Rudolph Jojola:
CLASS OF 1966
Mt. Carmel High SchoolClass of 1966
Los angeles, CA
Rudolph's Story
Everyone,
I have been fortunate since leaving the Southwest Los Angeles
neighborhood. During the 1960s, the Vietnam War was always in the news. Receiving a Selective Service draft notice was a "kiss of death:. I remember the day I went to the downtown Los Angeles recruiting office for a physical examination. There were at least 200 individuals waiting to enter the Army. A senior Army official selected 25 men and said "you are now members of the U.S. Marine Corps". Immediately, I heard people shouting that they never signed-up for the Marines. The confusion continued with people starting to cry in disbelief. There was a hardly known rule that the Army could transfer recruits from their ranks to the Marine Corps. I served four years in the Navy (1969-72).
World travel was my means of discovering foreign countries. My first overseas assignment was Morocco, North Africa. During this tour, I was sent on a Mediterranean deployment aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga (CVA-60 aircraft carrier).. This job meant four months aboard ship touring the Mediterranean. My military career took a sudden change following Morocco. My choices for a second tour included: Europe, Germany and the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, the Navy had other plans. The assignment office informed me that my next assignment would be Northwest, Virginia. I was totally confused that none of my three choices had been accepted. I called the assignment office and asked the question "what can I do to break the Northwest assignment"? The detailer replied that I had to volunteer for a hostile-fire tour in Vietnam. One year in Vietnam, flying P-3 Orion black-ops intelligence planes did not seem extreme. The planes would fly out of Danang AB, South Vietnam towards Hanoi, North Vietnam. I weighed the risks and accepted the assignment. The job had requirements that I pass certain training. The worse on the list was SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape). Of the 300 students participating in SERE, only 217 passed. The others developed medical problems or voluntarily quit. This was my first experience with "water boarding"! I lost about eight pounds of body weight before this exercise was over!
I remember one highlight of the Vietnam war. On April 19, 1972, I was airborne flying off the coast of North Vietnam. The radar operator had detected two Mig aircraft leaving their base near Hanoi. He watched as the planes headed towards the beach and then "disappeared from the screen". This flying condition could only mean one thing, "enemy planes over water"! The Navy has an emergency radio callsign of "Enemy aircraft - Feet wet". Our plane immediately took evasive action and descended to a lower altitude. The two enemy planes were intending to attack any warship they could find in the Tonkin Gulf. The U.S.S. Higbee (DD-806) was the nearest target. The two planes flew in formation as they approached t...Expand for more
he Higbee. The first plane misjudged the release distance and his bomb sailed through the ship's stacks and exploded on the far side. The other plane corrected for this mistake and dropped a 500 lb bomb on the rear gun mount killing several sailors. The U.S.S. Oklahoma City (flagship) took both Mig-17s with missiles as they were retreating back to land.
After the Navy, I returned to California where people were angry about the Vietnam war and seeing the military uniform. I packed my bags and went to the Univeristy of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in International Relations with spanish as a second language. I returned to Los Angeles in 1974 and did a serious review of my marketable skills. I had a current top secret security clearance with a college degree. I wanted to improve my communications skills and enrolled with UCLA for Russian language. Russia and the U.S. were still locked in the Cold War. Anything Russian was considered important with the U.S. foreign policy.
I applied with the U.S. State Department, Foreign Service and was given an
interview. I was fortunate to secure a position with the State Department.
Most of my assignments were with U.S. embassies in foreign countries.
There was one incident that brought me worldwide media attention. In May 1984, I was assigned to U.S. Embassy El Salvador. It was a normal workday. I was leaving my office and heading to the roof for some fresh air. While I was ascending the last few steps, I heard the security attack alarm. I immediately reached the roof and found the Marine Security Guard. He motioned for me to "keep low" as I approached his bunker. He informed me that several vehicles were parked immediately in front of the embassy. The occupants were discharging their weapons at the embassy. I could hear the "distant thuds" followed by a "ping sound" near our position. I borrowed his service revolver and took up a defensive position 20 yards from the Marine bunker. Off to my right was an apartment building. I glanced in that direction and saw a dozen reporters and cameramen clustered together. One reporter asked me to remove my sunglasses and look towards him. This was the signal for the cameramen to rapid-fire on their camera shutters. I understood later that my picture appeared on the worldwide news outlets. I heard years later that someone from Mt. Carmel recognized me from those pictures. The rest of the journey is history.
I have retired from State and am presently living in Fairbanks, Alaska. I
guess I came here for the salmon fishing and big-game hunting. The one
factor which is seldom mentioned is the five months of cold harsh winter.
I have been here five years and the winter has been difficult on my body
and mind! I have found a release by visiting Asia during the cold alaskan
months. I will return next year for a longer stay.
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