Troubled Water

by Gregory A. Freeman

  The scene was loud and raucous, but at the moment there was no direct contact between the two groups, and Carlucci wanted it to stay that way. He stepped between them, and with the assistance of a Marine first sergeant and the commissaryman who had heard the sailors’ earlier complaints, ordered the two groups to separate. Cloud arrived at this point. Just as he had feared, the presence of the Marines was creating a flashpoint. The two groups had to be separated as soon as possible. Cloud joined Carlucci and the others in ordering them apart.

  “All Marines out of the mess deck! All white crew outside! Off the mess deck right now!” Cloud ordered, and then Carlucci repeated the call.

  “Black sailors, you stay here! We’re getting the Marines out, so you stay put!”

  Cloud’s idea was to separate the groups and then deal with the black rioters without them feeling under siege. The mess deck was a good place to isolate them; its watertight hatches could be sealed from the outside. Cloud ordered Carlucci to have his Marines remain near the mess deck and police the hatches from the other side. That way the rioters wouldn’t go anywhere but Cloud could talk to them inside. The Marines immediately followed orders and started moving toward a hatch, prompting the black sailors to hurl more insults and claim victory. The Marines had to accept a chorus of black power shouts and one-finger salutes.

  Corporal Avina, a San Antonio, Texas, native who had been aboard the Kitty Hawk for two years and three months, was the last Marine to make his way out of the mess deck, and he was one of the few with a pistol on his belt. He had been on guard duty that evening; he had to be armed as he made his rounds through high-security areas like the flight deck and the brig. He had been checking the brig when he heard of the trouble in the mess deck and joined the other Marines. Avina was just about to step through the hatch leading to the passageway when he felt a tug on the shoulder strap that held his holster in place. He looked up to see a black sailor yanking him back, pulling him off balance. Avina reacted as he had been taught. Protect your weapon. He instinctively reached for the loaded pistol at his side and placed his hand over it to make sure no one could take it from him.

  Everything else happened in a blur. The black sailors saw Avina’s move as aggressive, thinking he was trying to draw his gun. Some hadn’t caught the first action, the black sailor grabbing Avina. The rioters moved to help the man whom they thought Avina was about to shoot. The Marines saw Avina being attacked by a black sailor and moved to defend him. The corporal was being pushed and pulled as the men all screamed at each other, but his focus was on keeping that weapon in his possession. His hand was firmly planted on the holster, and though he had no intention of drawing it, he wasn’t going to let go until he got out of the mess deck. The black sailors misread Avina’s determination, as did one black officer who was trying to help him get away from the rioters. Thinking Avina was trying to draw his pistol, the officer pushed Avina up against the wall and spoke directly in his face.

  “Don’t draw that pistol! The guys here are going to get hurt. You may get hurt!”

  At that point the Marines surged and took hold of Avina, pulling him out of the mess deck. Carlucci yelled at the Marines to go on back to their quarters and wait for further orders, but since Avina was on guard duty, he reminded him to go first to the guard shack and report the incident. The Marines left the mess deck but knew the trouble was not over. As they left, they could hear the black sailors cheering and continuing with their demonstration. Chris Mason had seen enough and left at the same time, heading for his berthing area.

  Cloud ordered all the doors leading to dining room sealed off, leaving him and a few other senior men alone with the rioters, who now numbered about forty. The incident with Avina had ratcheted up the vitriol to a new level, and their anger was now directed at Cloud.

  “He tried to shoot us!”

  “What are you going to about that, XO? That white man tried to pull his pistol on us!”

  Cloud also heard threats about getting the Marines later, that a Marine was going to die. It took several minutes for him to calm the crowd down, to get them to stop shouting and throwing things. He had to give direct eye-to-eye orders to several men, including Avinger and Rowe, to get them to shut up and listen. After he got the most vocal men quieted, the rest followed suit.

  “All right, now listen to me,” he said to the men. “I’m here and I want to hear what you’re upset about. But we can’t have all this screaming and disorder. I want to hear what you’ve got to say.”

  The men grumbled and groaned, and some just couldn’t help piping up with a smart comment, but they did listen to Cloud as he asked about their grievances and assured them that they would get a fair shake from him and the captain. When Cloud asked what they were so upset about, the men immediately went back to the incident with Avina’s gun. The XO assured them that the incident would be investigated. If the corporal had acted improperly, he would be punished to the maximum, even removed from the ship if the captain felt it necessary. Then Cloud asked what else was bothering the men. They presented a laundry list of complaints, many involving their treatment by the Marines, their experiences in the mess decks, their assignments, this long tour with no end in sight, and the events in Subic Bay. Cloud listened patiently, and sympathetically, to the men. He was interested in restoring order in the here and now, but he wasn’t giving short shrift to the men’s complaints. He felt genuine concern for their situation, despite the manner in which they got attention for it. Cloud assured the men that he would take their complaints seriously, and he reminded them of some of the options available on the ship, such as talking to the human resources staff, who could respond to their problems. The crowd stayed calm and responded mostly in a positive way to the XO, but a couple of the ringleaders weren’t buying it. They heckled Cloud as he spoke and tried to get the crowd riled up again.

  “He’s lying to you, man. He’s just the white man’s boy,” one man called out. “Don’t believe him just because he’s got brown skin. He’s just as white as any officer.”

  Another of the black sailors warned the crowd, “If you listen to what the XO says, you will be no better off than you have been in the past.”

  Cloud took the abuse in stride but knew he was being tested, that his blackness was at issue. I’m being put to the test as to whether I’m white in practice or black in practice. I’ve only been here eight weeks, and plus, they’ve never seen a black XO. He tried to assure the men that they could trust him.

  “Look, I’m not talking to you just as the XO now. I’m talking to you as an executive officer who has a greater understanding of your problems than probably any other executive officer in the U.S. Navy because the problem of being black has been one that I have lived with all my life,” he said. “I would hope that you all would understand that I don’t have to be told what it’s like to be a black man. I’m an authentic black man, just like you. There doesn’t have to be any compromise in terms of being an effective naval officer and being black. The two can be very compatible.”

  As Cloud was talking with the men, Townsend got a report from Carlucci about the scene in the mess deck, including the incident in which a gun may or may not have been drawn, and rioters may or may not have tried to take it. Still uncertain as to the extent of the problem, Townsend made a decision for which he later would be criticized long and hard. Although the standard procedure is for the captain to stay on the bridge in times of crisis, Townsend decided to go down to the mess deck and see for himself. If something serious was happening, he needed to know about it. If it was a bunch of hotheads who just wanted to hear from the captain, maybe he could put an end to it all pretty quickly.

  Townsend walked into the mess deck and was shocked at the destruction and disorder. The men on the other side of the room were so involved in their conversation that they didn’t even notice the captain enter, so he stood there for several minutes just listening. What he heard alarmed him.

  Townsend had walked in as Cloud was trying t
o assure the rioters that he could be trusted, that he really was a true black man. Cloud would later admit that his methodology was unorthodox and not very military in nature, but at the time he felt military discipline had already been lost.

  “For the first time,” Cloud told the men, “you have a brother who is the executive officer. My door is always open.”

  Townsend was surprised to hear Cloud talk that way, identifying himself as a “brother” and being so conciliatory to a bunch of hooligans running wild on his ship. And then it got worse. The men continued talking and Townsend could hear some of the sailors shouting “Right on!” and “We can trust this brother.” Several of the men raised their fists in a black power salute and stared directly into Cloud’s eyes, waiting for him to return the gesture, to show that he really was a black man.

  Cloud didn’t know what to do. He had never given a black power salute in his life. It just wasn’t his style, no matter how proud he was of his heritage. Feeling that he couldn’t let this moment slip away, that he needed to take advantage of the headway he was making with these guys, for the first time in his life Cloud raised his clenched fist in a black power salute. The sailors cried out “Black power!” and cheered the XO as a brother.

  Townsend was not pleased. No one had acknowledged his presence, and now his XO was giving a black power salute with the rioters. What the hell was this?

  I’m going to either have to throw the XO out right now or turn around and walk out. My authority is being eroded if I let this go on.

  Townsend left, troubled by what he had seen. The violence and destruction were bad enough, but he was particularly disturbed by Cloud’s behavior. The second in command of a United States aircraft carrier had given a black power salute and assured a bunch of rioting thugs that he was one of them. What in the world was going on? Townsend didn’t know Cloud all that well, but he had a hard time believing the XO was going to side with the rioters just because he was black.

  He’s handling this all wrong, Townsend thought. Is it because he’s black? I really didn’t think he was like that.

  After half an hour, in which he checked other areas for trouble, Townsend went back to the mess deck to see what was going on. Cloud was still meeting with the black crew, still talking about being a black man, still getting cheers from the rioters, and damn it all, he gave another black power salute while Townsend was watching. Soon after, Cloud noticed that the boss was in the room. He pulled the captain aside to suggest that he be allowed to handle the situation without interference.

  “I’ve got something going with these guys now, Captain. Maybe it’s best if I continue with this on my own.”

  Townsend wasn’t eager to comply with Cloud’s suggestion but reluctantly turned to leave. Before he got out the door, though, some of the sailors called out that they wanted to question the captain as well. Townsend agreed to take a few questions. He gave pretty much the same assurances as Cloud had that there were structures in place to resolve any legitimate complaints by the black sailors. When he was finished with the questions, he ordered the men to disperse peacefully.

  Cloud left first, to check out another report of trouble. As the black sailors began to break away at about 10:45 P.M., a few of them had one last question for the captain.

  “Are the Marines going to bother us?”

  “No, they’re not,” Townsend told them. “Exit through the hangar deck so you don’t run into the Marines. They’re on the way back to their area.”

  Townsend knew that by dismissing the men, he had taken control of the situation from his XO, but he thought Cloud had done enough talking with these men already.

  Cloud, however, wasn’t sure Townsend fully appreciated the gravity of the situation—or how hard he was working to resolve it. The XO knew he was using some unorthodox methods, but he was confident that such measures were called for to keep the peace. Can’t the captain see that I’m making progress here?

  What the captain saw was a man he thought he could trust doing something deeply disturbing.

  If Cloud does any more of that stuff, we’re going to have a real problem, Townsend thought. If he gives any more black power salutes or anything like that, I’ll just fire him. I can’t have an XO like that.

  “USS Kitty Hawk”

  The USS Kitty Hawk in 1977 (courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

  “Sailors Performing”

  Kitty Hawk sailors performing for the crew on the fantail of the ship. Garland Young is on the left, singing with KJ Ulma. (courtesy of Garland Young)

  “Out on the Town”

  Kitty Hawk sailors on liberty at the Silver Star night club in Olongapo, outside the gates of the naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines. From left to right: Bill Jordan, Jim Clausen, Barry Taylor, and Mike Cuff. (courtesy of Jim Clausen)

  “The Mess Line”

  Sailors on the Kitty Hawk go through the chow line at meal time. The mess hall was a frequent site of violence and arguments, some of it motivated by race. (courtesy of the U.S. Navy, 1972 Kitty Hawk cruise book)

  “Dining”

  Black and white sailors dine together on the Kitty Hawk in 1972. (courtesy of the U.S. Navy, 1972 Kitty Hawk cruise book)

  “Captain Marland W. ‘Doc’ Townsend”

  Captain of the Kitty Hawk in 1972. (courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

  “Executive Officer Benjamin W. Cloud”

  XO of the Kitty Hawk in 1972. (courtesy of the U.S. Navy, 1972 Kitty Hawk cruise book)

  “The Captain and XO”

  Captain Townsend and XO Cloud confer on the bridge of the Kitty Hawk in 1972. (courtesy of the U.S. Navy, 1972 Kitty Hawk cruise book)

  Subic Bay Naval Base, showing Alava Pier where the Kitty Hawk docked and the main gate leading to Olongapo City. (from U.S. Naval base phone book, 1990)

  CHAPTER NINE

  “THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US ALL!”

  As Cloud and Townsend talked with the black sailors in the mess deck, they grew increasingly wary of each other’s approach to the problem. Meanwhile, the Marine commander was preparing his troops for the next clash, which he thought was inevitable. Carlucci gathered his Marines in their berthing area—the ones who had confronted the rioters and those who had been elsewhere at the time. Carlucci wanted his men to know exactly what he expected for the duration of this crisis on the Kitty Hawk. As part of his due diligence in commanding the Marine detachment on the most prominent aircraft carrier in the U.S. fleet during this time of racial unrest, and because it was his nature to study manuals and guidelines in his free time, Carlucci had recently read a study of race riots by the Marine Corps and reviewed the procedures on responding to civil disobedience in Army Field Manual 19–15. He was ready, and he needed to tell his Marines what he expected. As he prepared to speak to his men, Carlucci received a phone call from the captain, who was still in the aft mess deck. Townsend confirmed that Carlucci’s thinking was on target.

  “I’m concerned about the security of the aircraft and the associated equipment on the ship,” the captain explained. “You and your men are to protect that equipment from sabotage.”

  The Marine commander affirmed his orders and then discussed how they should respond to the black sailors in the mess deck. Carlucci proposed that the captain, with the Marines’ backup if necessary, take a hard line with them. Unaware that Cloud had taken a conciliatory approach, Carlucci suggested that Townsend and the XO collect the ID cards of all the sailors at the meeting, to record the identities and provide a solid basis for any future legal action.

  “It might shake those kids up a bit if you take their cards, sir,” Carlucci said. “That might discourage them from doing this kind of thing again.”

  Townsend declined, explaining that taking the men’s ID cards might get them riled up again. That answer might have made more sense to Carlucci if he had known that the men were already dispersing after bonding with their “brother,” the XO. Carlucci moved on to his next suggestion: He wanted permission to find and detain t
he most vocal and visible of the ringleaders from the mess deck incident, including Avinger and Rowe. This move would be in accordance with the Marine protocol on riot control. Again Townsend said no, telling Carlucci that having the Marines hunt down those black sailors would only inflame the situation.

  Carlucci hung up, frustrated that the captain wasn’t allowing his men to respond as firmly to the rioters as he thought necessary. But they still had a clear job to do: protect the Kitty Hawk from sabotage.

  “We’re going to have three-man patrols in full uniform, full utility uniforms with nightsticks and whistles,” he told the men. “I also want a twelve-man reaction force to stand by here in the Marine compartment so you have quick access to the hangar deck and the flight deck.”

  The Marines listened attentively as Carlucci continued.

  “The three-man details are to patrol the hangar deck and flight deck. Protect the aircraft, the firefighting stations, the light water stations, and things like that. Summon help with your whistles if you encounter any resistance.”

  Carlucci was, as usual, playing it by the book and following accepted military wisdom on how to respond to mob violence and threats of sabotage. Remembering what he had read in Manual 19–15, he then went on to his next order.

  “And as you are patrolling, you are to break up any groups of three or more men together. I don’t care what color they are, white or black, if they are not actually working on the airplanes or the equipment, you are to tell them to disperse.”

  One of the Marines asked what they should do with sailors who refused the order to disperse.