Chapter 3

Going, Going.Gone!
Before leaving Base San Juan, I managed to meet all the requirements of
promotion to Boatswain Mate third-class so when I arrived at Air Station
Borinquen, I became the only boatswain mate that was stationed there. There
was not a single vessel for me to command here at the air station so I began
wondering about the wisdom of such a transfer. I mean I probably trained on
boats for at least nine months at considerable expense to Uncle Sam, and after
becoming a certified rescue boat coxswain, they send me to an air station!

accepted it as blessing however, since I figured I was closer to an aviation

career than I was ever before.

At first I was assigned to the Public Works section under the supervision
of man who would one day put an end to my aviation dreams. His name was
Howard Ledbetter a Lt. Commander from South or North Carolina I believe.
It took me less than a week working for him that he didn't have any use for
"niggers", "spies", "chinks", or "jewboys".

He did little to hide his racism and

when I started dating a local Puerto Rican girl I saw and heard a lot more of it.
Like Chief Bass, I tried like hell to avoid this guy but one day I couldn't help
ignore the way he was treating one of the Puerto Rican civilian workers on the
base whose English was not the best. Using my Spanish I intervened and tried
to soften the insults Ledbetter was unleashing on the man. His sin was calling
in sick so he could go to his kid's first communion. I basically coached the guy
what to say to save his job since I had a gut instinct he was about to be fired.
I managed to save his job but not my hide. 'From that day forward, I was on
Ledbetter's shit list and spent a lot of time doing "make busy" details - painting
fences, curbs, and just about anything that didn't move.

I felt I was doomed

to this hell for the rest of my term, but along came an angel named Lt. Rob
Ritchie, an ace helicopter pilot who pulled a tour of duty in Vietnam.

29

I don't

know whether

he took

pity on me or really

needed

my help.

Ritchie was the security office for the base which we shared with Army
and Air Force personnel.

The Coast Guard air station was located on

a huge Air Force Strategic Air Command Base that once housed a dozen
B-52 bombers during the Cold War.

As the Air Force pulled out and

reduced their personnel there, the Coast Guard took over responsibility for
1,000 acre base, which
stores,

post office,

university.

was

it's only little city - complete

beaches,

golf course, nightclubs,

The Coast Guard also

own security.

with

and

it own

even

had to become responsible for it's

And unlike San Juan, this station was located out in the

countryside with miles of fence line.

Even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, security was still an issue in the
70s and early 80s as their were political factions on the island who favored
independence

from the U.S., and their followers often resorted to minor

acts of terrorism to get publicity for their cause. Because

Force

Base was

isolated

in the country,

it was by it's

Ramey Air

nature

quite

vulnerable to such threats, and considering that the U.S. had some very
expensive

aircraft

stationed

here, they took base

enough to actually have a three man FBI contingent

security

seriously

on the base full-

time which at the time was headed by Special Agent Armand Lara.

Rob Ritchie asked me if I wanted to work in the security office with him
and DC1 Bill Shockey. I jumped a t the c ha nc e e v e n t ho ug h Howard
Ledbetter

protested.

took place but somehow

I don't

know what

Ritchie prevailed

arguments

or discussions

and I got myself reassigned

to the Security Office where I became responsible for issuing

pass stickers, clearing overnight visitors, keeping

drunk

vehicle

drivers

gate

off the
30

road,

issuing

ration

cards

and occasionally

catching a stray dog. I was

on call 24/7 and responded to an assortment of calls to quell domestic disputes,

silence blairing stereos, and escorting unauthorized guests and hookers off
the base.

I still wasn't flying helicopters but I was getting closer and was told I could fly as
an aircrewman if I took the basic aircrewman course.
course

I ever received from the

myself

into as well

Coast

as my Boatswain

passed them both with flying colors.

It was

Guard institute

AvCad

(Aviation

I buried

I soon began flying on the giant H3

aviation specialty.

Cadet) program

but

biggest

Mate Second class course and

rescue helicopters and was advised by the education

focus on an enlisted

the

which

officer Lt. Perry to

But my sights were fixed on the

took

enlisted

men with

high

academic marks and aviation skills and turned them into ensign pilots. But
Perry broke my heart when he told me that due to budget
the AvCad program was discontinued

indefinitely.

cut-backs,

I was truly depressed

over this for over a month and felt I was somehow cheated out of my
aviation career because it was the AvCad program that the Coast Guard
recruiter in Parma used as bait to lure me to the dotted line.
disappointment

I shared my

with Bill and Lt. Ritchie but they could only offer me their

sympathy and a cold beer.

I was really starting to grow a bad attitude when Rob Ritchie sat me down
with some positive advise and reinforcement "Well, you can still fly if you get
yourself a college degree - it will just take a little longer that's ali". I took
Ritchie's advice to heart and decided it was my last chance
Guard

helicopters

and

I would

pursue

to fly

Coast

it, especially since the G.!. Bill

would cover the expense of my college education.

But in the mean time

I'd finish all my Boatswain Mate training and completed

the Boatswain
31

Mate first class course and was surprised to learn that I had the highest
academic average on the base of 300 men and women.

But because

only had about 20 months of service, I could not be promoted for another
four months. In the interim something

would happen that would kill my

hopes of further advancement.

It was an incident which I thought was no bid deal, but I later learned that
because of a letter I wrote, our Commanding

Officer

Captain Thomas

Lutton would get passed over for promotion to Vice Admiral. Had I known
that I probably would not have written the letter.

The letter I speak of was

one I wrote to the American Civil Liberties Union in Miami and New York
after I noticed
of

military

unlisted

that the base telephone directory distributed to hundreds

and

civilian

telephone

families

number,

on the base, not only contained

but my date

of birth, and even

security number, none of which I authorized for publication.

my

my social
I was angry

that complete strangers had my full legal name, date of birth, and social
security number along with a phone
private.

number

that

I paid extra to keep

This information would be sufficient for anyone with larceny in

their heart to obtain a credit card in my name.

I was not the only one upset,

but I guess I was the only one dumb enough to protest.

letter

to

the

C.'O. asking

disclosure and asking

him to

explain

the

him to recall the directory.

he did not even give me the courtesy of a reply.

At first I wrote a
purpose

of such

But after two weeks,

That's when I sent the

letter of inquiry to the ACLU asking if it was legal and proper to give
away a person's private data in such a public manner.

Little did I know that the ACLU turned my letter of inquiry into a formal
complaint letter that was sent to the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard
in Washington, D.C.

In short order the Commandant issued a letter of

32

apology to me and a formal letter of reprimand to Captain Lutton's service

jacket for his administrative blooper. I could not believe that this one letter
held him back from promotion. And I would soon feel the full force of his
wrath and power of his four gold bars.

Over the next six months I found myself being placed on report for a lot of
minor infractions like failing to wear my hat, (something that everyone
did in the

hot Puerto

Rico sun), driving

a buddy's motorcycle whose

sticker had expired, and for even being out of uniform on my day off!

didn't catch on for quite some time, but when my time came to be
promoted to Boatswain Mate 2nd class, the Commanding Officer refused to
endorse my promotion and used these "incidents" to hold me back even
though I had high performance marks for my work. Keep in mind that I would
not know about the reprimand letter for yet another four or five months. I was
growing angry but I didn't know who to be angry with, I just knew something
wasn't right and resentment at the administration began brewing inside me.

I dealed with the bitterness by distracting myself with lots of scuba diving and
sailing on my days off and by enrolling in night classes at InterAmerican
University and I made a bad judgment that would come back to haunt me
years later. When I went to register at IAU I was told that since I did not
graduate from a local high school, I would not be admitted unless I had
already started attending college elsewhere and had transcripts to prove it.
Well, I obviously didn't qualify for enrollment under those terms even
though Padua High School was a college prepatory school held in high
esteem back in Ohio. But in Puerto Rico nobody even knew what an
Ohio was.

I explained my dilemma to a young registrar's clerk at IAU and

told her that if I could go to college, I would never be able to become a

33

Coast Guard pilot.

She took my information and told me she would see

what she could do. Two days later she called me and asked me to meet
her for dinner because she had good news for me. I met her at La Cima
restaurant and she told me that for $300 she could arrange for my
admission to IAU.
the details.

When I asked how, she told me not to worry about

I felt uneasy about this proposal and told her I had to think

about it. The registration deadline was only two or three days away and
I lay awake debating with my conscience. Ultimately I agreed to her
payment with the rationalization that this would help me overcome the
AvCad loss and negate my setback climbing the Boatswain Mate ladder.
Without that college degree, I would never fly a helicopter in the U.S.
Coast Guard. The following week I was enrolled as a full time night student
with a full 12 credits per trimester.

I was now back on track and I

calculated I'd graduate within three years if I kept attending full-time. I was
excited about my future again. Unfortunately, there was an unknown factor
I could not have known to include into my calculations - revenge.

34

At about this time, I got one helluva nice surprise.

Ohio named Ken Lastafka had
himself

stationed

Technician.

also joined

at Air Station

Borinquen

A buddy of mine from

the Coast Guard and got

as an Aviation Electronics

Since we were both single we chose to become

on the base.

Back in Ohio, Ken and

roomates

I had attended" classes together

in a vocational drafting class for two years. We both had aspirations in our
youth to become architects and had a lot of good times together
the tutelage

of professor

Mike Yackin our drafting teacher.

under

The odds of

us running into each other like this 2,000 miles away was mind boggling.
His arrival really cheered me up. We hung out with each other a lot until
he found his future wife JoAnne

One day at the security office I got a rather strange call from none other
than good old Mr. Ledbetter.

It was strange for two reasons - the first

being was that he was actually speaking to me nice and polite like - not
his usual snap-to-it-now

voice.

But what really made the call strange to

me was that it was Saturday (not a normal work day) and he wanted to
borrow the pick-up truck from the Security office "for about an hour" and
he wanted

me to pick him up at his house on base with the truck.

was the first time he ever "asked" me for

anything

flattered

I picked him up at his house and

but

curious

and suspicious.

so

I was

This

not only

he directed me to drive him to the officer's club which was being renovated.
Upon arrival we were

greeted

by DCC Bob

Polson a 15 year Coast

Guard veteran whose gray hair and beard made him appear older than
his forty something years.
as I sat in the truck.

The two exchanged some words out of earshot

A few moments later the two went inside the club and

came out with a huge crystal chandelier that used to hang inside the club.
They gingerly

loaded

it in the back of the truck and Ledbetter then

told me to go back to his house at idle speed so as not to damage the

35

chandelier.

We delivered the chandelier to his house and I was dismissed.

Old Ledbetter even gave me $20 for my trouble.

acquisition
back

of this

then)

weeks

was

very expensive chandelier

somehow authorized.

later in the security office

chandelier

were

who

drove

(about

assumed

$5,000

his
value

But when I saw a memo three

that a number of items

reported stolen,

reporting Mr. Ledbetter lest

I just

I knew better.

I myself one day

including

the

I made the mistake of

be accused

the chandelier away in the security truck.

as the guy

I don't know all that

took place behind closed doors but I later heard that the chandelier was
taken off the "stolen" list and I was back on people's shit list for doing my
job.

Hell if they didn't want to report thefts then why did they put me in

the security office?

I must admit though, it felt good seeing Ledbetter

getting some of the grief who was so good at giving to others.

But once again when it was time for me to be promoted

CO's blessings despite having good performance
grades on base.
ravaged

I did not get the

marks and the highest

During all this time life went on and Puerto Rico was

by tropical storms David and Eloise, During one of them (I don't

recall which)

winds were whipping

the islands in excess of 95mph

sheets of rain made driving impossible.

and

It was the worst storm I had

seen to date and everyone was hunkered down in their quarters except
the duty air-crews which were standing by for search and rescue work.
At the peak of the storm my phone rings and I am told that Commander
Ledbetter wants me to report for duty at the air station.

For a moment I

think that perhaps they may be short of air crewmen and they need an
extra hand at the hangar, but when I arrived soaking wet at the hangar,
Ledbetter

is there

in a poncho telling

are very bad and he believes

connection

on the

150 foot

the
radio

me that the radio communications

wind
tower,

must
and

have
he

damaged

wants

me

to

the
go
36

inspect and repair the damage.

I looked at him incredulously in disbelief

but he was just waiting for me to refuse, I could see it in his eyes. This
was insane I thought to myself and I tried to reach Rob Ritchie by phone
for some intervention but was unable to reach him.

Not wanting to be

placed on report again for refusing to obey a direct order, I grabbed my tool
belt and some rain gear and asked Ledbetter to get me a rigger's safety
harness so I wouldn't risk falling off the tower.

His reply was that he didn't

know where it was kept but that I should just tie a rope around my waist,
which I ultimately what I had to do as I scaled the narrow metal ladder up
to the top of the tower as the pounding wind tried to blow me off.

Although I was not afraid of heights, I was afraid of losing my grip and falling
to my death.

I concentrated on my every deliberate move - it seemed like it

took me an hour to reach the top. I could hear the wind whistling
me and felt the

tower

around

sway back and forth even though it was firmly

anchored by cables. In the distance I could lightning flashes and I started

counting the seconds before the thunder.

The strikes were about two

miles away. I was just one bolt of lightning

toast It was reminiscent
joke.

away from becoming

burnt

of my buoy battery episode only this was no

I found the cable connections at the top of the red and white tower

and upon repeated

connection

inspection

it looked just fine and when

with my hand it was just as tight as it could be.

I felt the
So

followed the cable back down to the ground looking for breaks in the cable
that

might

be

allowing

moisture

in

that

would

After spending almost a full hour on this tower, I came to

conclusion

that

any

communication

problems

were

cause interference.
the
not because of a

broken cable or loose connection. And so I reported to Ledbetter. I slept very

well that night.
37

About a week
Reithmayer.

later, I just happened to be sailing with radioman

Craig

The two of us had chipped in together and bought a 16 foot

Hobie Cat. Somehow

we got around

to talking

asked him how long the radios were out.

about the storm and I

He looked at me kind of funny

and then told me that they never lost radio communications during the
storm, only that there was some interference. When I then told him about
my tower ordeal he told me what nobody else ever did- The antenna for
aircraft radio communications was on the roof of the hangar and not on top
of the tower.

Surely I thought Craig was mistaken and the very next day I

climbed on top of the hangar to see for myself. Sure enough, just as Craig
told me, I found the UHF and HF and VHF radio antennas just where he
38

said they were.

I thought long an hard about this whole episode and

realized that reporting it to the CO would accomplish

would care I asked myself and
mother

ultimately

decided

nothing. Who else

no one

except my

and girlfriend and so I let this incident pass with regret.

That

bastard wanted to kill me. But things would even get worse in just a
few months.

One day as I saw Ledbetter walking towards

and privately
explaining

confronted

his office I approached him

him about the tower

fiasco

and instead of

why he sent me up that tower, he glared at me and with flared

nostrils told me that he was going to make my life a living hell until I begged
for a transfer.

I can only assume he .caught some heat for that

much like the CO caught for the telephone directory.

chandelier

I steered clear of

Ledbetter and would not even enter a room or an aircraft hangar if he was
in it.

The single men and women of Air Station Borinquen were provided with
duplex housing units on the base with two men or women being assigned to
each half of the duplex. While at Air Station Borinquen, I had two roomates
over two years, Cecil Hixon and Ken Lastafka. We did not have to pay for
this housing, but we were responsible for keeping it maintained and keeping
the surround

yard area groomed. In fact the houses would get inspected

on a regular basis by the housing officer who would then send notes to
people advising them what needed to be cleaned up or repaired.

We got a

notice that our house needed painting. The normal procedure now would be
for us to put in a requisition to Public Works for the supplies needed to
paint the house and that's exactly what I did.

But our request was being

ignored and we had only thirty days to comply with the housing officer's notice.
For a moment I thought the requisition delay was just another ruse to get
39

me put on report by the Housing Officer but I then reassured myself I was
just being paranoid.

As luck would

have it though,

I got a call from

Polson

who was still

supervising the renovation of the officer's club and he told me to get a detail
of two guys to help load a truck full of trash down at the club. As we were
throwing construction waste into the truck, I came across about ten cans of
paint that were partially full to some extent.
pouring

one

can into

another

enough

to paint our house

I could

It was a whitish color and buy

get about six gallons out of it -

I thought. Keep in mind that these cans and

about fifty others were destined for the trash yard. Also keep in mind that
both this paint and the house we live in are government
on government

property. Every single

is a government building
government brushes.

that

building

is painted

property

on Air Station

with

government

located

Borinquen
paint

and

I spent about $45 of my own money, drove to the

local hardware store in town and bought a brush, roller, a tube of green
paint tint,

and some emerald green paint which I would use for the trim of

our house.

I then mixed the tint with the paint to obtain a light pastel mint green color
and

painted

the

entire

exterior

normally be sailing and/or diving.

over

the weekend

- the time

The dark green trim around the windows,

doors, and roof line made it look spiffy and we got complimentary
from all of our neighbors
paint job would

I would

and even the housing officer himself.

comments
But this

end my career in the Coast Guard and all those training

courses would be for nought.

Ledbetter

you see

knew that

his

Public

Works

department

had

not

approved my request for the painting supplies so he just assumed I must

40

have "appropriated" the paint which is very common on any military base.
He used this opportunity to get some revenge as he convinced
must be stealing

government

the CO I

property. Sure enough, when I went home

for lunch one fine day, Ledbetter, Mr. Ricthie, and few others were inside
our house searching for "stolen government property".

Mr. Ritchie advised

me to keep quiet and talk with him later so I did. I stood there and watched
them remove about 120 items of government property ranging from ink pens,
to a broom, a fan, to two cans of paint left over from the paint job. NONE
of the items removed from our quarters was ever reported stolen, and there
was not an item they found there that would
other government house on base.

not be found in almost any

In fact, most of the items like the broom,

dustpan, cleanser, etc. were already in the house when we moved in.

The entire duplex that housed four men was searched and similar items
were found on both sides of the duplex yet, I was the only one charged with
"stealing government property".
on report for bullshit.

I was outraged. Once again I was placed

But this time I had had it with the bogus reports and

I swore I'd spend every minute and dime I had fighting this and I did.

When people in the military are put on report it is called an article 15 or

"Captain's

Mast" where

the accused

stands

questions and tells his/her version of events.

how to punish the accused

before

the

CO, answers

The CO then decides if and

ranging from extra duty details to losing a

stripe. Since the ACLU incident I never got a fair shake from Lutton so I
certainly didn't expect one now.

I told my mom back in Ohio what had

happened and she put me in touch with a Cleveland lawyer named Gerald
Gold. He told me what I already knew, they would use a Captain's Mast to
find

me guilty of a charge that

expelled

was just

serious

enough

to

have

me

from the Coast Guard. But he told me I had other options, and
41

one

of

them

Captain's

was

to

decline

the

Mast and demand a trial by

court martial where an outside

officer

would be called in to prevail over the

proceedings and
would

determine

three

other

my fate.

officers

To defend

me it would cost me an entire

year's

salary that I didn't have. My mother put

up the money and I demanded m y right
to a court martial.

Overthe next two

weeks the CO and about five others of

his staff tried to talk me out this but I
remained firm in my determination

to

Captain Thomas Lutton

clear myself especially after talking with

Captain

Lenny Barrow the base medical officer (now a flight surgeon at

Kennedy Space Station) who was a trusted friend and neighbor of mine. His
son Lenny Jr. suffered from MS and I spent some spare time with him
whenever

I could. Captain

Barrow

reminded

me that the administration

would never let me walk away from a Captain's

Mast because

I might

turn around and sue for harassment since there was a historical pattern of
it. He was right and there were no second thoughts from then on.

A trial

date for the court martial was set four months away which gave my lawyer
plenty of time to talk with witnesses

and prepare.

In the interim,

I was

amazed that they let me continue working in the security office.

About

month

after

they

charged

me with

the

stolen

government

property Mr. Ritchie drove over to my house late one night and asked me to
go for a ride with him.

I jumped in his car and could smell that Rob had a

couple of drinks, but he certainly wasn't drunk.

He then proceeded to tell

42

me how much he liked me and admired me for standing up for myself

and that he was worried that this court martial would
the

Coast

Guard.

He seemed

genuinely concerned

upset when he tried to talk me out of the court

speak with

Lutton

Coast Guard

personally

career

on my behalf

personality

enlisted

for me but I grew

martial

and

ostensibly

offered

to "save

and get me transferred somewhere new".

the conversation g r e w we both finally

and

end my career in

admitted

that

my

But as

my character

would probably n e v e r be conducive

to

traits

to life as an

man. We had a long talk that night but Rob was a career officer

who could not let the plight of an enlisted man taint his record in any way.
As I got out of his car he leaned over and said "I guess you should
know that they're worried they don't have a real case against you so
they're going to add a charge of misappropriating
few months ago".
set of unmarked

I was stunned.
keys

that

those keys you had a

The keys he were referring to were a

I had found sitting

abandoned fork lift one day a few months back.

on the seat of an

I spent a good hour asking

around if anyone had lost a set of keys and nobody claimed them. I threw
them on the seat of my car and would take them by the security
my way home to drop off.

office on

But I got into an argument with my girlfriend

over something on the phone and totally forgot about the keys until the next
day.

Someone at the morning public works meeting asked if anyone had

found a set of keys, and I announced

that

I had found

them

forklift and went out to retrieve and return them from my car.
happy to have his keys back and that was the end of it, or

on the
He was

so I thought.

Nothing had ever been mentioned about those keys for months and now
Ritchie was telling me they would be used against me somehow.

In the

following

overheard

week,

a conversation

I was

working

in the security

of some expensive

office

and

electronics equipment that

43

was stolen, misplaced, or otherwise

unaccounted for from the Avionics

shop at the hangar, and whether or not a report had to be written

up.

Since I would probably get burdened with that task, I made myself look
busy quick but Mr. Ritchie said he'd wait another month
general

inventory

was

coming

up, and

because

the equipment which included

a radio, transponder, and ADF might show up. After all military guys are not
the best record keepers.

Now it just so happened, that a handful of guys at the air base were either
private pilots or in training to become one like myself.

Three of them had

actually bought some single engine aircraft and kept them on the base right in the hangar next to the three huge helicopters. Two Cesnas and a
Citabria I believe.

These private planes were all owned by officers and

they were maintained by a few enlisted guys who made a little extra money
on

the side for their efforts. One of the planes was owned by a Lt. Gaston

and one day I was walking by his plane when one of the mechanics was working
under the cowling of the plane on the engine when he dropped a wrench.

picked it up and handed it to him so he wouldn't have to pull his arm out of
the engine compartment where it appeared to be holding something. He thanked
me and then asked to borrow some of my Scuba gear for the weekend. A
short casual conversation developed about local dive spots where shells and
lobster could be found and as we were talking, I glanced inside the cockpit
of this Cessna. Lo and behold, there in the instrument panel of the plane
were

brand new Coast Guard issue radios, transponder, and ADF!

continued to scan the interior of the plane,

I also spotted

even

As I
more

government property including life jackets, fire extinguisher, headsets, firstaid kit, some flares, and an ELB (emergency
not yet been installed.
mechanic) and

locator beacon) which had

I said nothing about any of this to Mike (the

just walked

away.

I was

fuming.

Here

I am being
44

charged with stealing paint, brooms, and a fan, and this bastard has about
$30,000 of government property in his private airplane!

I went back to the security office and told

Ritchie about what I just saw

and he did his best to calm me down and told me he would "check into
it" and that I should just keep quiet.
how Frank

Ballou

handled

Immediately I had flashbacks

the cigarette

going to count on Mr. Ritchie alone.

of

thief and decided I wasn't

That night when only the duty crew

was at the hangar and busy servicing one of the H3s, (tail number 1470,
1471, or 1472) I took my camera over to Gaston's
and snapped

plane, opened

the door

away hoping my camera flashes wouldn't be noticed, but

45

they were.

One of the guys looked up and me so I just waved. He waved

back and went back to work.

The very next day I saw Rob Ritchie and Lt. Gaston talking with each other
right

next to

inquiring

Gaston's

about

all

plane

the

and

I just

government

assumed

equipment.

that

Ritchie was

Ritchie a n d

I never

discussed the matter again. But about a week later, I had to walk by
Gaston's plane again, and there wasn't a single instrument removed but
now I noticed a piece of olive green canvas, perhaps a flight suit covering
the other stuff in the back seat area.

As I was trying to make out what

was under the canvas through the window, I heard a voice ask "Don't you
have enough problems of your own to worry about?" I turned around to find
Lt. Gaston standing right behind me.

I didn't hear him walk up.

I didnt

answer and just walked away thinking what balls this guy had.

I decided to put Gaston on report just as

I was

put on report for

"stealing government property" just to see if we both got equal justice from
the Lutton administration.

But technically,

I would need more than my

photographs, I would need the serial numbers on all of the equipment. If

nothing else, the one thing I learned in the Coast Guard

everything has a serial number!

was always
have

to

go

someone
inside

This would not be an easy feat since there

working
Gaston's

order to see the numbers

in the
plane

hangar
and

area and

remove

I'd actually

the instruments in

which are almost always on the

back

panel.

After four or five attempts, I gave up when I could never find the hangar
unattended.

My report would only contain the photos, and the CO would

have to order that the instruments

be removed for inspection. But now

my summary court martial was to begin in only a few days so I turned my

46

attention to preparing for my case, making a list of points and question

Mr. Gold mig ht want to address at trial.

A makeshift courtroom was made in the hangar's debriefing

room and

the Coast Guard flew in their court clerk, and presiding "judge" which I
believe was a commander whose name I simply can't recall. Three local
officers from the base were consigned to be the jury and my big trial took
all of two days.

"Witnesses" as to what was found in my housing unit were

called and Gerry Gold managed to get them to admit, that out of all the
stuff removed from the duplex unit, only a couple government pens, and
a fan were actually removed from my bedroom,

and

that all of the

other stuff was actually found in the common areas of the house like the
kitchen, living room, and various closet.
questions- "Why was only Gorcyca
occupants?"
anything?"

and "Did anyone

I never

Gerry also raised the obvious

charged

actually.

from Ledbetter

be properly acquitted.

see

Gorcyca

steal

much appreciated lawyers much until that day when

I needed one. He did quite a good job

endured

and not the other three

and

at exposing

his supervisors

the

and

harassment

I was

sure

I
I'd

Eventually the issue of the keys came up and

when called to explain, I simply told the truth of how and where and when I
found them. The "prosecutor" made his points that the keys were not issued
to me, and

that they could

be some

critical

keys

that could

be

needed in an emergency. Gold retorted that if they were so valuable, why

were they left laying around where anyone could have walked off with
them. No one seemed to care that I returned the keys to their rightful owner
the very next workday, o r that over two months passed before anyone even
suggested I should be charged with anything. All in all,

I didn't

see the

keys issue as being a big deal of any consequence since they were
not used by me nor anyone else while they were in my possession. Finally
47

Gold suggested that if the keys were so critical, they should have been
tagged with some 10 and whoever was negligent to let them sit on the
seat of a forklift in an empty parking lot should be charged - not me.

After the closing arguments Gold pulled me aside and said he never saw
such bullshit in his life and suggested that I file a harassment suit against
the Coast Guard. But at this point we both assumed that I would be fully
exonerated

and we discussed

might be like after he's gone.

As we debated whether

what life for me at Air Station Borinquen

I surely anticipated even more harassment.

or not I should request a transfer to a new duty

station, we were called back into the court room to hear the verdict.

I was

found "not guilty as charged" and just as I exhaled a huge sigh of relief
I was hit with a sledge
hammer

as

the judge

continued

reading

accused is found guilty of misappropriating

keys in question"

WHAT!

the

verdict

two gallons of paint and the

in a common area closet and

clearly used to paint a government building. There was

at

all.

Gerry

leaned

over

$55

no personal use

and whispered

fucking you to save their ass from a law suit!"

misappropriating

the

I was dumbfounded and so was Gold, especially

since the two gallons of paint were found

involved

"however,

of government property

to me "They're

Being found guilty of

gnawed

at my stomach

24/7 for days to come, but slowly as complete strangers on the base came
up to me and patted me on the back and told me they all knew it was
bullshit,

I started losing the shadow of shame and embarrassment of the

whole mess.

Lutton and Ledbetter gloated over their victory because now

they'd have a "real" reason

to hold

me back from

promotion

a third

time. But the consequences would be even worse ...

48

My mom just spent $10,000 of her $20,000 savings to defend me from

these bogus charges and now Gold was trying to convince

me that we

could overturn the decision with an appeal that would cost my mom the
rest of her savings.

I couldn't

put m y mom i n thatfinancial hole and I

only had about $3,000 of my own saved Lip so we let the matter drop out of
pure economics.

The following week, Lutton called me into his office and for the first time I
learned about the letter of reprimand

he received because of my ACLU

letter. With a smile on his face he cheerfully a n no unc e d "It is with sadness
and regret that I must inform you that in view of your recent

conviction, I

think you are not suitable for further service to the

Guard,

have

recommended

your

Coast

and

immediate discharge." I was speechless.

expected to be transferred f o r sure. In fact I had just received orders to be

transferred to a lifeboat station in Ocean C i ty, Maryland. He explained that
it would take about two weeks for the paperwork
if m y discharge would
you

to go through. I asked

be an honorable or dishonorable

really think you deserve an honorable

honestly replied "Yes I

discharge?"

discharge.

"Do

he asked and I

do sir and you know I do". He just laughed

and dismissed

me.

I fo u nd

out

recommended

a d i s ho no ra b l e

from

yeoman

that

even

though

discharge

Lutton

had

I had the

highest academic average on base and had good to excellent job performance
marks from Lt. Ritchie.

I shared the news with Gerry Gold in Cleveland who fired off some letters
promising a law suit and pointing out the pettiness of the entire ordeal.
Apparently,
Gold's

the admiral at district headquarters

letters

and

reviewed

the

court

martial

in Miami, actually read

transcripts because I got

a call from one of the Coast Guard lawyers in Miami asking me if I truly
49

wanted to stay in the Coast Guard knowing that I would

from further advancement

no matter where

be blacklisted

I went. I said that I would

certainly p refe r to let the last year of my four enlistment run out than get a
dishonorable discharge and lose my GI Bill benefits.
received by courier a document to sign from
said

I would

A day or two later I

District legal that

basically

be given an honorable discharge if I agreed not to sue the

Coast Guard or any member of it.

with my mom and Gold.

Regretfully I conceded a f t e r consulting

What I really wanted to do was appeal the court

martial verdict but Gold did some research and told me that only a General
Court Martial can be appealed

and mine was merely a summary court

martial which had no appeal rights.

On my last day in the Coast Guard, I dug out the report I wrote up on Gaston,
stapled

the

photograph

to

it and

marched

up

to

the administration

office which was manned by Yeoman First Class Dick Kiser and Yeoman
Third Class Rick Stewart. "I'm placing Lt. Gaston on
and/or

misappropriation

of

government property".

report

for

the

theft

I handed them the

report and Dick just smiled as he shook my hand and wished me good luck.
I would need it.

At the time I was truly heart-broken and depressed. I loved the Coast Guard
and admired their mission.

Everyone tells me I should have just looked

the other way and ignored all the misdeeds I reported. But that is not how
I was raised and I simply can't ignore such blatant stuff. In r e trospect, I met
a lot of fine people in the Coast Guard and I thank those below and the
many others whose names I simply can't recall now for their loyal friendship
and support through my various Coast Guard "adventures".

50

Ken & joAnne Lastafka

Luis Guzman
Jan Shelton
Capt. Wallace Harvey
Larry Ryals
Capt. Leonard Barrow
Larry Watkins
Craig Reithmayer
Alfredo Lopez
Jim Faw
Fred Patterson
Dick & Avis Kiser
Mike Lipinsky
John Henneman

Don Kayser
Rick Gordon
Rick Stewart
Mike Blume
Mike Mineo
Bob Polson
Ed Rothfuss
Frank Ballou
Eddie Villafaine
Rick Southworth
Bill Shockey
Ron Milligan
Perry Crosson
Lt. Perry

Vince Brinker
Cecil Hixon
Bill Yoe
Joe Diaz
Rick Ceballos
Mike Crye
Tom Nagel
Manny Crespo
Brian Barbaris
Jaime Segui
Ivan Jurado
Bill Nicholson
Mike Blume
Frank Patterson

A wise man never pulls the tiger's tail

-

Confucius

Cpyright 1995-2014 By Bruce A. Gorcyca All Rights Reserved

51