations Forster encourages anyone enlisting in the military to be open minded. He says military service can include many positive experiences, like travel and education. Forster recounts how his training could have an aircraft maintenance career, but he ultimately chose the insurance business. military ; veterans ; Air Force ; Korea ; Okinawa (Japan) ; Taipei (Taiwan) ; United Airlines ; Chicago (Ill.) ; aircraft mechanic ; insurance business 0 Oral history James Robert Forster II served in Korea as a crew chief and flight mechanic for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and reached his highest rank of E5 Staff Sergeant. Forster recalled the challenges of an unaccompanied tour to Korea, the strains it put on his first marriage, as well as his return home during the height of the anti-war movement. He praised the education and experiences he gained from military service, including travel, recreation, training, and the G.I. Bill. After military service, Forster worked in the insurance business and met his wife at university. He reflected on his family, travels after retirement, and the life lessons he learned from military service. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:01:06.325 My name is Jason Victor Beyer. I'm a graduate of California State University San Marcos. Today I will be interviewing James Robert Forester II. Today's date is Friday, November 22, 2024. We are located inside the Kellogg Library at California State University San Marcos, located at 333 South Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, California 92096. My relationship to the interviewee is that we are both military veterans. The names of the people attending this interview are the interviewer, Jason Victor Beyer, the interviewee, James Robert Forster II, Marilyn Huerta, and camera operator, Adel Bautista. Today's purpose of the interview is to conduct an oral history. Please state your full name, first, middle, and last name. 00:01:06.325 --> 00:01:09.344 James Robert Forster II. 00:01:09.344 --> 00:01:10.775 Your branch of service. 00:01:10.775 --> 00:01:13.025 United States Air Force. 00:01:13.025 --> 00:01:15.775 The highest ranked you attained. 00:01:15.775 --> 00:01:18.015 E5 Staff Sergeant. 00:01:18.015 --> 00:01:23.314 And the war or conflict that you served during your time of service. 00:01:23.314 --> 00:01:31.685 During Vietnam—actually in Korea, but that was during the Vietnam conflict. 00:01:31.685 --> 00:01:38.105 Thank you. So today we'll begin with your biographical details. Where were you born? 00:01:38.105 --> 00:01:40.215 Wichita, Kansas. 00:01:40.215 --> 00:01:44.515 What was life like in Wichita, Kansas for you? 00:01:44.515 --> 00:01:59.155 I attended elementary school till fourth grade, and then we moved from Wichita, Kansas for a job transfer for my father to San Jose, California. 00:01:59.155 --> 00:02:04.245 Does your family have any past affiliations with the military? 00:02:04.245 --> 00:02:11.444 Yes, my uncle, my father, my grandfather—each of them served in the military. 00:02:11.444 --> 00:02:16.175 Did that play a role in your joining the military? 00:02:16.175 --> 00:02:39.405 I was a student at West Valley Junior College (West Valley College) and not doing well academically. The draft came around in '67 and my number was high, so rather than be drafted I joined on delayed enlistment into the Air Force so I could get training. 00:02:39.405 --> 00:02:44.145 Did you hold any jobs prior to entering the military service? 00:02:44.145 --> 00:02:54.155 Yes, I sold shoes for Kenny's Shoe Store and delivered newspapers—those kind of things. 00:02:54.155 --> 00:03:04.544 When and why did you choose to join the military? So you said you weren't drafted, but why specifically did you choose the branch of the Air Force? 00:03:04.544 --> 00:03:21.395 So I could have aircraft maintenance schooling. I spent nine months in tech school after basic training to learn aircraft maintenance. 00:03:21.395 --> 00:03:33.544 For your early days of service, what is your most vivid memory, both the best and worst parts of training of your time during school in the Air Force. 00:03:33.544 --> 00:04:07.034 I had to learn different aircraft in their operations—the engine, the airframes. As a crew chief, I was responsible for all of those things to ensure that they worked well. I worked on C-97s, I worked on C-121s, I worked on C-47s, and flew for two years on C-47s as a flight mechanic. 00:04:07.034 --> 00:04:12.525 What was your first assignment like after basic training? 00:04:12.525 --> 00:04:55.415 I was sent to McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, California, and I was assigned to the Wing Commander of the 552nd Airborne early warning and control wing's squadron commander. So I was a crew chief on that aircraft. It was different than the airborne early warning that the C-121s did for NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), but all we did was make sure that that airplane is ready when the wing commander wanted to go somewhere. So we spent a lot of time cleaning and prepping. 00:04:55.415 --> 00:05:00.095 Do you recall your instructors while you were in training? 00:05:00.095 --> 00:05:03.555 Not by name. 00:05:03.555 --> 00:05:05.884 Do you recall what they were like? 00:05:05.884 --> 00:05:31.204 They were demanding, because what we did people's lives depended upon, and they wanted to ensure that we as the airmen understood how important it was for the aircraft to be air worthy and safe for flight. That's what we were taught and instilled in us. 00:05:31.204 --> 00:05:42.485 Did you qualify with equipment such as vehicles, aircraft, radios, weapons? If so, what was that training with that equipment like? 00:05:42.485 --> 00:06:19.574 We did total—(Forster coughs)—total airframe, from ensuring that the aircraft was ready for flight—it was fueled, it was oiled and it was pre-flighted so that when the pilots came to the aircraft, it was ready to go—as close as it could be. 00:06:19.574 --> 00:06:25.105 Did you receive any promotions, and if so, could you tell me about them? 00:06:25.105 --> 00:07:11.704 I was promoted to Airman First Class probably when I went—when I was assigned to Korea. That's E4, and you have to pass a test. You have to demonstrate competency on the equipment, understanding of the aircraft system and systems. And then once you've done that test, then the promotion is awarded, but it's not awarded until you've earned it. So each promotion was based on merit. 00:07:11.704 --> 00:07:17.264 What was the hardest part of the military lifestyle for you to adopt to. 00:07:17.264 --> 00:07:21.074 Unaccompanied tour to Korea. 00:07:21.074 --> 00:07:23.764 Why do you think that was? 00:07:23.764 --> 00:08:07.735 I just got married in Sacramento, and it was my first time overseas. And, unaccompanied tours are hard on both parties of the relationship. It was—the work in Korea, it has a severe winter and a severe monsoon season in the spring. And operating aircraft under harsh conditions is a challenge all in and of itself. 00:08:07.735 --> 00:08:13.514 So combined with the weather conditions, it created an even harder hardship— 00:08:13.514 --> 00:08:16.074 Yeah. Yeah. 00:08:16.074 --> 00:08:21.865 What was the easiest part of the military lifestyle for you to adopt to. 00:08:21.865 --> 00:08:36.375 I liked the hierarchy. You know that the chain of command works and if you follow the chain of command that everything will go smooth. 00:08:36.375 --> 00:08:46.375 What were your interactions like with people you encountered while you were doing your stateside service? 00:08:46.375 --> 00:10:15.904 Each of the NCOs (non-commissioned officers) that were teaching the aircraft maintenance and the specifics of it were concerned about the airman's capability of teaching and learning complex systems and working within a framework to make the aircraft airworthy. And I took that extremely seriously. There were times when the aircraft was not ready to go. And in aircraft maintenance records, you can red "x" it if there's a safety issue. I did—had a full bird colonel in Korea who wanted to take my airplane for some kind of flight. I told him, "Sir, you cannot take this airplane. It's grounded." And I—the reasons for it were in the aircraft maintenance records. He said, "Well, I wanna take it." And I said, "Fine, let's go to the wing commander. We'll go to the wing commander, and if you can convince him that you can take this aircraft, then it's safe even though I told you it's not safe—you go right ahead." He did not go to the wing commander. (Forster coughs.) Excuse me. 00:10:15.904 --> 00:10:21.924 So you served in Korea during while the Vietnam War was happening? 00:10:21.924 --> 00:12:29.683 Yes. The Navy lost a ship called the Pueblo in the North China Sea. And the military was staffed by the Air National Guard. So I was part of the replenishment of relieving the Air National Guard from Korea so they could go back to their jobs in industry. I met pilots from Frontier Airlines, Braniff Airlines, American Airlines, Transamerica—and that's why I went to Korea. I didn't realize at the time that it was a blessing that I was sent to Korea rather than to Vietnam, because my aircraft in Vietnam had a name called Spooky. It was mounted with a Gatling gun, a .50 caliber machine gun, and a spotlight in the back cargo door, and it flew night missions only after Agent Orange had been defoliated. I didn't know at the time that I had a much better position—job position—than, you know, just—I was just flying passengers and mail from Osan to Kunsan to Gwangju to Daegu, like an airliner route. So we did that in the morning and had lunch in Daegu and then flew back in the afternoon. That was basically what we did. But, you know, I didn't realize, like I said before, that the—(Forster coughs)—duty in Korea, while harsh—(coughs)—was way different than what I would've experienced had I've been sent to Vietnam with all my other fellow aircraft mechanics. 00:12:29.683 --> 00:12:39.865 What was your—did you create any friendships or camaraderie with people that you served with while in Korea? 00:12:39.865 --> 00:13:31.000 Yes. Each person you get to be friends with and you learn who's friendly, you know? And the senior NCOs were really good. We had a crew of flight engineers, or flight mechanics, who—they were called—we were called the Bush Airline. And I gave you a copy of the article that was in the Air Force Times, talking about the Bush Airline. We just talked about the mission that we did in Korea, and, um (long pause)— 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:32.000 —Um— 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.835 —I just drew blank. Go ahead. Ask me another question— 00:13:34.835 --> 00:13:40.065 —No worries. What did you do for recreation or when you were off duty? 00:13:40.065 --> 00:14:34.225 Oh! In our barracks, we had a day room, and we set up a bar in that day room. And that picture that I gave you—of me with the Olympia beer can—I was helping run the bar in the barracks. So whenever we were not flying and not scheduled to work, we were able to drink right there. We didn't have to go to the Airman's Club. We had our own thing, and we stocked it with beer, and that's that kind of thing. It was an off duty place to recreate, I guess. Some of the guys went to Taekwondo, some of us just did other odd activities. 00:14:34.225 --> 00:14:40.000 Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual events during your off time? 00:14:40.000 --> 00:15:09.845 Well, there were so many amazing events at the bar. You know, you have to send people home—say, No, you have to go to your bunk. You can't stay here anymore (Forster laughs). But we had a Korean houseboy who took care of the common areas, and he took care of our bar. And he says, "You keep it clean" (Forster mimics accents, Beyer and Forster laugh). 00:15:09.845 --> 00:15:23.000 When you would fly on missions or in the aircraft, was there anything that you did for good luck while you were—before or after the flight? Or did it just become common that— 00:15:23.000 --> 00:16:47.404 —It's common. You do the pre-flight, you ensure that the aircraft is capable, and then you just go. We did have in-flight emergencies on several occasions. One time we were flying over Japan at Mount Fujiyama, and the wind was really severe. And the aircraft that—C-47 doesn't fly very fast. Maybe a hundred knots. You know, it's not much more than a hundred knots. And the winds were 80 knots, so we weren't making much ground speed. And the aircraft—you're flying at 10,000 feet, and at the top ceiling, and the mountain is higher than where you're flying. And when we landed in Tokyo, that particular flight, I dipped the tanks and we had, like, a very small amount of fuel. I don't know the exact amount, but it was almost out of fuel. So, but that was a severe winter and severe storm, and we flew right through it. 00:16:47.404 --> 00:17:03.365 So, what were your interactions like with the local cultures and the people you encountered while you were in Japan ; Okinawa, Japan ; or in Korea? 00:17:03.365 --> 00:21:55.865 The local people were great. Let's see, we'll talk about—in Japan, they brought us—the base flight brought us our fuel, our oil, our in-flight meals. And they're real accommodating, you know? Whatever you want—they bring you hot coffee, whatever, out to the flight line. In Okinawa, we—because I was flying people and over water, you had to go to Sea Survival School. So I was at Sea Survival School in Okinawa at Kadena Air Base. They—(Forster coughs, long pause). When the Sea Survival School was going on, part of it was we were dropped in the ocean in one-man life rafts. And the shark repellent is discharged around your life rafts, and you're left there for, I think it was eight hours—it seemed like forever. But the most important part about that is I was able to observe aircraft operations from Kadena Air Base. They were flying missions to Vietnam from Kadena. I saw an SR-71, which the military never admitted existed until recently. If you wanna see an SR-71, you have to go to the aerospace museum. That's where one is available for you to see. But they would—it just had two tails, and they would bring it out of the revetment, and bring (it) to the end of the runway. And they did very little run up time. They didn't want anybody to be able to see that aircraft, because obviously they didn't want it to be known that it existed. So they do—(Forster coughs)—a short run up, and then take off and stand it on its tail. And it was out of sight—less than a minute, just gone. And I found out later that those were flying bombing runs to Vietnam. (Forster coughs.) So then, another time—that was the Sea Survival School. Another time we went to pick up an airplane from the Second Chinese Air Force I.R.A.N. (Inspect and Repair As Necessary). It's done in Taipei, Taichung—or "Taichay," Taichung—but Taipei. Anyhow, the Second Chinese Air Force did extensive overhauls for military aircraft. When we flew in there, we went in to pick up one C-47. That was not a gunship, just one of ours. And I saw a whole line of C-47 gunships, C-119 gunships, and C-130 gunships that's a sign that the Second Chinese Air Force was doing—it's a major overhaul. They take everything off of the engine, they—engines off—and then they put it back together, and they have really high maintenance standards. When we got the engine and engine runup after it came out of the inspection, there was no oil leaks on—a recip (reciprocating) engine is notorious for a lot of oil leaks, not a little bit, but it is always leaking something somewhere. And the Second Chinese Air Force did such a good job that we had clean engines—when brought it up, opened the cowling up, was clean. Our engine people rarely did work that good. You know, so I have a great deal of respect for the people from the maintenance facility at the Second Chinese Air Force. 00:21:55.865 --> 00:22:02.045 Do you recall the day your service ended? Where were you when your service ended? 00:22:02.045 --> 00:22:20.105 I was at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, getting an "early out" to go to school. I drove cross country from MacDill Air Force Base back to San Jose, California. 00:22:20.105 --> 00:22:21.884 So you returned home? 00:22:21.884 --> 00:22:25.144 I returned to my parents' house, yeah. 00:22:25.144 --> 00:22:28.983 How were you received by your family and community when you— 00:22:28.983 --> 00:23:54.743 —By my family, fine. By the community and not for (redacted)—excuse my language. I have a tendency to be pretty frank. There was no welcome for the returning veteran. None. You know, it was at the height of the Vietnam War, the protests were going on, and I was going back to college, and I ended up in a sociology class called, Introduction to Marriage and Family. That was the only class that I could register for. And, having gone through a messy divorce while I was in the service, I was not a real joiner. You know, I was good time guy, but I didn't want anything to do with serious things. And, I ended up with—the marriage and family instructor had the class divided into groups, and they had one group with six women and me, and I ended up in that group and met my wife there. We will be married 52 years on December 9th. So, it stuck. 00:23:54.743 --> 00:24:03.265 How did you readjust to civilian life? Did you go back to work? You said you went to school. What did you do after school? 00:24:03.265 --> 00:24:24.414 I worked for an insurance company for like almost 10 years. I trained insurance agents. And then I went into my own insurance agency. I had a Farmers Insurance agency for 10 years. 00:24:24.414 --> 00:24:28.000 Did the GI Bill affect you while you were going to school? Did that help you go to— 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:28.664 —Yeah— 00:24:28.664 --> 00:24:28.674 —school? 00:24:28.674 --> 00:24:44.025 Yeah. Yeah, I went to National University, completed my—what was left of my VA, and completed my MBA on the GI Bill. That was what, '78? 00:24:44.025 --> 00:24:50.194 Did you continue any friendships after this service, and if so, for how long? 00:24:50.194 --> 00:25:04.105 One of my friends is still in Portland, and I've lost track with almost everybody else. 00:25:04.105 --> 00:25:07.243 Did you join any veterans organizations? 00:25:07.243 --> 00:25:32.144 I joined the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). But when the VFW couldn't seem to get their act together, and they couldn't decide whether I was an Army veteran or an Air Force veteran, I stopped doing business with them (Forster laughs). I said, If you don't know who I am or where I come from, I don't need to be here paying you dues (laughs). 00:25:32.144 --> 00:25:41.154 How has your service impacted your life, your community, your faith, and your family? 00:25:41.154 --> 00:27:09.605 That's—that's a big bunch (laughs). My service affected my life. I always had strong beliefs. I was fortunate enough to meet a strong woman who was able to help me in my shortcomings. We raised two kids together, one of which graduated from here (CSU San Marcos) in 2005. The other son is a tax auditor for the city of San Diego. And, we travel together. We were just recently on a Sapphire Princess Cruise to the Caribbean. We had a ten day cruise, and then we went two days to Disney World. And the kids are really important, and we just—our first granddaughter was born during COVID time. She's five years old, and she just started private school in El Cajon. I don't know if she'll ever go to a public school again. But— 00:27:09.605 --> 00:27:15.105 What are some life lessons you learned from your military service. 00:27:15.105 --> 00:27:36.694 About, your word is your bond. You need to be accountable for the things that you say, and you need to stand by your words and be complete with everyone that you deal with. 00:27:36.694 --> 00:27:46.855 What message would you like to leave for future generations who will view or hear this interview? 00:27:46.855 --> 00:28:42.505 I would like everyone to realize that when you go into the military or you go into an unfamiliar situation and you go with an open mind and an open heart, you're going to learn things that may not be in the book. They may not be—(Forster coughs)—what you think you should be, but you need to listen to your heart, I guess. But you need to learn from people who offer their knowledge. And it may not always make sense. It's important to be open to new opportunities and apply yourself. 00:28:42.505 --> 00:28:58.204 Thank you for taking the time to share your recollections of your military service. Is there anything you've always wanted to share about your service or veteran experience that you never had before? 00:28:58.204 --> 00:29:01.095 No, I don't think so. 00:29:01.095 --> 00:29:05.414 What do you wish more people knew about veterans? 00:29:05.414 --> 00:30:29.144 That they are people who have the same wants and aspirations as you do, but have chosen to go into the service for whatever reason they go there. But they end up benefiting much more than they expected because you learn from life experiences, you learn from positive experiences. In the Air Force, I didn't get to see a lot of the world, but I did see a lot more than most people do. You know, in my experiences of going to Korea, or going to Okinawa, or to Taipei to the overall facility. All of those are learning experiences, and each one you meet people who are really important to the operation, to the aircraft, to the people. And they have a tendency to consider that it's important that you understand the reasons why you're doing something as well as doing it well. 00:30:29.144 --> 00:30:36.944 In your unveiling of the journey, what are the lessons learned from your military experience? 00:30:36.944 --> 00:31:43.934 There are so, so many. You know, I just, I learned a skill that I did not know before I went in. It could have taken a job—a job, um, what I wanna say—a job, uh, United Airlines—I was offered a job when I came back from the Air Force. One of my friends, my parents' neighbors was a corporate attorney for United Airlines. And he says, We can send you to Chicago to our maintenance facility. You can be an aircraft mechanic there. And I just met my wife and I said, My desire to work in harsh environments again is not something I wanna do (Forster laughs, coughs). So I turned him down, and I ended going into the insurance business. 00:31:43.934 --> 00:31:45.535 Thank you for your time today. 00:31:45.535 --> 00:31:46.535 Thank you. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en video Property rights reside with the university. Copyrights are retained by the &#13 ; creators of the records and their heirs. This resource is licensed for noncommercial educational use using CC NC-BY 4.0. Please contact Special Collections at archives csusm.edu if you need reproductions made. Please see the related “Preferred Citation note” for language on citing materials from this collection. &#13 ; Permission to examine Library materials is not authorization to publish or to reproduce the examined material in whole, or in part. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=ForsterJamesRobert_BeyerJason_2022-11-22_access.xml ForsterJamesRobert_BeyerJason_2022-11-22_access.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Forster II, James Robert. Interview November 22nd, 2024. Description An account of the resource James Robert Forster II served in Korea as a crew chief and flight mechanic for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and reached his highest rank of E5 Staff Sergeant. Forster recalled the challenges of an unaccompanied tour to Korea, the strains it put on his first marriage, as well as his return home during the height of the anti-war movement. He praised the education and experiences he gained from military service, including travel, recreation, training, and the G.I. Bill. After military service, Forster worked in the insurance business and met his wife at university. He reflected on his family, travels after retirement, and the life lessons he learned from military service. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-070 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-11-22 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Robert Forster II Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Marilyn Huerta Adel Bautista Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force—Veterans Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 Aircraft mechanics United States. Air Force—Noncommissioned officers West Valley College (Saratoga, Calif.) McClellan Air Force Base (Calif.) Kadena Air Base (Okinawa-ken, Japan) MacDill Air Force Base (Fla.) National University (San Diego, Calif.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Korea Vietnam Wichita (Kan.) San Jose (Calif.) Sacramento (Calif.) North China Sea Osan (Korea) Kunsan (Korea) Gwangju (Korea) Daegu (Korea) Mount Fuji (Japan) Tokyo (Japan) Okinawa (Japan) Taipei (Taiwan) Taichung (Taiwan) Tampa (Fla.) Portland (Or.) San Diego (Calif.) Caribbean El Cajon (Calif.) Chicago (Ill.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. James Robert Forster II License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving image Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/49655703ca9580fa7a280e4ff737314a.pdf 39f896b95a878e35d72cb83b35512638 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galyean, Thomas. Interview Transcript, November 12, 2024. Description An account of the resource Thomas Earl Galyean was a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He served with the 7-17th CAV as commanding officer of the aero rifle platoon, securing landing zones for aircraft. Galyean then served as an Assistant S3 for the operations section of headquarters, ensuring that aircraft received their assignments. Raised on his family’s chicken hatchery in San Marcos, California, Galyean narrates his family history, his decision to join the U.S. Army, and his interest in helicopter flight. Galyean describes his experience in flight school, including reflections on media representations of military training and the Vietnam War. Galyean describes his unique role while serving stateside, forming a military response team to suppress riots in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Galyean meditates on the impact of controversial topics, such as the My Lai massacre, civilian casualties, and the rules of engagement. Galyean reflects on religion, comradery, family, and how the military changed his life. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thomas Galyean Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Adel Bautista Justin Gans Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-11-12 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Texas California Kentucky Vietnam Tây Nguyên (Vietnam) Vietnam (Republic : 1954-1975) Laos Cambodia Chicago (Ill.) Brownsville (Tex.) Brawley (Calif.) Escondido (Calif.) Imperial County (Calif.) Sacramento (Calif.) Louisiana Alabama Arkansas Pleiku (Vietnam) Pleiku (Vietnam) Phan Rang (Vietnam) Biên Hòa (Vietnam) Qui Nhon (Vietnam) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Thomas Galyean Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GalyeanThomas_BeyerJason_2024-11-12_transcript Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army—Veterans Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Poultry farms United States. Forest Service El Cariso Hotshots (Calif.) Reserve Officers' Training Corps San Marcos High School (San Marcos, Calif.) University of California, Los Angeles Loop Fire, Calif., 1966 Air pilots—Training of Fort Wolters (Tex.) Fort Knox (Ky.) Bell AH-1 Cobra (Attack helicopter) Napalm Fort Rucker (Ala.) Fort Hood (Tex.) Democratic National Convention (1968 : Chicago, Ill.) Gray Air Force Base (Tex.) Ground-controlled approach (Aeronautics) Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association United States. Army. 7th Cavalry Regiment University of Virginia My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968 Legal education—United States Lawyers Fort Polk (La.) Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam) Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/b180c3edcbc49ffa0dfcf47128e107e3.pdf cd2ab238d19462ca59858d0d63ae7f4e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carr, Jim. Interview transcript, September 26, 2017. Description An account of the resource Jim Carr spent 24 years at California State University San Marcos working for the Distribution Services team and was instrumental in implementing the first barcoded inventory tracking system for the University. Jim discusses his time working for CSUSM as part of Distribution Services and how his education and background led to him this job. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jim Carr Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Judith Downie Robert Sheehan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-26 Subject The topic of the resource Barcoding Distribution Services California State University San Marcos Fixed asset tracking San Diego State University Sustainability Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. California State University San Marcos Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CarrJim_DownieJudith_2017-09-26_transcript License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> CSUSM history Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Jennifer Ho Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Miget (Michael) Lujan Bevacqua OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=LujanBevacquaMichael_HoJennifer_2024-07-12.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. Chamorro language;imperialism;language revitalization OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Lujan Bevacqua, Miget (Michael). Interview July 12, 2024. SC027-089 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm Chamorro language ; Chamorro culture ; Chamorro history ; language revitalization ; Spanish colonization ; Japanese colonization ; United States/American colonization ; grandparents ; education Chamorro language ; imperialism ; language revitalization Miget (Michael) Lujan Bevacqua Jennifer Ho Moving image LujanBevacquaMichael_HoJennifer_2024-07-12.mp4 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/f31815d4ea546e978b499adb5f085e06.mp4 Other video This interview is conducted in English and Chamorro 0 Introduction Oral history interview of Miget (Michael) Lujan Bevacqua, July 12th 2024, by Jennifer Ho, Communities and Cultures Archivist, university Library, California State University San Marcos. 0 148 Constantly Moving Miget discusses how his early childhood was filled with moving form place to place following his father's career for the US military and US State Department. Swaziland ; Guam ; United States ; Military ; Moving 0 530 Racism in Central California Miget talks about growing up in Atasacdero, CA and the racism that he encountered while going to highschool. Racism ; Chamorro ; white ; Latino ; Atascadero--Calif. 0 906 Moving to Guam Miget talks about how it was moving to Guam to be with his grandparents after highschool. Guam ; University of Guam ; College ; education 0 1332 Connecting with His Grandmother and Chamorro Culture Miget talks about how his attitude towards learning the Chamorro language changed when he took the time to sti down with his Grandmother and practice. Language revitalization ; Chamorro culture ; Imperialism ; US policy 0 1846 Connecting with His Grandfather Miget talks about how his Grandfather was always hesitant to speak Chamorro with him and would not teach Miget his blacksmithing. Miget's Grandfather's views began to shift as he saw how dedicated to the Chamorro language and culture Miget was becoming. Trauma ; Japanese occupation ; WWII ; US occupation ; Imperialism 0 2316 Chamorro Language Classes Miget discusses how he started teaching Chamorro Language lessons in smoothie shops and coffee shops. Language revitalization ; Chamorro language ; Chamorro culture 0 2739 Creating a Chamorro Immersion Program with June and Clarissa Miget talks about how some of his students, June Pangolin and Clarissa Mendiola, approached him with the idea of creating a Chamorro immersion program. Prugraman Sinipok ; Chamorro language ; Language revitalization ; Language immersion 0 3235 Escaping the States Miget talks about how he first moved to Guam to escape the racism and feelings of being lost or not fitting in in the United States. Racism ; Cultural identity ; Education ; California 0 3666 Cultural Influences Miget talks about how Johnny Sablan, a Chamorro musician and song writer, serves as an inspiration to him to continue his language revitalization journey. Johnny Sablan ; Chamorro music ; Chamorro culture 0 4001 What is Your Vision of the Future for Chamorro Language? Miget talks about his children and the hopes and dreams he has for Chamorro culture and language in the future. Children ; Cultural identity ; Chamorro culture ; Language revitaliztion 0 Oral history Michael Lujan Bevacqua is a Chamorro educator, language teacher, and activist. In this interview, he speaks on his experiences growing up in Guam and in California, the pivotal relationship with his grandparents and his path toward embracing his heritage and community. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.155 --> 00:00:14.585 Okay, 00:00:14.585 --> 00:00:19.195 I'm, a little bit under the weather, but, feeling very good otherwise. 00:00:19.195 --> 00:00:30.585 Okay, good. Thanks for being here with me. I appreciate it. Okay, so I would like to start with your childhood. Tell me when and where you were born, and I'd love to hear about the people who raised you. 00:00:30.585 --> 00:02:28.425 Oh, yes. So I was born in the year 1980 on the island of Guam. My dad, his name's Robert Bevacqua. He, has his roots in New York, Italian American, with some German ancestry, the Bevacqua family. His father, participated in the liberation of Europe in World War II and was a career US, Air Force officer, and then retired to Hawaii after, the war. And then, so my dad spent his formative years growing up in Hawaii. My mother, was the daughter of, Joaquin Flores. My mother, Rita Luhan--Flores Luhan was the daughter of Joaquin Flores Luhan and Elizabeth de León Flores Luhan. And my great--my grandfather on my mother's side was a master blacksmith. He was a cultural, master in Guam, the last traditional, cultural, master of that type, meaning that, there used to be many blacksmiths on Guam, especially during the Spanish period in which most people survived, by living off the land, farming and so on. But after World War II and dramatic changes to life, nearly all of them did not pass on the knowledge to their children, their grandchildren, or take any apprentices. And so my grandfather was basically the youngest blacksmith before the war. He--when the Japanese invaded Guam in 1941, he was 21 years old, and he had learned blacksmithing from the age of nine from his father. And then he also learned how to weld, as a machinist from the US Navy. And so, so my mother, you know, so my, my mother's family had roots in Guam. My mother and father met in Hawaii, and, they stayed together for a number of years. They had, three children together, and then they got divorced. 00:02:28.425 --> 00:05:20.206 And so my upbringing was a lot of moving back and forth between California and Guam, sort of moving back and forth between families. And then the most fascinating phase of it was a year and a half, a two year stint, in which my dad worked for the US State Department in a US farming aid program in the 1980s. And so we did live, for less than two years, in the country of, in the southern African country of Swaziland. So I was just like five years old at that time, or a little--five or six years old. And so growing up, I don't feel like I had a particularly strong sense of my identity as a person from Guam, as a Chamorro person. Part of it was just moving around from different places. And then also part of it too was that my mother's generation and then my generation, we represented in many ways, sort of the impacts of Americanization policies, kind of put out there by the US Navy, which had taken Guam in 1898 via the Spanish American War. And so Chamorro's after World War II had kind of put into hyperdrive this push to Americanize themselves. To stop speaking their language, to sell their land, to jump into sort of the wage economy, to leave the island behind and move to the states where they could, you know, finally, touch what they could only see in JC Penny catalogs that came to the island. When I was growing up on Guam it was fascinating because the television--the ads and the shows that were shown on television were recorded on cassette tapes on the west Coast of the United States, and then they were mailed every single day to Guam. So you watched shows like Dallas or LA Law two weeks after they initially premiered in California and in the United States. And so--and then eventually this was kind of brought down to just one week, and then now you can kind of watch them because of, you know, satellite technology. You can watch them the day of and so on. But that feeling of growing up and like constantly being fed these ideas of the United States, like, especially through media, but then kind of always never being able to realize it or find it on the island. It definitely did--It definitely did a number on me, and I think a lot of others in my generation where there was this feeling like, you need to leave the island. You need to kind of forget being a Chamorro, forget Guam, you know, head out to the States. 00:05:20.206 --> 00:08:40.024 Like a case in point for that is growing up, there was always ads for a place called Raging Waters (water park in LA). And kids, my generation, like desperately wanted to go to Raging Waters. And it was ridiculous because Guam has amazing beaches and it has waterparks and water slides already. Why would there be this cachet about Raging Waters? But it is sort of this, this kind of, this lure of--this colonial lure. The United States kind of is up here, and then we're constantly striving to kind of reach it. And in--and what happens as a result is that we kind of devalue, we set aside, we throw away the things that we, the things that we have. And so when I was growing up, I didn't care much about being Chamorro. In fact, I was growing up in the 1980s at a time where what we refer to today as the Chamorro renaissance, which is kind of like the cultural awakening. The Chamorro empowerment movement, which, which, in the seventies was initially called like the Brown Power Movement after sort of similar movements in the United States. It was starting to take root, but it hadn't really reached the wider population. And so even, the word that we used to refer to ourselves was in flux. So the word that we had used, that we used for ourselves for hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years, of course, Chamorro. But after the United States had defeated the Japanese and returned, there was this feeling that we needed to show loyalty to the United States, that a new era had begun. And so part of this came then that the leaders of the Chamorro people actually proposed renaming themselves. And so instead of Chamorro, which was difficult for Americans to comprehend, difficult for them to pronounce, which could confuse them, instead what they did is they actually had a poll--polls in the late 1940s in which they put it to villages to ask them, which of these options do you approve? And there was options like Guamerican Guamanian, Guamian, Guamese. And so one of the highest vote getters was Guamerican. But the US Navy at that time informed Chamorro leaders that you are not to call yourselves Guamericans, 'cause you're not Americans. And so the one of the--the next highest--then because of sort of the war and sort of ill feelings towards the Japanese, which had occupied the island brutally for 32 months, Guamese was absolutely out. So Guamanian is what stuck. And so for two generations, Chamorros referred to themselves in this era of Americanization, this blitz of Americanization. They referred to themselves as Guamanians. So when I was growing up, there was--the conversation was starting about whether we should keep calling ourselves Guamanians or whether we should go back to calling ourselves Chamorro. And so it was a very confusing time. 00:08:40.024 --> 00:12:20.625 But I wasn't as a young person, and even into my teens, I wasn't somebody who cared a lot about these issues because, I didn't have a strong sense of my own identity. My grandfather, I mentioned, had been a cultural master. He had trained a number of apprentices. But the fact that his grandchildren couldn't speak Chamorro or the fact that he saw us as being too Americanized and too Westernized meant that he wouldn't teach us. My grandmother always teased him saying well, (speaking in Chamorro) who raised them? We raised them. We raised them because we wanted Americans. And now we can't be angry at them. We wanted Americans, we got Americans. And now you complain when they don't--when they only wanna look out for themselves. So my grandparents were always a balance on each other. My grandfather sort of--but eventually I did develop sort of a strong connection to my cultural identity. But it happened in a number of sort of convoluted ways. And a lot of it actually happened out here in San-- not in San Diego, but here in California when I was away from the islands that, my mother, had married our dad and then divorced. She had moved us back to Guam to live with her parents. We were there for a few years. And then she had met somebody else when we were visiting her sister in California, in the Central Coast near Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande. And so she just on a whim, because she had fallen in love, decided to move us all out there. Which was very jarring and shocking because for me, I wasn't, I didn't like love Guam. I wasn't gonna like die for Guam. But I also--California was not my home. And so when we came out to California, I liked it in some ways. I didn't like it in other ways. And this especially became, so as I moved into high school years, and I ended up in a school in a city, it's called Atascadero, which has a, like a mental, State hospital, and then it has an In-N-Out burger. And so it's--it was a very weird place for me because my mother had married a man who I had issues with at that time because they loved each other, but they also basically reinvented the Brady Bunch with us. My mom had three kids. Charles, my new stepdad had three kids, and we all lived in a three bedroom house. And then they had one more kid together. And so it was tough because, you know, for me, you know, the more that I was out in the States and as I was getting older, like I felt like I didn't belong in the States. And a lot of this I didn't share with my family because I didn't know who to talk to about this sort of thing. There was no other people from Guam in the area, just my mom, my siblings, and then my aunt who lived 40 miles south. But I would go to my--I would go to school, like the high school there, and I would get like hazed and harassed by like the white kids with the giant belt buckles and the big cowboy hats, because they saw me as being some sort of like weird Latino kid. But then I would also get harassed by Latino kids, 'cause they saw me as being like a fake Hispanic kid who wasn't like cholo enough, who wasn't--who was like fronting that I was white or--and so I was like-- it was--I was getting harassed and I was getting into fights, like on both sides. And it like really frustrated and angered me. 00:12:20.625 --> 00:15:16.945 And it eventually--like left where I like ran away from home. For a while and went to go stay with friends. And my mom, who, you know, who at that time I was very, I was not a good son. I was a very unpleasant sort of like 16-year-old to her. She was very patient. She was very loving. I don't think that she could really understand what I was feeling 'cause I think, you know, for her it's just, she's okay being out here in California. And I didn't nearly know how to talk about what I was feeling. I had no idea. But if something happened in my life though, that changed everything, was that once I-I decided to finish high school early. So I tested out of high school and then, because I hated going to high school. I went to like five different high schools in like a semester because I had trouble acclimating. I even went to like a, (coughs) excuse me--like a high school for juvenile delinquents because of my behavioral problems at that time. And so I decided to take the test in which you can just do your high school proficiency. So then I could just start going to college and then figure out what I wanted to do. And at that time, I was kinda lost. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but my, my grandparents who were in Guam, my mom's parents, you know, they were hearing about all the stuff I was going through. They had come out at one point because my grandfather had heart surgery at Stanford. And so they, they basically--my grandmother told me, just come stay with us. Just come home and stay with us. You can stay here. We have a car you can use. Just come home and stay with us. And so I just decided to. And it was--it took a few years, but eventually this is--this was a choice that completely changed my life because I wasn't --it--the homecoming wasn't like that I suddenly like got on my knees and I said, I am a Chamorro. I love my culture, I love my identity, I'm proud. But I came home and I found that I liked, even though I was, you know, I'm half Chamorro and I, you know, I'm a little bit lighter skinned than a lot of Chamorros and I can't speak Chamorro. I found that I was more comfortable and Guam than being out here. I found I liked that my family was out there, so I had roots. So if I felt like I didn't have a place to go, I still had a family. If I didn't know where I belonged, I had my grandparents and I could always kind of turn to them as like a, so even if I felt lost, I could just go hang out and, you know, just take my grandparents for a drive and take them to a funeral and then go eat lunch, you know, at a restaurant with them and just hang out with them. And then I felt like, like home. 00:15:16.945 --> 00:18:32.765 And so all of these experiences though, connecting with my grandparents really like, changed my perspective. Where I started to get more interested first in kind of the history of our people a little bit in the culture. I started to, at first when I started going to the University of Guam, I just wanted to like, take class in like English literature, I wanted to go into an MFA program for art. But towards the end of my undergrad, I started to take classes in like Guam history and Micronesian history, Pacific Island history. 'cause I realized like I wanna know more about this place that we come from. And so, like, my whole life changed when, in my last year at the University of Guam, I had to pick my foreign language requirement. And I had already taken one semester of Spanish at a community college here in California. And so I was trying to decide should I take another language or should I just take Spanish? And I was gonna take Spanish. I signed up for Spanish. And then when I got in there, it was so hard, like I realized that it had been like three years since I had taken Spanish and I had forgotten all the Spanish because the teacher just put on a telenovela and I had no idea what anybody was saying. And so I was at the breakfast table with my grandparents and my mom's oldest sister, my Auntie Eleanor. And then I was asking them, I was like, man, what language should I take? There's always this pressure to take Japanese 'cause that's for the longest time, that's the biggest bulk of the tourists to Guam, Japanese. There's all these language classes there. And so I was trying to figure out--and then my Auntie Eleanor, who was always very blunt, she said, that's a stupid question, Miget. Aren't you Chamorro? You should take Chamorro if you're Chamorro, you're not Spanish. You should take Chamorro. Aren't you a real Chamorro? And at that time, I did not feel like I was a real Chamorro at all, but I felt challenged. And so I said, okay, I'm gonna take Chamorro. And so I decided to, and I thought in my-- in sort of the smaller sort of more fragile parts of my brain, I thought I took Spanish. Chamorro was just like Spanish. We were colonized for a few hundred years. This should be easy, right? I was like the worst student in the class. I was so bad 'cause I had--a lot of the students in the class had grown up in Guam. So a lot of things they were already familiar with because in Guam, if you go to the public school, you take several years of Chamorro language. So things are very familiar. You may not be fluent, but you at least are familiar with certain songs, with certain, like pledges, certain words, vocabulary. I didn't know any of it. And so my professor, who is now a master storyteller in our culture, he teased me 'cause he knew my grandfather. And he's like, Miget, your grandfather is so very Chamorro and you are so very not Chamorro. You are a shame for your family. You bring shame to your family because I was so bad. And everyone was--and the thing is, like, I was--everyone knew me as being smart. 00:18:32.765 --> 00:19:40.635 I was always good in my classes. I was like the kid from California, like the Chamhaole Chamorro haole, the Chamorro white kid from California who talks a lot in the classes and does well, we can ask him for help with your homework. But in this class, I was so bad. And it was a very humbling experience. Some of the students who sat behind me who were pretty good in Chamorro, they would tease me. They would feed me answers and embarrass me. So there was a--there was a girl who I kind of had a crush on who sat on the other side of the class. And I would look at her sometimes and I would be like, man, Maria's so good at Chamorro and, but I'm so bad at Chamorro. I should get better at Chamorro than maybe Maria will like hang out with me or something like that. Because, you know, Maria, like, you know, she's learning to say the pray the Catholic prayers in Chamorro from her family, she's super Chamorro compared to me. And so the guys that sit behind me, they like whispered some stuff to me, and they told me to say this. And so after class, when I said it to her, it was very offensive. It's one of the most offensive things you can say in the Chamorro language, 00:19:40.635 --> 00:19:46.134 Oh no! 00:19:46.134 --> 00:19:48.868 that I said to her. And so she hasn't spoken to me since, but, 00:19:48.868 --> 00:19:49.000 You can't tell us what it is? 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:55.000 Oh, so the word is, Chada Nana-mu, so it means it's--you're your mother's eggs, as in you're your mother's vagina. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.000 Oh dear... 00:19:56.000 --> 00:22:12.585 So it's like a, it's the equivalent of like Chamorro for 'motherfucker'. And so I didn't--I had no idea 'cause my grandparents spoke Chamorro to each other, but my grandmother was very religious and she did not allow any cursing in Chamorro in the house. So I didn't even know curse words in Chamorro. Everyone else knew at least the curse words. I didn't know that. And that was super embarrassing. But all of these experiences were important because then what I had to do is that I had to go and I had to ask my grandparents for help with my homework. And my grandfather said, no. You know, and my grandmother said, absolutely. My grandmother was very excited to help me. And so she would sit with me and sometimes she would walk me through the homework and sometimes she would just do my homework for me. And so after a few weeks, my professor would be like, Miget, why is it that your written Chamorro is so good, but your spoken Chamorro is still so bad? And I'd be like, oh, I'm just, I need time to prepare professor. I just need time to prepare and then I got it. And so my grandmother was like, she was loving it. And the more that I went through this, the more I realized that like, my grandparents spoke more to each other, but they did not speak it to their children. So part of the legacy of the 20th century when the United States came into Guam is that one of the earliest things that they proposed is that the Chamorro language be banned in public spaces. So it was banned for the most part in schools. Children were punished. You might have to drink castor oil If you drink--if you speak Chamorro. You might get slapped on the fingers with a ruler. You might have to wear a dunce cap. There was like jars akin to swear jars where you have to pay a fine if you're caught speaking Chamorro. And children were encouraged to report on each other too. So eventually some teachers, some principals, created English clubs in which Chamorro children wore badges that said, "Speak English", "English only." And then they went around finding children speaking Chamorro and then they turned them in to get them in trouble. 00:22:12.585 --> 00:24:30.825 And so this created like an atmosphere in which--my-- for people in my grandparents' generation, they could all speak Chamorro, but the idea of passing the language on to the next generation was fraught with, it was fraught with peril because the school system, the United States, all of these things, all these pressures had basically convinced you that while the language is good for you to speak to your parents, good to speak to your peers, you shouldn't be using it with your children. The language shouldn't go on. And so what we've seen since then is ever since World War II, the language just completely declines to the point now where 80% of the Chamorro people in the world cannot speak their language. Including in the Mariana's Islands and then out here. And so my--so I didn't know much of this, but, when I came to my grandmother, though, she was so eager to help me and what was beautiful about it is that I was your typical sort of 19 and 20-year-old. And I'm very upfront about it 'cause I think sometimes people can be very--sometimes people can be very idealized. I was very upfront--I'll be very upfront, like I was a 19 and 20-year-old who did not want to hang out with my grandparents all the time. I had a car, I had friends, I had other things I wanted to do. So sometimes if my grandmother said, Mike, can you take me to the store? I might make something up. So I didn't have to. Or if she said, can you take me to a funeral? I would say, oh, I have homework. And so I don't--you know, I am very real about that because I loved my grandmother, but I didn't have this strong connection to her yet. But learning Chamorro from her gave me like a very strong connection. Because the more I sat with her at the breakfast table and the dinner table, and the more that we talked and the more that she shared, the more I realized that actually I would much rather be sitting at that table with her than going to any club or any bar going and hanging out with friends. 00:24:30.825 --> 00:28:41.865 And so I decided after taking the first level of Chamorro, I took the second level of beginning Chamorro. And like the second class I was having fun. Like, I went above and beyond, you know, like we had an assignment where you had to like translate an English song in Chamorro. I worked with my grandma to translate a bunch of songs into Chamorro. So I was like, grandma, can you help me translate? "Hey Jude" (Hey Jude by The Beatles) my grandma's like, hafa enao "Hey Jude", what's, "Hey Jude", what's that? And I'm like, here, ni ta ekungok, let's listen to it. And then she listened to it and then we sat there for a while translating, "Hey Jude". And then eventually after we had the lyrics, you know, we sat there just singing it in Chamorro together. And it was so much fun. We translated "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" (Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers) into Chamorro. And it was like glorious because I realized that my--like I had lived with my grandparents a lot. I had sat in the cars with them. I had sat next to them in churches I had sat with next to them at parties. This didn't mean I talked to them a lot. This didn't mean I knew a lot about them. But once I came to my grandmother and my grandfather and I started to ask them for help in Chamorro, suddenly my grandmother was telling me things and talking to me. And I loved it. I loved it so much. And so after I finished my two Chamorro classes, I asked my grandmother in my very broken Chamorro I said, (speaking Chamorro), can you talk to me (in) Chamorro? And my grandmother was so happy. And my grandmother then shared that when she had been a teacher before World War II in the 1930s, 1940s, she had had to punish Chamorro children for speaking the language. And she hated it. She thought it was wrong. She did not like it. But those were the rules. And the Americans created the rule and then Chamorro principles and other Chamorro teachers enforced those rules. And so she couldn't challenge it, but she was so happy. My grandmother was a quiet woman that never like very rarely ever protested or spoke out directly, but she always whispered that more people need to stand up for the Chamorro people. And so when I told her I wanted to--when I wanted to learn Chamorro, she said, more people need to learn Chamorro, this is good. My grandfather resisted at first, he did not want to speak to me in Chamorro. He would tease me. And my grandfather and me always had a tough relationship in which he was always about teasing. But this is a normal thing. People experienced different types of trauma and people have different ways of dealing with that trauma. My grandfather had been, beaten by the Japanese during World War II. He had almost been executed along with his father and siblings by the Japanese during World War II. After the war, he had become the first Chamorro US immigration Officer. And his experience, there was something that I did not fully appreciate, until years after years when he would talk more openly and grandma would talk about it. But he was constantly made to feel like he was less than because he didn't speak good English. And so he--his resistance to sort of me speaking Chamorro. So for example, my grandfather, when I would ask him to help me with my Chamorro for the first few years, he would resist it just out of sort of insecurity. Like, I can't help you. Like why you wanna learn this language, this language stupid. It's useless. You should learn a language that people want to speak. All sorts of stuff like that. And so--but I persisted and eventually it changed my grandfather too. And so, you know, one of the things that me learning Chamorro did is that, you know, getting connected to my grandparents is that then I started enjoying spending time with them. 00:28:41.865 --> 00:32:56.464 So my grandfather had a shop in which he displayed his tools and sold his blacksmithing tools at one of the night market Chamorro village areas. And, I had to go with him every Wednesday night to help sell him. I used to hate it now, I liked it. I got to help grandpa, I got to talk to people, and I got to practice my Chamorro. And then I showed more interest now in grandpa as a blacksmith too. I wanted to know about this part of our culture. And so I left, you know, when I, left in, 2004 to start my PhD out here in California, I was learning Chamorro. And I was very sad because I thought like I was gonna lose my Chamorro ability 'cause I was gonna be away from my grandparents. Because I had gotten into this flow of--with my grandparents, where like I would before if my grandma said, can you take me to a funeral this week? I would be like, oh, grandma,I have a paper. Do I can't? But now I would wake up and I'd be like, Hey grandma, is there a funeral this week that I can take you to? 'cause I was excited to go and hold her hand and meet her friends and get to practice our language and then just hear their stories and then write them down. And then, this is when I started to do like my own oral history research--is that my grandmother would go with me and then we would sit with people, and like spend the afternoon taking down their stories. And it was so much fun. And so when I went out to the States for my PhD, I thought that this was gonna kind of like ruin my Chamorro, but it actually made my-- it made me miss my grandparents a lot. I called them just about every day to keep practicing. And then within a few years I came back and my grandfather had completely changed his kind of attitude to the end of his life, my grandfather said that my Chamorro is not the same as his Chamorro. And he would--he could sometimes be very mean about that. But when I came back in 20--2008 and I was starting to work on my dissertation, like something had shifted in him because by that time that I was, you know, I was getting a name for myself as somebody who cared about culture and language and I was maybe gonna be like a professor or something. And he--and people were telling my grandfather, you should be proud Mr. Lujan of your grandson. He can speak Chamorro. And so he was starting to shift. And so in 2008, my youngest--my younger brother and me both came back to Guam. And I asked my grandfather, you know--to if he wanted our help in his blacksmith shop. And for the first time he said yes. And that was, that was very life changing because he had always said no before. And he had always done it in a way that is very reminiscent of sort of like cultural artisans in which they basically say, yes, I will teach you, but you have to show enough initiative. So like--so if you don't show that you care enough, then they're not really gonna teach you. They're gonna say they're willing to teach you. But if it's clear that you don't care enough. So like for example, if you--so some people that would ask my grandfather to teach them, he would say, come to my house at like 10 o'clock on a Sunday. And then if they showed up at 10 o'clock and they didn't bring any food with them, then he would say, nevermind, you know, if you're serious, you should come earlier. You should bring something to eat. 'cause we got to eat. And so you gotta show that you care and you have to show that you respect the person you're learning from. And so learning from my grandfather, that was very life changing. And it was frustrating at times. But part of it was that my grandfather's--sort of his insecurity, his trauma around English, his trauma dealing with racism, like, I don't know if he ever kind of dealt with it in any full way, but at least me speaking Chamorro gave him some comfort when we were in the shop. He could speak English if he wanted to, but he could also speak Chamorro. 00:32:56.464 --> 00:35:55.385 And sometimes he might tease my Chamorro, your Chamorro is not my Chamorro (speaking Chamorro). But we kept learning, making tools and it was, it was fun and it was cool. And all of this just solidified me as somebody who like cares about language, culture, history, people in like a very deep way. And so it-- and it's all because my grandparents, and it's all because of my connection to them. And it's all because I humbled myself to take the language from them, even if it may have taken a little while for my grandfather. And so I, I hold onto, (responding off camera) oh is it okay, okay. I hold onto to certain memories. 'cause now them, both of them have passed away. My grandmother passed away in 2013 and my grandfather passed away in 2015. And so I was so glad that my grandmother got to hear, one of her great-grandchildren speak Chamorro before she passed. And it was a very touching moment where we went over to visit and my oldest child who's now 17, you know, went to go, while I sat at the table with my grandfather and was talking, my oldest child who was just a young baby at that time, went over to go and sit with my grandmother in the living room. And you know, my grandmother came over after a few minutes and she put her hand on my shoulder and you know, she said to me, (speaking Chamorro) your daughter is speaking Chamorro. And I was like, yeah, (responding in Chamorro) because for me, every one of my children, from the moment they're born, I promised them (speaking Chamorro), I tell them, I will protect you with all of my life and then I will speak to you only in this language. And so my grandmother was like tearing and up and crying and she was rubbing my shoulder and I was like, (speaking Chamorro) grandma she's speaking Chamorro. And my grandmother was like, (responding in Chamorro) It's like a miracle, because after a while there's still thousands of Chamorro speakers, but they're all older. There's very few young Chamorro speakers. It's very rare to hear a baby speaking Chamorro or a child speaking Chamorro. And so I'm so glad that I got to have that moment with my grandmother to give her that moment and for me to have that moment. And even for my grandfather who towards the end of his life, he would not let go of blacksmithing even when he could no longer stand on his own. We would have to wheel him down into the shop and he was in a walker and we would've to hold him up so that he could work. 00:35:55.385 --> 00:39:31.835 And even when his eyesight started to go, he was still better at shaping blades and sharpening blades than I was. But towards the--in like the last few months of his life, he told me, you know, (speaking Chamorro) our Chamorro's not the same, but I'm happy that you're speaking Chamorro. And I think that was the best I was ever gonna get from Grandpa in terms of acknowledgement. But all of this though, basically made it so that what was something that was not important to me at all, the Chamorro language, has become something that is like supremely important to me--wanting to share.--having like that experience when I was trying to learn Chamorro in Guam in the early two thousands and having that experience of working with my grandmother and then trying to find elders to help me practice, but then realizing that fewer and fewer people can speak the language. So when I was like 21 years old, I would map out my day to always try to find the Chamorro speakers. When I go to a grocery store, who is the cashier that can speak Chamorro. And I go to them. You know, if I go to like a clinic, which is the nurse that can speak Chamorro, and then I'll try to talk to that person. And then--but realizing that for a lot of people, if they wanna learn Chamorro, it's gonna be really difficult just because they may encounter somebody--like they're--they may not have somebody who's as generous as like my grandmother. 'cause my grandmother was like the kindest soul ever. When I would like create atrocious Chamorro sentences, my grandmother would say, I wouldn't say it like that. Why don't you try saying it like this? My grandfather would just be like, it's wrong lachi' it's wrong. That's--or he would tease me, what's that? Tagalog? Is that Tagalog? He would just tease me. And most Chamorros, because of their own kind of insecurities around the language, especially being punished for speaking Chamorro, like they'll just tease. 'cause they don't want to deal with like the trauma involved. So what I did is, even though I got a degree in Ethnic Studies, which was not about language revitalization, I just decided to make language revitalization a big part of my life. I decided to make sure that my kids can speak Chamorro, but I also decided that I would help the community. And so for the past 15 years I've had free language classes in the community. At first they started off in a smoothie shop and then they started--and then they went to coffee shops. And sometimes like two people, three people would be there. I would put up a flyer or later put up just a note on Facebook saying, free Chamorro lessons, just come down. If somebody buys me a drink, I'll teach you Chamorro. And sometimes there'd be a few people, sometimes there'd be 20 people and it would ebb and flow. But for me it was just important because there's classes that you can take on Guam, you can sign up for a class in the University, but there needs to be more spaces than that. And so for me it was just like, come to a coffee shop and I'll give you--I'll just give you some lessons in Chamorro. 'cause some people don't have the money or don't have the time to go and sign up for like a full on class. 00:39:31.835 --> 00:42:00.853 And so I kept these language classes going on Guam for a very long time. And it was pretty interesting because over the years, so many people kind of filtered through them. People who were like poli-- eventual politicians, activists, radical scholars. People would come on island and just like hang out at them just to kind of see what is this language class here? And the classes would be all types because they would be basically based on like whatever people were feeling. So sometimes it would be handouts with like a formal lesson. And then sometimes if people had a little bit more fluency, we would just play games in Chamorro. So like we would play Clue in Chamorro or we would play Scrabble in Chamorro. And then, we even played Dungeons and Dragons in Chamorro. And so sometimes we would just listen to music and then translate songs. And so it would just change depending on whoever came and whoever was coming. And so it was a very--it was a wonderful organic community space for language learning. And then the pandemic happened. And at that point I had maybe like 20 or 30 people who are coming every Friday, excuse me, every Saturday to the classes. And I just put it out to them in our WhatsApp chats like, well, I don't know when this is over the pandemic. Do you just want to meet on Zoom? And everyone said yes. And I said, well, are you okay if I also just like invite people online? I'll just put it out online too and say free Chamorro classes people can sign up and, and come, and when I say sign up, you just need to get the Zoom link and then you can just join. There's no formal sign up, there's no fees. You just have to come and then hang out. And I wasn't prepared for how like successful it was. In the first year, in 2020, we broke my Zoom 'cause there was a limit that I didn't know about where you could only have a hundred people. So then I had to like upgrade my Zoom for more people. And so that was--and then at the high point, like in August of 2020, over the course of three hours, because I would offer three levels, beginner, beginner, two, and then intermediate. There was 300 people in the class. 00:42:00.853 --> 00:42:00.864 Wow. 00:42:00.864 --> 00:45:39.264 And I'm always careful because people come to the class at different stages and for different reasons. So some people come are very serious learners. They want to study. They're going to come up with a plan for learning. Other people just feel the word in Chamorro is mahalang, meaning lonely, isolated, homesick. They just don't have any Chamorros around them. Maybe they're the only Chamorro in their corner of Wyoming or Vermont and maybe they've left the islands or maybe they are somebody where their family migrated to the United States in the fifties or sixties and then erased what it means to be Chamorro. Not just the language, but then even just-- 'cause I've encountered so many students where they wouldn't even use the word Chamorro at all because of pressures to assimilate or perhaps feelings of racism that were internalized. And so students come into the classes and they just are so excited to be in a space where like, I'm a Chamorro, I don't know what it means. Is it okay to be here? And I'm like, yeah, this is a space for everybody. Like you don't have to be the smartest Chamorro. You don't have to be the best Chamorro just--and you don't even have to be Chamorro. 'cause a bunch of people have Chamorro wives or husbands or partners or they have a-- like even in the program that we have now, four of the people in our immersion program here are not Chamorro. And so from this program, it's like, it's grown huge. And when I say people join because they have different needs and they're at different points, it's so true. Some people will turn on their cameras and they will take copious notes. Other people, you know, will basically be driving, you know, driving in their car, who knows where, other people will be cooking with their family, other people--one of my favorites is when one of the students had her camera off, but sometimes when she turned it on, it was clear that she was a nurse in a hospital. So her camera accidentally went on and like, she was in the hospital in the class. And like there was like a someone they were working on. And I was just like, Hey, it's okay. Go take care of that person and then you can come back. We understand, we appreciate your love of our language and culture, but don't worry it'll be here go, go help that person. But so that's-- for me, that's-- yeah, for me, as somebody who learned the language as a second language, it's key, right? Because, languages, you know, it's key to have a variety of spaces to meet a variety of needs. Sometimes people assume that you need one space or like one proposal, and that's simply not the case. Certain types of learners can use certain types of programs of learning, but heritage learners are so different. Heritage learners of languages even--are so dramatically different because even the excitement that somebody feels in learning the language can block them in learning the language. Because what they feel like, I should, I should be able to say this. I'm Chamorro. Doesn't my DNA give me an advantage? Your DNA doesn't really give you an advantage. Like there's ways that you--there's ways that your sort of, your spiritual connection, your cultural connection, it can help you. But it's not like downloading an app. 00:45:39.264 --> 00:50:13.034 And so from,--so June (June Pangelinan), and most people that are in the immersion program that we're having here at San Marcos, they were my Zoom language students. So June Pangelinan started--and Clarissa Mendiola, they started in, 2020. And then June actually came to Guam the following year. And she met with me. 'cause I work at the, as the curator at the Guam Museum. And she met with me when I was giving a number of my language students who had come on island at the same time. She met with me after I gave them a tour of the museum. And she asked me, she said, you know, coming to Guam and then like, finding that like my family, even those who speak Chamorro won't speak Chamorro to me. And I know it's hard for people to understand because there's, there's thousands, there's still tens of thousands of Chamorro speakers. But you also have to remember that they're not there to serve you and the language. So you have to create a relationship with them. And sometimes students have trouble with that 'cause they feel like, my grandma speaks Chamorro, she should just speak to me in Chamorro. Your grandma has a lot of--there's a lot of issues involved. Like, you need to, you know, you need to make your grandma feel loved and trusted and cared for. Like your grandma probably, she may have been a survivor of World War II in Guam, the Japanese occupation, she was probably punished for speaking Chamorro. So when you say, hey, just speak to me in Chamorro, you're like bumping up against a lot of things and you can help her get past those things, but your desire for her to teach you is not enough. She's got a lot of blocks and you can help her get through those. But part of it is decentering the self, not learning through the ego, not learning through the ego. That's like, that's the danger for heritage learners learning through the ego. It's the worst. So June had had that experience where she had like prepared herself to be on Guam and then her family that spoke Chamorro, like really didn't speak Chamorro to her. Like she tried, but they wouldn't, they would just speak English to her. And it's--the dynamics are tricky. 'cause for most people you wanna be understood, right? And for most people, we have cognitive maps of the world. We see people in languages. And so if you see a particular person, a particular body, if there's a particular place, a lot of times our minds assign a language to it instinctively. And it doesn't mean you can't use any language there, but what happens is that your brain part of it will fire up and you'll enter--So like when I walk in here, oh, English, English. But when I go, you know, if I go into my grandma and grandpa's house, oh, Chamorro, Chamorro. And so having people kind of understand that. But so for June, she asked me, she's like, do you think it would be possible to create like a program, like an immersion program where students can like level up their learning? And I was like, of course. Will you help organize it? Because if you agree to help, then I will absolutely teach it and I will help organize it, but I just don't have the time or ability to like run the program. And so June, as they say in Chamorro, geftao, very, very generous, gof geftao. She took that task on in 2022. And then her and then Clarissa took the task on in 2023 the second year. And then this year we decided to bring it out to the diaspora because there are far more Chamorros that live out in the diaspora than live in the islands at this point. But there's almost no infrastructure out here for language learning. And so, it's been beautiful. It's been beautiful. Like, creating these spaces. It's also very exhausting. This type of work is so exhausting, but seeing sort of people come to the culture, come to the language, even just hearing the differences from day one to day five in terms of how much Chamorro they're using, it's difficult because we don't practice sort of like an aggressive immersion model. Because I always tell people, you know, aggressive immersion models can be effective, but they are also not fun. 00:50:13.034 --> 00:52:16.784 Like, one of our participants in the first year, Jesse Lujan Bennett, she has a--her husband is Maori and he-- she was in a Chamorro immersion program, he was in a Maori immersion program that same year. And so in our program, people were like crying every day about sort of their identity, coming to terms with things. And then Jesse asked her husband, are you guys crying every day? And he's like, no? It's a language immersion program. Why would we like do that? We're here to learn a language. And so--but it's a--one of these things is-- so one of --at least for me, the way that I see it is that it's a language and culture immersion program. And so what you're doing is you're giving people this robust connection to language and culture. You're giving them language for sure, but you are also trying to forge a connection that will increase the chances that they will continue to learn, or that they will continue to take up to Chamorro causes, whether at their work, in their family, in in life, social media, whatever. But just so that in--because--and it's kind of tricky because yeah, we're in the classroom all day and then part of me just wants to say no. Like, if you just wanna learn the language, then there has to be less space for you to talk about your feelings. But I also recognize that if you do that, then people may come away from this and say well--'cause this is the danger of second, you know, heritage learners, is that they don't have to learn the language. There's oftentimes not like a--there's a desire to learn it, perhaps like an identity based desire to learn it. But if it's unpleasant, then they simply will stop learning it. And so that's like the balance for it. If it's a bootcamp, then they'll just stop learning. 00:52:16.784 --> 00:53:31.425 And so that's the trade off. That's the trade off is trying to find a balance there where people get as much of the language as possible, but they also have the space where they can kind of come express their identity, talk about their feelings. Which unfortunately because of where they're at in their language level, has to be in English. And then--but fundamentally though, all of this puts them in a better position that they will come back to the Zoom classes to keep learning, or they will take up learning in another way in their family. Because this is about permeating the foundation of who they are as opposed--So oftentimes what we say is more than words, sort of the more aggressive language immersion models are words, words, conversation. You give people that and that's what they regurgitate. We have a more holistic model, which has its advantages, has its dis disadvantages, but it is rooted in this idea of that we are shaping sort of the larger person and their identity. So that hopefully yeah, they won't--this isn't their only experience in learning Chamorro. (Glances at the clock) Oh yeah. Five more minutes.. 00:53:31.425 --> 00:53:38.235 Oh wow! May I ask a question? 00:53:38.235 --> 00:53:38.244 Sure. 00:53:38.244 --> 00:53:55.255 I wanted to go back to 16-year-old you when your grandparents invited you to come home. What made you decide to say yes? Like what were you--where was your mind when you said yes? Was there any hesitation. 00:53:55.255 --> 00:57:24.804 At that time--there was definitely some hesitation, but at that time I was just really unhappy with sort of being in where my family was living in California and then just not knowing who I was. And not having any ability to like--not having any real answers. And, yeah. And so looking back on it, and I think part of it too, at least at that time, I was feeling frustrated with my mom and my stepdad and I wanted to kind of get a break from them and get away. And then on Guam I would be more free with my grandparents. And so I think a lot of it came down to that, just wanting to kind of get away. And I wouldn't have admitted at that time that I had questions about who I was. But, I definitely had those questions. I had no idea, like I didn't know where I fit in. And it's always been difficult for me as sort of like a--as a mixed race man with light complected, skin, dark, you know, sometimes dark features, dark hair, and then sometimes sort of passing, sometimes not passing and then never knowing when it's gonna work. So even like where my mom stayed in California in Atascadero, like I remember as a teenager looking for a job and I just went--there's a help wanted sign in like some sort of like antique store. And then I walked in and then like the owner basically says, no, not you, not your kind out. And I was just like, what? And I was just like--I mean, it was a very racially segregated town at that time. I mean, now it's a little bit more gentrified as people move up to escape cities and stuff. But at that time it was basically a lot of, farms and stuff and people that worked on the farms and people that owned the farms. And so--but it was everywhere I went. So like, I remember walking into a comic bookstore in San Luis Obispo once and I was walking around 'cause I didn't have a car 'cause my mother was working and I was waiting for her to finish. And then I just had found a stick and I was walking aong--so I was just like walking with like a stick. And then like, I walked into the store and then the owner was like, you need to get out of here. We don't allow weapons in here. And I'm like, it's just, it's just a stick. He's like, no, no. That's a deadly weapon in the right hands. And I'm like, I don't know how to use it as a deadly weapon. And he's like, you need to get outta here. And I'm just like, what? So it was like--I didn't--so this--these sorts of things happened a lot like in just these ways. That was always like surprising. And one of the things that always was hurtful for me was that my--the middle brother Jack. So there's, from my mom and my dad, there's Jack--there's me, Jack and Jeremy. And then my middle brother Jack is very white passing. And so when we would--like, so when we would go into places, like he would never get harassed or never like--but then I would sort of get like rude treatment or get followed in stores and stuff like that. And so like --and so it was just sort of like this weird thing like where do I belong? Like what is this? 00:57:24.804 --> 01:00:18.525 I don't even understand like why people hate me or don't like me. And I had--didn't have enough consciousness at that time to even like be like a brown power sort of person or like racial consciousness. It just, it just sucked. And it made me angry at my father, my white father. 'cause he definitely didn't understand a lot of that. 'cause my white father at that time, both of my parents kind of didn't understand. They just saw me as being sort of like a rebellious teen. And then even my brother didn't quite understand at that time either. And so, going to Guam made perfect sense because I--it took a little while, but I found a place where I belonged. Yeah. And that was like a great feeling. just like thinking--and I feel it here too, when my kids, who are my teenagers who are here with us, when they're go around and they sort of feel--they kind of like it that you go around in San Marcos and no one knows you. And I'm like, yeah, I know that. But then after a while, you might miss the fact that no one knows you. 'cause I start to miss that if I'm in the States for too long and you don't know anybody. I miss that. 'cause yes, it is draining and exhausting to be on a small island where lots of people know you and you have all these connections and obligations, but it's also a full life. And so for me, what I loved about going home was that I became tun Jack's--tun is a sign--a marker of respect, tun Jack Lujan's grandson. And that gave me a place, and it was a place that I struggled with sometimes, but I eventually came to like it. Representing my grandfather, representing my family. You know, I'm not the one that you go to if you want food for the party, but if you want a lecture about, you know, Guam history, I'm the one that you go to if you want research on our family background. I'm the one that you go to if you want something translated into Chamorro, I'm the one that you go to. And so finding a place that was going back to Guam was kind of the start of that. And then not knowing, you know, just all of this kind of ambiguity. And then finally realizing like going home and then standing next to my grandparents and then being their grandson, and then feeling the pressure off of me. Like, oh, I'm their grandson. This--these are my roots. And at first, not liking that a lot, but then eventually accepting it and embracing it and liking it and enjoying it a lot. But, so that's, that's one of the reasons why. 01:00:18.525 --> 01:00:42.905 Your grandparents obviously had a huge influence on you. And you also spoke briefly by your Auntie Eleanor. Can you tell me who--what other people had a profound effect on, on your life path, whether or not they were personal connections or even, public figures who you looked up to at the time, and now whether they're in your community or not? 01:00:42.905 --> 01:00:57.434 Oh, yeah. Let me think here. There's a number of people that I could definitely highlight. I'm trying to think if I want to do more language focused or-- 01:00:57.434 --> 01:01:06.105 Yeah. Maybe a, maybe a bit of both. 01:01:06.105 --> 01:03:03.485 So, yeah, one of the things that I like to do in the way that I teach and the way that I engage people is to kind of talk about sort of the figures from our history that can kind of inspire them to go past, their feelings of insecurity. So like, for example, yesterday we were focusing in the language immersion program on Chamorro music. And so we divided into groups. Groups had to sing some Chamorro songs. They also had to translate an English song into Chamorro and then sing it for everybody. And then today--oh, and then I talked about, for example, one of sort of the most famous Chamorro singers, a man named Johnny Sablan, who's still alive. And so I always use him as an example for learners, because when Johnny Sablan was 20 years old, he had already a career as like a teeny bopper recording English music in California. But he had an experience when he was going to college in Monterey, California, where he was part of like an ethnic culture club. An ethnic music club. And when his friends told him, Hey, Johnny, can you share some Guamese songs with us? And he realized, because Johnny Sablan could not speak Chamorro, he realized that he didn't know any Chamorro songs except for like religious songs, church songs. He didn't know any Chamorro songs. And so that experience, that experience basically led him then to go and seek out his elders and collect Chamorro songs. And then what he did is he sold his motorbike that he had in California, and he bought studio time. And instead of continuing to record in English, he decided to record the first ever Chamorro language album. 01:03:03.485 --> 01:05:45.505 And I told the students, and I always remind students, and I say, he did this even though he wasn't fluent in Chamorro. So he recorded elders who worked with him to pronounce the words correctly, to help him memorize the words. And even when you hear that first album you can tell that he messes up. And even the Chamorro musicians who did the backup music teased him and said, what are you doing making a Chamorro record? You can't even speak the language. You shouldn't be doing this. And he said, somebody's gotta do it. And so I always tell them, I say, I always try to highlight the figures who push against the grain, who push back, because I always say, for my students in my work, I always invoke the saying, Anggen ti hita pues håyi? if not us, then who? So if Johnny Sablan hadn't recorded that first ever Chamorro vinyl record in 1968, when would that have happened? Who would've done it? Like, who was the right person to do it? 'cause people told Johnny Sablan, you're not the right person to do it. And so I love to share stories like that. So every time I start a a new Zoom class, I always present a figure from our history who was a pioneer in the language in some way to help inspire the students. And usually there're people that I knew who inspired me as well. So for me, I remained inspired by Johnny Sablan. 'cause that idea that you would put yourself out there when you couldn't even fluently speak Chamorro, but to make a whole record and then just put it out there, it's--in Chamorro they say matatnga, brave. It's audacious. And so for language learners, you need that nowadays. You need some bravery, you need some audacious. And so I'm always--I always like to share stories like that to inspire students and say, look, Johnny Sablan is now a symbol of Chamorro culture and language. He was where you are at now. He couldn't speak Chamorro. He had a grandmother who didn't speak English. So he kind of had to pantomime and make do, and he could understand a little bit with what she said. But he struggled in Chamorro. He could not speak it, but he said that every people have an identity. Every people have a song. And even if the songs that he makes are different, that the music, the instruments have changed. It's important that the Chamorro people have music just like everybody else. 01:05:45.505 --> 01:05:53.394 And so I, I love that idea. Just like, don't get stuck up in the idea. Like, just do it. 01:05:53.394 --> 01:05:54.605 Have you ever met him? 01:05:54.605 --> 01:06:10.385 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I know Johnny, he's still around. He's still around. I always try to sit down with an interview for him, but he's been sick for a while. So he's difficult to interview nowadays. But one of these days I'll get to sit down and just spend the afternoon with him. 01:06:10.385 --> 01:06:19.000 Oh, I hope so. I have so many more follow up questions, but I think we have to wrap up, unfortunately. 01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:20.097 Oh, no. 01:06:20.097 --> 01:06:24.813 Is there anything, feel free to (gestures at water) yeah. 01:06:24.813 --> 01:06:26.385 Oh yeah. 01:06:26.385 --> 01:06:33.224 Is there anything else that you would like to say? Anything I should have asked about? Anything you want to cover? oh, 01:06:33.224 --> 01:06:40.065 No, no. Thank you for letting me talk and ramble. 01:06:40.065 --> 01:06:42.090 Can I ask one more question? 01:06:42.090 --> 01:06:43.536 Of course. Of course. 01:06:43.536 --> 01:06:55.784 You talk about your children a lot, your four kids. What kind of world do you want to see for them? Whether Chamorro related climate, anything. Like what's your vision for them? 01:06:55.784 --> 01:08:56.185 Oh yeah. That was really one of the reasons why I started to teach the Chamorro language, was that I was speaking to my kids in Chamorro, my older kids, my current teenagers. And I was realizing though, that as they get older, there was no other kids their age that could speak Chamorro. They have no cousins that can speak Chamorro. There's some other children, 'cause there are like, immersion schools for youth that can, that are trying to bring up speakers. But in general, there was not speakers. And so I could see them that I would speak Chamorro to them, but for the rest of the world, they would just speak English and the language would kind of fade away. So I just started--so one motivation for starting just the organic community classes was just to try to get more people to speak Chamorro. And in a university, there's all sorts of issues, bureaucracy, and it can be very good to have that, but it can also be very problematic. So I just said, let's, let's do it as easy as possible, just a coffee shop and people show up and then, you know, so people take this on, not because they want credit, not because of this. People just show up because they wanna show up. And so I do feel definitely depressed at times because I know--so for example, with my two older children, they speak to each other in English. They speak to me only in Chamorro. And I only speak to them in Chamorro, but they speak to each other in English. And so it was something which I struggled with for a very long time. Trying to kind of get them more comfortable and confident in the language. But, but ultimately it's hard because there's no--studies show that, you know, that young children, they tend not to adopt the language of their families. They tend to adopt the language of their peers. 01:08:56.185 --> 01:11:29.795 And so if there's no one speaking Chamorro around them, then kids aren't gonna like be picking up Chamorro. They're not gonna be using it 'cause they don't assign it social value. And they certainly don't assign social value to something from their parents at that time. So yes. But a lot of what I do is sort of related to trying to improve things for them. I've told, so Sumåhi, my oldest is 17 and Sumåhi's very good at writing in Chamorro. She serves as the youth representative for the Chamorro Language Commission in Guam. And she does not like to acknowledge it, but is a star for all of the students here. Everyone here like adores Sumåhi. 'cause they see her as like the future of the language. And so when I talk to my older kids, I tell them it's like, you know, there's gonna be a place for you in this language, in this culture. Like, I'm, creating a place for you. It's up to you what you wanna do with it. You don't have to accept it. You don't have to do what I say. Soon you'll be old enough that you can make your own choices. But I do hope that you come home, I do hope that you keep this alive and then--'cause the idea that this language has existed for thousands of years, but then within the lifetime of my children, it could disappear. Makes me very sad. And so for my older child, she understands it more. She definitely understands it more. Although she's trying to figure out things in terms of her own life choices, like where she wants to go to college and what she wants to do. And she doesn't really like the fame that she has. 'cause people on Guam come up to her and they say, Sumåhi, you're so cool. Sumåhi, you're so cool. Can I get a picture with you? And Sumåhi's like, who are you (Speaking Chamorro). Who's this person? And so--so yes. But in time I'm hoping-- I give them the space so that they don't have to participate if they don't want to and that they can do--They--But I always tell them, I hope you find your way back. 'cause this is, you know, this makes our family special, this makes us special. And so. Yeah. 01:11:29.795 --> 01:13:46.585 'cause what I always like to tell people is there's so many different ways that you can express love of your culture, of your identity, but your language is one that cannot be replaced with other sort of exchangeable forms. So I always tease people and say that you can buy a thousand shirts that express your cultural pride. You can make a thousand recipes that express your cultural pride. You can make a thousand pieces of jewelry, get a thousand tattoos all over your body. But none of those things, and all those things are important, but none of them replace the connection that your language gives you to your past. And so the difference though is that you still cannot buy your language the way you can buy a t-shirt, where you can buy a tattoo, where you can buy food. And so that's part of my goal here, is to impress upon people that your language is an irreplaceable part of your culture. And so for those of you who are--who wanna take on the task of keeping it alive, you keep alive a connection to our ancestors that, yeah, that is actually more durable and more powerful than a lot of the other things that you can buy at a festival or online. Yeah, yeah. It's true because, for the Chamorro people, we were the first people--we were likely the first people to settle the Pacific Islands to leave somewhere in Asia, in boats, in ships, and then settle the Marianas Islands 3,500 - 4,000 years ago. And so I always try to impress upon people that what we brought with us, a lot of that has changed dramatically. But in our language, so many of the words that we use today, those are the words that were first spoken with, the first breaths that came over with those first sellers. 01:13:46.585 --> 01:14:10.524 And so it's a harder road to become fluent in your language, but it is a deeper connection. And so this is not to say that if you don't know your language, you are less of a Chamorro, but you cannot substitute your connection to your language with food tattoos or, or t-shirts. Yeah. 01:14:10.524 --> 01:14:14.045 Thank you. 01:14:14.045 --> 01:14:14.965 (Coughs) Oh, excuse me. 01:14:14.965 --> 01:14:17.604 That's Alright. Thank you so much for chatting with me today, Michael. 01:14:17.604 --> 01:14:19.425 Oh, no problem. To Michael. 01:14:19.425 --> 01:14:21.965 It was a pleasure. 01:14:21.965 --> 01:14:23.965 Oh no, thank you. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en video Property rights reside with the university. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=LujanBevacquaMichael_HoJennifer_2024-07-12.xml LujanBevacquaMichael_HoJennifer_2024-07-12.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lujan Bevacqua, Miget (Michael). Interview July 12, 2024. Description An account of the resource Michael Lujan Bevacqua is a Chamorro educator, language teacher, and activist. In this interview, he speaks on his experiences growing up in Guam and in California, the pivotal relationship with his grandparents and his path toward embracing his heritage and community. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-089 Subject The topic of the resource Chamorro language Chamorro (Micronesian people) -- History Chamorro (Micronesian people) -- Social life and customs Language revival Colonization -- Spain -- Oceania Colonization -- Japan Colonization -- United States -- Guam Grandparents Education Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-07-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Miget (Michael) Lujan Bevacqua Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jennifer Ho Robert Sheehan Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Hawaii Guam Atascadero (Calif.) San Diego (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource This interview is conducted in English and Chamorro Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Miget (Michael) Lujan Bevacqua License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Asian Pacific Islander Desi American experience Community history Prugraman Sinipok