|
|
 | |
|
An up close and personal interview with U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
FSC William Willis U.S. Coast Guard (1987-Present)
WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE MILITARY?
 When I graduated from high school I didn't have much going on so I just continued living it up and having a good time. I just scraping by and figured I need to do something but since I had no job skills, I was at a loss of what to do next. One day I was driving by a Coast Guard Recruiter and it hit me.
I grew up on the water so I knew about the Coast Guard and had seen them on the water all my life. I saw them fly over my house in those big Pelican helicopters when I was a child. They were huge to me. I took a class trip when I was in elementary school to the Cutter Chilula at Fort Macon, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. It just felt like that was what I was supposed to do, so I did. The urge struck me and I joined.
WHAT WAS YOUR SERVICE CAREER PATH?
I got orders to the CG Cutter Rambler in  Charleston, South Carolina. It was a construction tender and I thought what an ugly boat, but never judge a book by its cover. I loved that unit. I am still close, after over 24 years, with many of the shipmates I served with aboard that old hulk.
I filled in for our cook a couple of times, he was outstanding. That?s when the idea hit me that this may be what I want to do. I went to Petaluma, California to A school and became a FS (Food Service Technician). I was then stationed in Honolulu. I loved it there as well and extended an additional year. It was nice because we were a support unit and I got to experience TAD time on a 110 and an 82 foot patrol boat.
I was then transferred to the CGC Staten Island, a patrol boat out of Ft Macon, North Carolina. After that tour I went in the Reserves because I wanted to start a family. I was stationed at Station Hobucken and was there from 1995 until June of 2010.
I was transferred to Sector Charleston Reserves. I am still here as a Reservist. I was recalled back to active duty in 2003 for about 6 months for Port Security in the Wilmington, Morehead City and Sunny Point ports.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT OPERATIONS? IF SO, COULD YOU DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH WERE SIGNIFICANT TO YOU?
I never directly was involved in any combat operations. We participated in the invasion of Haiti, if you can call it that. We were invited in at the last minute.
 The reason we invaded Haiti was to restore the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who had been ousted by a military junta led by some army and police generals. We did carry Army Special Forces and Australian Police into remote areas where we would drop them off and they would look for rebels and make nice with the villagers.
Haiti was dangerous at that time and Haitians would be killed during the night and we would sometimes find their bodies floating in the water and have to get them.
Prior to the invasion, maybe a year earlier, we had carried some refugees back into Port-au-Prince and there were people on the pier in civvies resting on shotguns and other weapons. Never knew what became of those people but always felt that probably something bad.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE CAREER WHAT PARTICULAR MEMORY STANDS OUT?
Cubans have been trying to flee Fidel Castro's Communist regime ever since he seized power in 1959. The only way is by sea and a countless number try it each year. Only half make it to Florida. The other are caught by Cuban authorities or drown.  Those picked up by the Coast Guard are sent to a detention center and paroled to relatives. Every so often, there are mass migrations and it was such an exodus that our cutter was called in to help Cubans stranded in stormy seas. Pulling those people off of makeshift rafts from shark-infested waters by the hundreds, day in and day out, was long hours and hard work. But it made me proud at the same time. I felt like this is what it's all about. Things changed in 1995.
Since then, in what has become known as the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (i.e., with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal" status and, eventually, U.S. Citizenship.
WERE ANY OF THE MEDALS OR AWARDS YOU RECEIVED FOR VALOR? IF YES, COULD YOU DESCRIBE HOW THIS WAS EARNED?
No awards for Valor. My highest award is a Commander's Letter of Commendation. I appreciate the award, but all I ever did was my job. The Unit Commendations and Humanitarian Service Medals mean more to me as they are associated with things I participated in as part of a team with my shipmates.
OF THE MEDALS, AWARDS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES OR DEVICES YOU RECEIVED, WHAT IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
Around midnight on September 21, 1989, Hurricane Hugo slammed into Charleston Harbor as a Category 4, gusting winds up to 140 miles per hour. Most docks, boats and homes on the  waterfront were severely damaged and three-quarters of the homes in Charleston's historic district were damaged. When we arrived on the scene, we were amazed at how much damage had been done. The most amazing were how medium size boats were lifted up by the wind and water and slammed back down some distance away from the water's edge. We knew we had our work cut out for us. For months we worked hard from sun up to sun down cleaning up nature's mess.
For our dedication to duty in putting in the long, hard hours to get the harbor back to normal, we were rewarded with the Coast Guard Unit Commendation.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL PERSON FROM YOUR SERVICE STANDS OUT AS THE ONE WHO HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Andy Thompson. He was our cook on the Rambler and his affect on our morale is what made me want to do the same.
CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE THAT WAS FUNNY AT THE TIME AND STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
 Yes, I still laugh about it today. I was on the Cutter Staten Island at the time and we had pulled into the Bahamas for a night on our way back home from a Caribbean cruise. This little boy was selling flutes on the pier and asked our Gunner?s Mate, Russ Hazlet if he would like to buy one. Well he turns him down and we go off to have a few beers and explore the place.
Later that evening we come back to the ship and it had just gotten dark and we see the same little boy. Well Russ says, "Little boy, I would like to buy one of your flutes." That little kid comes right back at him in his very proper sounding English, "Earlier today I asked you if you would like a flute. You said no. Now I have no flutes and now you have no flute."
I thought we would fall off the pier laughing at that and I still smile every time I think of it.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER THE SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT JOB?
I went to work as an insurance agent. My grandfather started the agency in the late 40's and my father now owns it. If things go the way we want I will follow in his footsteps.
WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
 I am a member of the CPOA, VFW, American Legion and CG Combat Veterans. I enjoy participating with the CPOA. I like the feeling that I may have some part in helping others in some way. I intend to become more active in the other associations I belong to once I retire from the CG Reserve.
HOW HAS MILITARY SERVICE INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
The service has given me an appreciation that I don't think I could have fully realized if I hadn't served: being an American and living free in our great country. I don't know how to explain it any other way.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THOSE THAT ARE STILL SERVING?
Stay with it, enjoy it and take the most you can from the Coast Guard. You are serving with some of the finest men and women our country has to offer and it will all be over way too soon. When it is, you may well have been given the exact skills you need to succeed on the outside. You will also have learned self-discipline and the drive to move ahead.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU MAINTAIN A BOND WITH YOUR SERVICE AND THOSE YOU SERVED WITH?
 Signing up for TogetherWeServed.com has been a great experience. It has allowed me to reconnect with old shipmates and to meet a few new ones. I especially enjoy visiting the profiles of other members and checking out the photograph they've posted.
I encourage others to fill out their Reflections as fully as possible so they can leave a record, a kind of legacy for future generations to come.
|
|
|
Share this Voices Edition on:
 |
|
TWS VOICES
TWS Voices are the personal stories of men and women who served in the US Military and convey how serving their Country has made a positive impact on their lives. If you would like to participate in a future edition of Voices, or know someone who might be interested, please contact TWS Voices HERE.
This edition of Coast Guard Voices was supported by:
CoastGuard.Togetherweserved.com
For current and former serving Members of the US Coast Guard and US Coast Guard Reserve, TogetherWeServed is a unique, feature-rich resource enabling Coast Guardsmen to re-connect with lost Shipmates, share memories and tell their Coast Guard story.
To join CoastGuard.Togetherweserved.com, please click HERE.
| |
