Gutschmidt saw the world while serving in the Navy
BY PATTY WOOD BARTLE

Rick Gutschmidt
Navy 1967-1971

The navy seemed like a good choice following graduation for a farm boy from North Dakota. Back in 1967 the Navy had a 120-day buddy program so Rick Gutschmidt and two of his buddies decided to enlist. But Gutschmidt failed the hearing test and was sent home. He got treatment for an ear infection, and then under a new buddy program, tried again. On October 22, 1967 he was off to boot camp. He had the option of returning home for Christmas or staying at the base and then getting a two-week leave before going off to training. That was where he and his buddy Frank parted ways. Frank decided to go home for Christmas.

Gutschmidt then went to Memphis for jet mechanic school. Gutschmidt was in Memphis when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. He said he was sitting in a club when an African-American ran in and shouted, "They shot Martin Luther King." Many in the club were less than sympathetic and the black man ran out. Shortly after that the base was closed and all military personnel were required to return to the base.

From Memphis, Gutschmidt was sent to Oceania, Virginia. It was here that he first experienced the hate local people had for navy people. His next stop was to school in Maryland to work on P-3 anti-submarine warfare aircraft. He said he felt the hate of the locals there too. Two weeks before his school was scheduled to end he received word he would be sent to Brunswick, Maine. But three days before graduation from school, orders indicated he would go to Iceland. It would take a week to process the new orders. So on graduation day Gutschmidt decided to go to a movie on base. While he was at the movie others with orders for Iceland were processed and the search was on for him, as they would depart the next day. The departure flight was messed up and a group of about 1,000 people ended up staying in a hangar overnight. The hangar had seating for 20. They were all hungry and the stores in the pop and candy machines had been depleted. Gutschmidt said he did get a meal on the flight to Iceland.

Gutschmidt spent six months in Iceland, a place that was really, really cold, he said. And believe it or not, Iceland was the first place where Gutschmidt encountered cockroaches. The barracks were infested with them. Upon arrival at base they were instructed how to check their clothing and boots each morning for the critters.

The base was located on a peninsula of flat lava. When the wind blew, it would erode the lava and particles of pumice filled the air. It was so bad that during those storms they would be under a wind advisory – partly because the wind and pumice could wear the skin off exposed surfaces and partly because frostbite occurred within 5 to 10 seconds. He also recalled that when the wind was from a particular direction they could smell the stench of the fish processing plant 4-5 miles away.

Iceland operated under a communistic form of government according to Gutschmidt. He said he never ventured into the nearby town because of the rules. He sited as an example the rules regarding curfew. No military personnel could be off base after curfew. The exception was if they were headed towards base. However, if there was a curve in the road or sidewalk that did not provide a direct line to base they were considered in violation of curfew and could be arrested.

Following his duty in Iceland, Gutschmidt returned to Brunswick, Maine for 6 months. Here he learned the locals loved the navy service men.

Next he was sent to Sicily. Of course it was summer time and 120 in the shade. It was while in Sicily that this naïve farm boy learned more about the world. In order to go to the Catanya (black market) it was necessary to walk through the red light district. Gutschmidt said if they went early in the morning, they would see husbands dropping their wives off at work.

The base was surrounded by grape vineyards, where people worked from dawn to dusk. All the men had shotguns strapped to their backs, why he didn’t know. He said grape vineyards are labor intensive and pointed to the long hours the laborers spent seven days a week working.

Gutschmidt said he really wasn’t into going to clubs so he and others found their own entertainment. One thing they did was stand on the balcony and drop rocks a night to watch the bats follow the rocks down. He said a handful of pebbles would really confuse the bats. It was while in Sicily that he took up golfing also. He said his regret while stationed in Sicily is that he did not sample Italian food or wine.

After Sicily he spent 5-6 months stateside and then went to Bermuda. He was only there 1½ months but it didn’t take that long to determine that things were expensive in Bermuda. While in Bermuda he got the opportunity to be part of UNITAS 12, a goodwill mission to South America.

Both navy and army aircraft were used during the UNITAS 12 mission. His first stop was Puerto Rico. He recalls that it was dirty, ugly, hot and humid. In fact he described the humidity as enough to drop him to his knees. His nose was also assaulted with the smell of rotting vegetation. It was mind boggling to see people on the streets of San Juan selling drugs and other things.

The UNITAS tour continued with stops in Columbia, Peru, Panama, Argentina and Venezuela. Rick recalled that they bounced from the equator to winter to fall to spring climates during that portion of the tour. They spent a week at each air base. In South America civilian and military airports were integrated.

It was in Argentina that Gutschmidt saw his first slum. It was a mile long canyon with cardboard boxes for homes and no sanitary facilities. It was here he saw the super poor and the extremes of the haves and the have nots.

As part of their goodwill mission they were given powdered orange drink mix, kites and kite string to give away. He said they would walk out and no one was around. As soon as the first box appeared a mob of people appeared. He saw a grown man beat a kid over the head to get the ball of kite string. He also saw kids scavenge from the garbage they brought off the plane – food, napkins, plastic silverware, even food that was only partially eaten.

Another sight that amazed him was to see people driving Model A vehicles in 1970-71. He said US manufacturers had sold the dyes and machining to South American companies and many of the Model As he saw were only 10 years old. While driving at night in the country, they would turn their lights off and blink them if they thought there was oncoming traffic. The closer two vehicles got the more frequent they blinked their lights until they were just a short distance apart. Then they would leave them on until they passed, at which time they would turn them off again. Another example of the poverty – window cranks and sometimes door handles were removed from all but one door on taxis. Rick thought this was done so they would have replacement parts should one break.

His scariest episode while in South America occurred while out one night. Five soldiers with submachine guns blocked the road. They asked where they were from. Only when they answered North America were they allowed to pass.

Language was the biggest obstacle he faced on this tour. No one in the crew spoke either Spanish or Portuguese. They tried to communicate through gestures. One time they wanted hamburgers. One of the guys snorted like a pig, shot the imaginary pig, butchered it and formed it into patties to order their hamburgers. They got pork patties instead. Rick also told about buying a battery-operated watch while on this tour. He later found it did not come with a watch. He went to a jewelry store, encountered the same language barrier. The jewelry store employees were dumbfounded when they could not set the time. Finally, he was able to mime a battery and found they did not sell them. He had to wait until he returned to the States to get a battery.

He said the people were very honest. None of the servicemen understood the exchange rate. When they made purchases they would open their wallet and let the merchants take the money to pay for the items. When they got back to the hotel and checked with employees there, they always found they had been treated fairly.

Gutschmidt said the closest he got to combat was while stationed in the Mediterranean. An event happened in Turkey and it looked as if they may be sent in to bring out the embassy personnel. First they were put on 24-hour alert. When it became a 12-hour alert they became concerned. Things were resolved diplomatically and they did not have to go in.

Gutschmidt said the only time he spent on a ship was dockside.

In the spring of 1972 Rick began working for Wedgcor. After that he worked for Industrial Builders. While with them he worked on the Pipestem Dam, McClusky Canal, and bridges at Elgin and in Grand Forks on an anhydrous plant. It was in 1973 that his dad called and told him about a mechanic job in Edgeley with Hird and Sons. He interviewed with Sam Hird. Sam told him he had two openings and had hired two people but decided to offer a position to Rick. Rick and his wife Deb have lived in Edgeley ever since.