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Chapter 10 "I Knew that I Wanted to Be a Naval Officer" Daniel Gruta Childhood Years in the Philippines I was born on April 5, 1962, in Manila. My parents' families were not from Manila. My maternal grandfather was from Guiguinto, Bulacan, and my grandmother was from Naic, Cavite. Both ofmy father's parents were from Cavite province. My father, Eduardo Gruta, joined the US. Navy in 1957 from Sangley Point Naval Station in Cavite City. Cavite City is across the bay from Manila City. Although we lived in Cavite City, I was born in Manila, in the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, because my mother did not trust the local hospital on the US. Naval Base. She said the Americans there don't give you the TLC [tender loving care] treatment; they make you walk and deliver the child. My father was not home the day I was born. He was aboard the U .S.S. Hancock, an aircraft carrier. Although my father started out as a steward, after two years in the United States, he converted to the AK rating, or aviation storekeeper. My dad was the studious one in our family. He worked very hard and got good grades. I really admire my dad for that. He wanted to be a jet mechanic, but in those days, since the jet technology wa~ so new, you had to have a security clearance . My father was not a U.S. citizen, so he could not get a security clearance . He did not become a citizen until 1969. For his entire career, he worked in the aviation community of the US. Navy. My father's brother, Fernando, also joined the US. Navy. He stayed in the steward rating and was promoted to the rank ofmaster chief, an E-9. He Copyrighted Material 157 158 • Daniel Gruta was the most senior enlisted man at the Chief of Naval Education Training Command back in the early eighties. In fact, he made Filipino history by being the first Filipino to write the mess specialist exam. On my mother's side of the family, two of her brothers were US. Navy men. Uncle Adolfo started out as a steward and then converted to aviation storekeeper. Like my dad, he retired as a chief petty officer, an E-7. My mother's youngest brother, Florencio, was a ship storekeeper, and he retired as an E-8, a senior chief He was the first one in our family to intermarry. He married aJapanese Italian. His wife sometimes feels like an outsider when we speak Tagalog to each other and English to her during social gatherings. Both of my uncles from my mother's side had college backgrounds. But they joined the US. Navy for economic opportunities, even though they had to start out as stewards. They had a practical view of life. In the Philippines , they might earn a four-year degree but still not get a good payingjob. The US. Navy was one way for them to get to the United States. After he joined the Navy, one of my uncles was able to finance his sister's medical school tuition. In 1963, my father received orders to report to the Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, for duty. That is about an hour east of Pensacola, Florida. We were supposed to join him. But it turned out that instead of being able to travel with us, his orders told him to travel with his ship from the Philippines to Honolulu, Hawaii. Because he was unable to accompany us, my mom decided to stay in the Philippines. My mom would not have been able to lift me and the luggage by herself She is less than five feet tall, and I was a pretty heavy kid; so was the luggage. Who is going to help some E-4's wife carry luggage and a pudgy little kid around anyway? So we stayed in the Philippines until I was ten years old. We had our own drug store, and my mother was the pharmacist. I grew up with a large extended family. Every Christmas, our house was packed with people exchanging gifts. After I came to America, Christmas was never the same again. While in the Philippines, I learned how to speak English by going to Catholic school. I also attended an American school for one year. I spent nursery, kindergarten, and first grade at a Catholic school named Saint Joseph . Then, in 1969...

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