Richard Vargas
Richard Vargas entered the navy for the Vietnam war when he was eighteen in 1965. He
had chosen to join the navy because his uncle was in World War II and told war stories about the
“Destroyer”, fighting Japanese, and fighting kamikazes. Richard Vargas was excited by these
stories of fighting the Japanese and hearing about the kamikazes that he wanted to join for the
adventure and excitement. When he joined he asked to be put on the destroyer. He wanted to be
traveling in the Pacific Ocean.
Before he could be put on the ship, Richard Vargas had to go through bootcamp and
schooling. He joined the navy when he was 18; he had to finish high school in Baltimore,
Maryland. He was sent to radio-man school in Maryland and learned communications. He
attended Bain Bridge which was the most prestigious out of the three radio men schools
available. He remembered it was by “Waves”; a bootcamp for female soldiers. After multiple
tests they found out that his hearing was so great that they suggested he be a sonar man in a
submarine. However, Richard Vargas had his mind set on being on the destroyer. Being on a
submarine underwater did not appeal to him. Richard Vargas turned down the offer and kept his
dream of being on the destroyer. His next choice was to be a radioman and he learned teletyping,
Morse code and procedures.
While in radio-man school, Richard Vargas was put through multiple top secret
tests. These tests consisted of sitting in a room full of mirrors for one hour with about four other
people. While sitting there they were being watched from outside the room. They were told not
to talk. They did not speak once for the whole hour. After the hour was up, the person
conducting the test entered the room and said the test was over and that they all passed. They
were also put in a sound proof and light proof room and were told to count thirty seconds, after
that they were to count five minutes and so on. Lastly the men were put in little rooms for a long
period of time and had to stay in them. The people conducting the tests told the men that they
could not tell them what they were for until after five years. The men were never told what the
tests were for, but Richard Vargas speculates the tests were maybe for NASA.
After bootcamp Richard Vargas served his first of two tours in Vietnam. He entered the
war in 1966 and worked on the destroyer as a radio man. He loved his job. As a radio man
Richard Vargas worked in a room where there were no windows. Messages came through a
crypto machine that de-coded the messages sent from other ships on the American side. Every
twenty-four hours the code changed. Since Richard Vargas was in communications he had the
privilege of decoding and reading every message. Being in communications meant that you had
to keep all of the knowledge you learned to yourself. Richard Vargas made sure he never told
any of the secrets to anyone. People, even crew members, would try to get him drunk to learn of
the secrets that the messages held. Richard Vargas upheld his integrity and still told no one.
Richard Vargas recalls how one time, a message came through late at night that had to be
decoded. Upon decoding it he realized it was not meant to be read by them. It was sent to the
wrong ship. He called on a superior form for aid in deciding what to do with the message, and
they decided to destroy it. The chief the next day was pleased with Richard Vargas’ decision.
Richard Vargas explained how the crew knew the two halves of Vietnam by nickname. North
Vietnam was named Yankee Station and South Vietnam was named Dixie station.
Richard Vargas stated that his first days at bootcamp were shocking. Everyone was
disciplined quickly. He says that if he knew it would be that way he probably wouldn’t have
joined in the first place. One of his most memorable stories is when the “Big O” caught of fire.
The killed many people, they had to perform burials at sea. The Russians wanted to take pictures
of the “Big O” but the Americans told them they could not get within fifty miles of the ship.
Americans eventually sunk “Big O” in a reef off Florida. The U.S.S. Pueblo ship was captured
by North Korea. Richard’s crew mates on the destroyer wanted to go and get the ship back
because it had all of the coding and advanced American technology. The people in charge at the
time said to leave the ship in North Korea. The decision angered many people. As the U.S.S.
Pueblo was being captured, crew members were trying to destroy as many messages and top
secret items as possible. They purposely drove into the harbor slowly to make sure as many
things that could be destroyed would be destroyed. During Richard Vargas’ time he remembers
that John McCain was a pilot and was captured for five years. Richard Vargas proudly states that
throughout his tours he kept in contact with his girlfriend and ended up marrying her.
Another memorable moment for Richard Vargas was when he went to use the bathroom
on the destroyer. The bathroom had a little window that was always kept closed. Richard Vargas,
being in the communications room that had no windows, wanted to see the action of the war
going on outside the ship. He opened up the window and as shots were being fired. Bullets being
fired from the ship weighed 75 pounds. The shots rattled the ship a lot and while he was in the
restroom he flew back due to the force of the shots and the ship’s rattling. He vowed not to open
the bathroom window again.
Richard Vargas’ second tour was very different from his first tour. His second tour
consisted of more traveling and little conflicts and battles. He said, “the two fifty calipers made
enemies drop like flies.” His first tour consisted of more shore bombardment. He said they were
only shooting five inch rounds that traveled a little over ten miles. They did this for forty-fve
days. Richard Vargas traveled to Canada, Hawaii, Japan, Okinawa, Hong Kong, Midway,
Taiwan, and Subic Bay in the Philippines. Richard Vargas would party for entertainment. He
mostly went out in Japan. Looking back at all the places he went to and the conditions that they
were in, he felt very lucky to be an American citizen. His only regret was that he would’ve sight
seen more. In the Philippines, Richard Vargas walked through the jungle with one of his friends
from the destroyer. They ended up in a village and ate tacos. It wasn’t until after he started eating
that he found out the taco meat was made of monkeys.
Richard Vargas says the scariest part of being on the ship was when typhoon season hit.
He claims many men were sea sick. The ship would rock back and forth. Waves of water would
even go above the ship. There were safety rails around the edges of the ship so men would not
fall overboard. These proved worthless when the oversized waves washed over the ship and took
out the railings. Richard Vargas said that when a person had to get from one place to another
place on the ship, timing was everything. Many destroyers were lost in World War II because of
typhoons. Throughout typhoon season and through war causes there were many burials at sea.
After Richard Vargas’ two tours ended he drove big riggs. Richard Vargas said he was happy
when his tours ended because he could now spend more time with his family and be there at
celebrations with them. A few things Richard Vargas kept with him after the war was his mental
discipline. He believes goals can be achieved if you are persistent. He also learned not to tell
anyone secrets. This trait is attributed from his job as a radio man. He lost a couple of his close
friends in the army but none from the navy. He enjoyed his travels while he was on tour and
brought back gifts for his parents such as a twelve piece china set for his mother. He bought it in
China. Richard Vargas was frustrated that when he and other Vietnam veterans came home from
the war their service was not appreciated. They would get things thrown at them and were called
horrid names. Through hearing about Richard Vargas’ experiences have a deeper understanding
of veterans and what they went through. Every veteran should be appreciated for their service to
our country because they make great sacrifices.