Charita Harmon and Herman Boyd

00:01 Hi.

00:03 I'm charita Harmon and I am 66.

00:09 Today's date is Tuesday, April 13th, 2021, and I'm recording from South Orange, New Jersey.

00:22 And I am having a conversation with my favorite uncle. Uncle Herman.

00:34 And I just want to say thank you for taking the time to do this for us and our family.

00:43 All right, I'll send you. And thank you. My name is Herman. Boyd. I'm eighty-two years. Old days date.

00:55 Is 13 April?

01:01 2021. I am recording. I'm in San Antonio, Texas.

01:11 And speaking with my niece charita Harmon.

01:17 Okay. Alrighty. Well, the first question that I have is, why did you join the military?

01:29 I join the military.

01:32 So that I could learn Electronics.

01:37 To be in electronics.

01:42 So that was basic. That was my main reason for joining someone to be a electronic technician.

01:52 So they had Electronics back in that day and I had been working as a part-time radio TV repair. All I was attending High School.

02:06 And was having some trouble getting into Vocational School of electronics.

02:16 So I decided to go into the military after I took my test and they told me I was eligible and qualified to be an electronic technician. I was 1956 right at the end of the Korean War.

02:36 Police action, at least they call it.

02:42 When you went in, what was your first experience being in the military as opposed to being a civilian?

02:52 My first experience being in the military, basically came on my trip to basic training.

03:02 Where was some reason? I was giving a meal ticket for the group that left Buffalo, New York to go Texas, military training and we got the Saint Louis. They would not, let me eat in the same place as the other troops, the other inductees, and I refused to use the paper. I had to travel voucher. That was my first experience.

03:42 So were the other recruits African-American or were they a mixture or

03:53 Why there were no Mexicans in America Americans there? They may been up to other African Americans there.

04:09 So that must have been an honor for them to give you the meal tickets to be in charge at that time. I don't know but my experience in the military.

04:21 Was quite interesting.

04:24 Because for some reason, I did things that I didn't ever think I'd be doing, you don't have to bend and being raised in the South educated mostly in the South and then start to moving in areas that

04:45 I had very little knowledge about when I moved into him.

04:50 And I excel in most of them.

04:54 All right. So after your basic training, where was your first assignment?

05:01 My first assignment after basic training, training was Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

05:10 Where's that? That's in, Ohio?

05:16 And as I am with their pool, well, I was basically there to maintain the radio and

05:27 Receiving transmitters and control tower Electronics.

05:33 So, you were like a aircraft radio person. I was more air to ground.

05:48 And instrumental, Andi.

05:51 Control tower maintenance. I worked on bad communication equipment.

05:58 So, you repaired equipment for the military?

06:04 What I was in, what they call the communication Squadron, which we took care of all the communication repaired, all the communicating equipment on the base. Okay, that I never knew that. I never knew that.

06:26 As you begin to move up the ranks in the military. What was your first overseas assignment?

06:35 My first overseas assignment was in Alaska.

06:40 And a remote Outpost season, they consider that oversee o c store.

06:56 I don't think that when I went through in an, in the end in that.

07:01 Ben year, I don't think Alaska have been admitted into the United States as a state. We may, we have may have looked that up. But anyway, that's where I went. And they consider that the Air Force considered going overseas or out of the continental United States of whatever they call it, but I was basically and I what they call a doula an outpost.

07:34 With the tracking.

07:37 Aircraft.

07:40 I would like to see a science fiction movies.

07:45 Dish. Yeah, like you see in the sign fishing book fiction movies when we use radar though.

07:55 When you were there.

08:01 How was living in the barracks or the last has, pretty cold. Did you have can you share your experience about that?

08:14 The experience I had in Alaska was a very unique.

08:19 All of us that was their weed. That was no roads in and out of unit. I station we have to be flown in by helicopter small plane.

08:36 We lived on top of a mountain. I don't know how high it was pretty happy. Cuz in the summertime's we will be having the storm it at the week or a Mountaintop at Mountaintop and we would come down halfway down. We would have to take off all I already here because people will be downstairs in the troops downstairs that supported us, you know, where that food and supplies and things like that. Would be downstairs, having baseball games, and t-shirts.

09:10 Up there. It was about 50 guys and we did everything. We work 10 hours a day in after we got off duty. We had details, we worked, you know, details cleaning up.

09:28 And things like that.

09:30 So it was it was quite interesting. Was it an integrated unit?

09:37 It was emigrated to if you want to say it was anybody that was a handful of

09:43 African Americans up there.

09:46 That's about all. I think on the Mountaintop that was about four of us.

09:51 We have me as a

09:54 Repair person. We had a control tower.

10:01 Operator radar operator. And then we have cook.

10:09 And so, we

10:13 We did some pretty good work up there. Because one of the things that that out that far we had mostly

10:26 Nighttime and one hour a day doing the night season and vice-versa. During the day season, daylight we have

10:36 Most of the day line, 1 hour night time. So it it was interesting. We went up by tram.

10:45 And that was one of the great experience which consists of us in a box and they operated riding on top of a motor exposed to the weather.

11:03 Is that how you why you learn how to ski?

11:07 Well, not really how I learn how, but it was the first time I had, I did try skiing, but that was kind of a

11:16 It Miss thing because you ski town and nobody went to take equipment back up.

11:29 But it was, it was fun. It was interested. Learn how to survive in the extreme cold.

11:38 Well, since we're all from Buffalo, we know Dexter.

11:44 Yeah.

11:49 How do you think the military affected you? Because it seems like you went in right after high school.

11:56 I did and the military affect me in two ways.

12:02 Best way to affect me, is that I, I realize right off that. I was pretty much alone in what I was doing my job.

12:13 Was very few African-Americans in it. Very few. I was almost always the first black in my unit and that created a problem with them and set up.

12:28 That.

12:31 If I disagree with something.

12:35 I was being.

12:37 Uncooperative.

12:40 Something like that.

12:43 And I was always given jobs.

12:47 That was.

12:50 Like housekeeping job, you know, you take care of the latrine. You sweep the floor. I rebelled against that quite Heavenly cost me some problems, but I was

13:04 I was determined not to be a talkin.

13:08 I was going to contribute to my unit in the best way. I knew how

13:14 So, Beth taught me.

13:18 That when I went to any new.

13:22 Organization, I had to learn quick.

13:28 And be accurate. And what I did.

13:31 And try to be the best.

13:34 In the, in the, in the unit.

13:41 So, since you seem to be a pillar of

13:48 Excellence of,

13:51 Quality of a black military person where you given any awards for that during your time in service or military?

14:05 Doing that to my time in the military. There was a it was not, it was not published, but it was known that we were supposed to be in the service organization. We were not supposed to be in technical even though we had qualified. We were not supposed to be a part of the technical African-Americans.

14:32 And so I met some resistance, every time I went to from one base to another base, but I understood that I had in most cases I had no Mentor. Via is the other Africans that were

14:56 Higher rank than I was but not really.

15:00 That's supportive. They pretty much want to stay out of trouble. I was they didn't want not want to rock the boat. Let's put it like that using those phrases. So,

15:12 Where the?

15:15 Some of the Airmen that were at my age and rank would have input from there there.

15:25 People above them.

15:27 You know, the white guys with Mentor some of the young white guys and tell him, that's what they call it in and show him the ropes.

15:38 Give them some support, tell him what not to do, what to do, how to do this, and how to do that. And I didn't have that. I had to learn on my own. So I end up taking a lot of tech data as they call it.

15:56 The barracks and study a lot in a lot of time reading about the job. And my job requirements, be a good technician.

16:12 How long were you in the military 21 years?

16:20 21 years. And I am I enjoying my 21 years even though.

16:26 I was up against a lot of obstacles and I had I had I had to write a lot of letters to my congressman and why you in the military. Yes.

16:42 They stamp my records for the political influence, has so many letter and I know I was I have to

16:54 When I saw something that was wrong.

16:58 I protested I didn't get out and run up and down the street and do that that protest. I protested with them.

17:07 What does a paper trail letters wrote letters to Congressman to my commander and stink like?

17:17 And I still believe today.

17:20 Paper trail paper. Trail. Paper trail.

17:29 I remember growing up that you and your family are always.

17:39 In other countries I was so I was kind of jealous and excited at the same time because it seemed like my cousin's. Always got to experience places that I didn't think I would ever get to visit how, or can you give us an example of your first time being overseas with your family.

18:06 Oh, yes. My first time being overseas with my family, we were with in Germany.

18:14 And when I got there,

18:18 We react when they came over later and we stayed downtown.

18:26 Off base in the German in, in, in the community. Even even though we didn't spend, we were in the only one that there's that, but we didn't speak German, but my kids, I had three kids at the time and they

18:44 I asked him one day. I said, how are you guys playing with the locals? They said, we play with him just fine and they go out and they know they picked up the language, almost instantly. I mean, I said, how do you, how do you get along with you? Do you understand? Yeah, we understand. And they they turn out to be a little translators from

19:11 So that was an experience.

19:16 We did a lot of traveling on the weekend.

19:20 Because I had my car over there, my private vehicle and we went to all of the France Holland England at a lot of the local.

19:35 A lot of the countries that border Germany because it wasn't in the United States. You can hit two or three countries in a weekend and spend the night in one. So and then be back to work Monday morning.

19:55 So it is, it was a very good experience, my daughter. When we was in German. She went to my oldest daughter. She went on a, but a college student exchange with a what a what a group and I think it was in the Holland or someplace like that and she just be talk to her when she got back. She was there for a week. We talk to us. And how did y'all get it off since we got along? Great. I said, did you understand them? She said we made we made it for her.

20:32 Did you feel that the German country treated you better than in the United States when you came back? Or did you have any difficulties over there? Cuz I always hear from military people or people who go overseas. The said other countries treat African Americans better than L were treated here in the states. Somewhere somewhat better, you're going to run into some people that going to use the Prejudice toward you. Everywhere you go in there in the United States. I mean, in a world that's it being a black person, you going to run into that. There's, there's no getting around. And that's going to always be out there. But basically, when we went overseas, people referred to us as Americans,

21:25 They didn't say black American white American Jewish American, our

21:33 English Americans, they would just say, if you're from America, you are American, as a matter fact, none of they be showing that in German. It's in your army.

21:46 Japanese American even though you were in the Air Force army army abbreviation slang for America.

22:02 Oh, okay. Okay. Alright. I didn't know that.

22:08 I don't know if they still do that.

22:12 What did you learn about yourself?

22:16 When you got out of the military and when you got out, did you wish that you had stayed in longer?

22:26 No, I never I just learned that whatever I do and whatever I did. I enjoyed it. I never complained that. I wished. I had a beer or something else, or I don't like what I'm doing. I stayed in the military for 20 years. I want to get out of that 21 years. I want to get out at 4:20, but the command at the time to know you going to give me one more year on station.

22:54 What's that mean? That means that I had do. I couldn't get out, he would not sign my retirement papers.

23:03 For another year, so I did another year. So I end up doing 21 years and

23:11 Play something I learned about that is.

23:15 Know what you want. Enjoy? What you do?

23:20 Don't complain about choices. You make.

23:24 Because one thing I learn.

23:27 Is a choice. You make is the right choice. It may turn out bad, but when you make it.

23:36 That is the right choice. So when a princess, I wish I had this Summer that mean that they think that they made a bad choice.

23:48 Could you make the right choice? Every time you just have to live with the choice that you may don't cry about it?

23:56 Keep moving forward because it will in the end, it will correct yourself, and we call self-correcting.

24:07 So, you might start out bad with an end up, good.

24:13 If you had to give advice to our relatives coming behind you, and they asked you about the military. What advice would you give them my last with gelatin?

24:28 Pick.

24:31 Career that you love to do and do it. Don't cry about it. Go for it. And one thing I'll tell him about going into the military. You can get more out of the military than you can ever put in.

24:48 It's it's it's a good place to get an education, you can go in and you can get your college degree. You can learn a skill.

25:00 And still make money while I'm doing it. You might not make a lot of money.

25:05 But, I'm pay off when you get out. I learn that for sure.

25:12 And you going to run across resistance, everything you do?

25:16 You're going to run across resist and you just have to push through. There's life, is not easy. You're not meant to be easy. So I say, if you want to go in the military, don't go in the military, just to have fun and get paid.

25:38 You can go in there if in your country.

25:41 Live up to the, The Pledge that you made.

25:46 Do the best you can?

25:49 And that work, you know, I always work if you go in there and get don't want to be, don't want to follow rules and regulations. You're in trouble from from I'll go because you don't have to follow rules and regulations. No matter where.

26:07 Even in your own home. You have to follow rules and regulations.

26:12 I remember that when I came to visit and this is South Dakota.

26:28 Five-bedroom house menu.

26:36 I was high school, teenager. I went to go buy me some Air Force guy know.

26:50 I'm not saying course, in terms of having your children follow in your footsteps. I know your daughter.

27:11 Did that in? Can you just speak about the decision that she made to follow in? Her? Dad's footsteps. Did she decided when she was in high school out in California, Moreno, Valley specifically she wanted. She joined the ROTC Junior ROTC program in in high school, and she said, she loved what he was doing. So she continued that got a appointment today.

27:49 The Air Force.

27:54 Academy graduated from Air Force Academy and became a second. Lieutenant eventually, worked his way up to Major and she was very, she is very smart. Very smart, young lady. I kind of

28:16 She could have been a lot.

28:20 Progressive in, in, in some of the choices she made is fourth when she was in the service because she had opportunities to go into the atomic energy commission and if they wanted her in there, but she she's doing. All right, and then she did not lie to be a after she was in there for a while. And I tried to explain to her. When you get in a female being in the military. Is it going to have a hard life? It's not going to be as easy. Easy, as a man, even though you an officer, you still going to be that stigma of being a female in the United States. Military is not an easy task even today.

29:04 So,

29:06 Yeah, when you go in, you have to be strong. You got to be ready by and Fight Hard For What?

29:16 What she did? All right, and I'm proud of her. We are all proud of her cuz she was one of the first African American woman to graduate from the Air Force Academy. She was Dynamic when she was in the Air Force Academy, as a matter of fact, they she was, she was a drill team in truck instructor instructor, I guess, and I guess that's what they called. They used to go all over the United States.

29:50 Doing drills drill, competition for against all of the college, all of the University of army, the Navy, and the Marines, all of those psychologists and they presented her one year that we was there and they presented her and they said we don't do this very often. We going to give her one about drill one of the army field at because she was awesome. Wow, she did what she did quite a bit.

30:24 And I you feel that again. That was because she had experienced her dad in the military and all the things that he did when we went in there, when we went in the mail, but I was in the military, we went to a lot of

30:44 Basis, and I did a lot of activities while I was there.

30:51 Good. We're just about wrapping up. Can you just in a summary? Tell us your overall experience. Any advice? You would give to our family that in the future. About being in the military, being part of the boy's family expectations, the military in your own words.

31:19 I'll just sum it up like this. The military is a good place to start a career. And as I said before, you can get more out of it, then you put into it. And one of the things I say about or we will have a lot of Colin in our family and our bloodline. We have a lot of Alan. Some of that town is going to waste pickle Lane in fowleri.

31:48 Do what you have to do. Nothing is easy.

31:53 But you have a good life and a productive life.

31:59 That would be my advice for all of all, of all of our family members. We have, we have a lot of, we have a lot going.

32:09 Yes, we do and I appreciate the stories. I did not realize that how you started. I knew you were in the military. It was very interesting to see how you came from high school and was able to make a wonderful career for your family and for yourself in the military and we honor you and thank you for your service. Go. I pretty much did everything that I have a spot. Do I drove a train? I flown the plane.

32:54 A Steve snow. I drove bus. I drove an ambulance.

33:01 Drove a farm tractor. So I had ambition to do all those things. The only thing I haven't gone yet that I want to do is I want I want to fly sailplane. And Mom, that's only how rise before I get too old and I'm sure you'll do it.

33:23 Yeah.

33:25 Okay.