Raul Garcia

Partial Transcript: Hello. I am Stephanie Mata Granados and I'm interviewing Raul Garcia to talk about his life as part of the Latino Veterans Oral History Project. Thank you, Mr. Garcia, for agreeing to be interviewed. Could you please state your name and your birthdate?

Segment Synopsis: Stephanie Mata Granados introduces Raul Garcia who is being interviewed for the Latino Lorain Veteran History Project, which is a collaboration between the Lorain Historical Society and Oberlin College. The interview takes place in the Lorain Historical Society.

Keywords: Lorain Historical Society; Latino Lorain Oral History Project

Partial Transcript: So the first question I have for you today is just if you could ask, if you could tell me, um, where you were born and where you grew up.

Segment Synopsis: Raul Garcia discusses his early life in Lorain and his experiences with his parents and 5 siblings.

Keywords: Mexico; Utah; siblings; US Marine Corps

Partial Transcript: Then what about just life in general for you and your family? What was that like growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia describes growing up in Lorain as a place with people of “all nationalities.” He also discusses community clubs, organizations, and life in Lorain during the civil rights movement.

Keywords: Lorain; civil rights; The Gents multicultural club

Partial Transcript: What were some of the things that you would do besides parties? Like, what was, like, would you guys organize in some way?

Segment Synopsis: Raul Garcia shares that weekly dances were a major way that Mr. Garcia’s club, The Gents, would create community.

Keywords: the Gents; dance

Partial Transcript: And what about some of your mentors or role models? Did you have any growing up? So like, could you tell us more about them?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia talks about some of his role models growing up, including President John F. Kennedy, his uncles, and brothers. Additionally, Mr. Garcia points out that TV’s glorification of the military contributed to people’s perception of the military as cool.

Keywords: Better American; TV; family; John F. Kennedy

Partial Transcript: When my uncles went in, I think they were both drafted. They come out, uh, better people.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia recalls that his uncles and brother came out of war as better people, but they also didn’t talk about their experiences in war. However, he did witness them being verbally mistreated by people who didn’t approve of their participation in war. Mr. Garcia also shares about his inability to talk about his service, except with his old squadrons.

Keywords: FaceBook; Vietnam War; secret missions; social media; Korean War

Partial Transcript: Yeah. So thank you for that. I appreciate hearing about like, early life and then delving into a little bit later, but that's awesome. Yeah. I'd love to hear it all. Um, yeah. So we kind of talked about how you first began to think about military service, like through your role models, like, um, people on TV and your uncles. Was there anything else you would like to share about that?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia says he wanted to serve his country because it’s something he loved to do. In fact, he continued to serve his country in other ways after he stopped serving in the military.

Keywords: human services; military police; post office; corrections officer

Partial Transcript: So speaking specifically about your service, what was the branch that you entered and why specifically that

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia shares that he was in the navy, in which he traveled the world and came across different living conditions. He remembers having a good time during his basic training, although this wasn’t the case for all the men there.

Keywords: Alaska; Australia; Chicago; FaceBook; Great Lakes; Hawaii; Hong Kong; Italy; Spain; US Navy

Partial Transcript: What were some of the emotions that you had during boot camp?

Segment Synopsis: For Mr. Garcia, basic training and boot camp felt like a playground, especially because of the way he was brought up.

Keywords: bootcamp; orders; basic training

Partial Transcript: Was the basic training your first time away from home?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia shares that basic training was the first time that he was away from home and it was wonderful because he was able to see the world and how other people lived.

Keywords: leaving home

Partial Transcript: What is your most vivid, vivid memory of your time? Training or in school?

Segment Synopsis: Raul Garcia remembers when his aircraft caught on fire while he was serving in the US Air Force.

Keywords: emergency landing; US Air Force

Partial Transcript: Oh God. when you start walking home. I don't know. Um, but yeah. Uh, thank you for talking about that aspect of your life. Now we would like to talk more about your wartime service, which you've been talking about already, but just some further questions. Mm-Hmm. Um, we talked about a little bit about what you loved most about your time in Hawaii, maybe. Was there any other, like best part of your service overall or like your favorite part of service overall?

Segment Synopsis: One of Mr. Garcia’s favorite parts of his service was in Adak, Alaska. He shares a specific favorite memory of bald eagles that were following him.

Keywords: Russia; bald eagle; submarines; Adak, Alaska

Partial Transcript: What about, um, like, oh, like you said before, there are good and bad parts of, of life. That's life, so it's great to hear about that, like favorite memory. But what about, was there like a time that wasn't so great? Or maybe that was difficult, like a challenge?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia recalls that one of the hardest parts of his service was flying in the military planes. Regardless, it was challenging and made him stronger because it taught him where his limits were and therefore taught him who he was. He finds comparisons between this lesson that he learned in the military and the lessons that he and his wife give their daughter.

Keywords: college; family; help; submarine; military planes

Partial Transcript: How did it feel ending service?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia describes that when he left the military he continued to do some work in Europe, but eventually had to leave to start planning his life. He mentions that he and other veterans on FaceBook say the same thing, including that if they could, they would go back and serve on their aircrafts. Mr. Garcia also mentions that his service never ends because of constant reminders of his experiences in the military.

Keywords: Dreams; FaceBook; Fourth of July; Italy; Lorain; Rome; Spain; Veterans Day; reserves; Military service

Partial Transcript: With that, with like generations coming, we were talking about this earlier, but do you feel like generations after you are also joining the military? Or do you feel like you're setting that example?

Segment Synopsis: Raul Garcia shares that his son is now interested in joining the military as well. Mr. Garcia explains how military service for Latinos is intertwined with Latino values of family, respect, and protection. He also discusses how family sets the foundation for people.

Keywords: Mexican Revolution; grandfather; protecting family; respect; uncles; son

Partial Transcript: So we would like to know how your experiences in the military changed you.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia shares that being in the military made him into something he always wanted to be.

Keywords: US Military; travel; Lorain

Partial Transcript: Speaking of life lessons, we've talked a lot about different ones that you've learned that have. Are there any others that you'd like to share?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia shares the life lesson of respecting your family as much as possible and to not turn on each other, but instead to resolve problems, something that was reinforced in the military. He also tells a personal anecdote of a time when he embraced this life lesson.

Keywords: family; help; military; sailor; respect

Partial Transcript: We'd also like to know more about how your military service impacted your feelings about war and the military in general.

Segment Synopsis: Raul Garcia talks about how the military has strengthened the ways that he interacts with current war and the concept of protection.

Keywords: gratitude; home; prepared; protect; war

Partial Transcript: I appreciate all the wisdom that you have. I mean, brought here today. Uh, one of the final questions that we have is what message do you want to give to future generations that may come across this interview, that will watch this interview?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia’s advice to future generations that will watch this interview is that you learn by making mistakes, and when those mistakes happen, just get up and keep going. He wishes everyone good luck.

Keywords: personal growth; mistakes

Partial Transcript: Awesome. Uh, so just to wrap up, I wanna ask you if there's anything else that you would like to talk about, um, or that you want people to remember about your story, your family, um, before we end the interview?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Garcia shares that he tells his kids that they should serve their country at least for a year or two. This is a way of giving a part of yourself to your country and community and it’ll make you a better person.

Keywords: community; national service; service