Allan "Bunky" Garonzik, National Guard

2013-12-18T14:00:00

Allan “Bunky” Garoznik recounts his time at Arlington State College, the ROTC, working while in school and highlights of his career in the military.

Maverick Veterans' Voices

Special Collections

Transcript

Interviewee: Mr. Allan “Bunky” Garonzik
Interviewer: Melissa Gonzales
Date of Interview: December 18, 2013
Location of Interview: Arlington, Texas
Transcriber: Diane Saylors
Special Collections
UTA Libraries 

Gonzales: This is Melissa Gonzales. Today is December 18, 2013, and I am
interviewing Mr. Allan “Bunky” Garonzik for the first time. This
interview is taking place at the University of Texas at Arlington
Central Library in Arlington, Texas. This interview is sponsored by
the College of Liberal Arts and is part of the Maverick Veterans’
Voices Project.
So, let’s get started. Are you originally from Arlington?
Garonzik: I am not. Originally from Dallas.
Gonzales: And did you participate—were there any ROTC programs in your
high school?
Garonzik: There was. They had a Junior ROTC program in which I did
participate.
Gonzales: So why did you choose to attend Arlington State College?
Garonzik: I did choose Arlington because of the military science department.
That was my goal.
Gonzales: And how did you hear about the program?
Garonzik: Oh, I had neighbors and I had friends that had gone here that were
in the military department, and that’s what got me interested in
Arlington in the first place, and plus it was affordable.
Gonzales: Was it also what interested you in the military to begin with?
Garonzik: Yes, when I decided to come to Arlington, which was not
immediately after high school—I did work for a while before I came
to Arlington—but it was because of the military. That was my idea
as a career. I wanted to be a career military army aviator.
Gonzales: So what year did you start at Arlington State College?
Garonzik: Well, I graduated in 1961 and after graduation moved to New
Orleans. I was seventeen years old and moved to New Orleans and
worked in a machine shop in New Orleans for a period of time and
decided that was not the career I wanted and so I actually started—
it’d be the spring semester in midterm in 1962.
Gonzales: What was your major?
Garonzik: It was business administration.
Gonzales: Why did you choose that major?
Garonzik: Well, frankly, at the time, business was kind of a pay-your-fees-and-get-your-B’s, and I just knew that I needed a college degree to
go into the military, and that seemed to be the most likely and,
frankly, the easiest avenue for me.
Gonzales: So what were your first impressions of the college?
Garonzik: It was small and it was close-knit. It was mainly a commuter school,
and everyone knows back in those days most of the students came
from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Very few lived on campus,
and it was just a small school and I liked that tidy environment that
was a big military influence within the school. Most of the male
members of the University or students of the University were mostly
in military back then.
Gonzales: Did you live on or off campus?
Garonzik: I lived on campus the whole time.
Gonzales: Did that affect your education with ROTC? Did it make it easier to
get to classes?
Garonzik: It did, of course, make it easier to get to classes although I did work
the entire time, so I had to leave campus to go to work and then
came back.
Gonzales: So what was your commute like between work and college?
Garonzik: Well, I had pretty much of a checkered career while I was in college
as far as working, but I did work at least forty hours the entire time I
was in school, and so I had various jobs. There was at least one
semester where I actually worked in Dallas on the weekends, so I
had to leave Arlington to go to Dallas and then come back after the
weekend. And there was another semester, the semester that I got
married, which was in 1964, I actually had a job at a freight dock in
Dallas, and I worked at the freight dock and got off at two o’clock in
the morning and had come back to school, and I worked at the
cafeteria as part of the room and board at the Student Union
Building, which we called the SUB back then. I think it’s now called
the student center, and I had to be there at five thirty, so my study
time was somewhere between two and five thirty in the morning,
and that was subtracting the drive time for that. And I remember
taking eighteen hours and I had an eight o’clock class. That was a
brutal semester for me.
Gonzales: So I take it, it affected your education, or was it—
Garonzik: Well, as far as education, I’m not convinced that I really learned all
that much, but as far as grades it did affect my grades although
coincidentally and incidentally that particular semester was the only
semester I made real good grades, and it was because you couldn’t
drop a stitch. You had to study when you had the allocated time
and if you didn’t, you didn’t get it done. There wasn’t time for that.
Gonzales: Since it was such a tight-knit community here on campus, I imagine
especially with the ROTC group, were there any campus activities
that you participated in other than ROTC?
Garonzik: Yes, I was a staff photographer for at the time the Reveille, which
was the yearbook. I understand they no longer produce that as
such, but I was a photographer for three years for the Reveille and
also did some work for The Shorthorn, which I understand is still
going, and so I have pictures that would be in both of those over
the years.
Gonzales: So you said you married while you were enrolled at Arlington State
College?
Garonzik: Yes. I got back from—at the time we called it summer camp. I think
it’s called the Leadership Development Course right now, but it’s
the same thing, and I got back from Fort Sill in August of ’64 and
got married, I think, four days later from the time I returned home.
Gonzales: What was your relationship like with other cadets on campus?
Garonzik: The cadets, especially the Jodies, the military drill team, was a very
close-knit community. The Jodies from the time that I was on the
team are still mostly my best friends. They’re still the guys that I
knew from college that were on the Jodies.
Gonzales: Were there any pranks that you played on one another?
Garonzik: The answer to this question will depend on the statute of limitations.
I’m going to assume that a lot of that’s gone. Yes, that was pretty
much my stock in trade was the prankster, and some of them were
pretty serious pranks, but we had fun. So we had that fun. There
was a war going on, and I think during the time of war, the guys that
are slated to be soldiers are a little bit kind of laissez-faire, one
might say, and so we don’t care about a lot of things because you
never know what the outcome of your military service is going to
be, so pranks and taking chances and risks was just something that
we do, and so, yeah, we had a lot of pranks.
Gonzales: So what was a day in the life of a cadet at that time?
Garonzik: I lived in what was called Davis Hall, which I believe now is called
Brazos Hall, and there were no telephones the first couple of years.
Then they actually had phones in the halls after that, so everybody
had a common area of the phone in each of what they called the
ramps, which was the way that hall worked. You’d be on the first
floor and then the second floor on A Ramp, but you couldn’t go
from Ramp A to Ramp B without going outside and then across
over, so it was like four stacked different individual facilities. So if
there was a phone on, say, the second floor of B Ramp, then
everybody on that floor had access to that phone, and so that was
the level of communication to the outside world as it were. Matter of
fact, we used to answer the phone World War III when the phone
would ring in the hallway and then we’d have to go find the person
who the call was directed to.
Gonzales: Can you describe what the Jodies did and your involvement with
them?
Garonzik: The Jodies were a crack platoon, as it was originally called back in,
I believe, 1933 when they were founded, and our job—our goal—
was to go to various drill team competitions, perform at the halftime
at the football games, go to the various parades, and so our center
of life was around the Jodies. That’s what we did and it was in a
way difficult because of the work and the school and the activities.
We used to practice about fifteen to twenty hours a week,
and that would intensify as we got closer to a competition. And we
were intent on doing the best. That was what we aspired to, and
those folks that were on the drill team back then previously have
had good careers, stellar careers, both in the military as well as
civilian life almost to a man. An example I’d like to cite was back
then the army’s elite forces were the Special Forces, the Green
Berets, and then and even in the Barry Sadler song, only three out
of a hundred that applied for the Green Berets make it, and out of
the drill team that I was on that had approximately forty members, I
think there were about ten or twelve that actually made the Green
Berets, way higher than the national average. Most were airborne
qualified and also Rangers and that handful were Green Berets.
Gonzales: Do you think that was attributed to the training you received?
Garonzik: It was. It was attributed to not so much the drill and ceremonies
type training, but the dedication and the direction and the focus of
military life.
Gonzales: Did any professors or instructors influence you?
Garonzik: Well, absolutely. There were some that influenced in a very positive
way. I can remember him by name. We had COL McDowell, who
was in the paratroopers during World War II. He dropped behind
enemy lines in Czechoslovakia, and COL Max Manifold was a
major at the time, and COL Manifold was a Army Ranger that hit
the beaches of Normandy, and so these were very effective
instructors and they were very influential.
We also had two sergeants that I remember by name. SGT
Dixon, who was a POW in the Second World War, and SGT
Colvord, who was a mentor and airborne ranger, you know, in the
twenties back then and we looked up to these guys.
Unfortunately, there were some that came after that were not
quite as influential in a positive way.
Gonzales: Do you feel being involved in Junior ROTC in high school prepared
you for being a cadet?
Garonzik: Only in a minor way. The high school ROTC was—you learn a few
things. You can’t say you don’t learn a few things, but if I were to
put it in perspective, somebody after one semester in military
science I at university level would’ve caught up with anything
learned in that Junior ROTC program. That’s the way I see it. This
is not to say that the Junior ROTC is not a good program, but
there’s only so much that they can do. It’s just one class out of your
curriculum at high school.
Gonzales: Did you graduate from Arlington State College or at that time it was
University of Texas at Arlington by that time?
Garonzik: Well, that’s an interesting story. It was The University of Texas at
Arlington [Arlington State College] when I showed up on campus,
and in ’65, it was officially changed, I believe, to UT-Arlington, and
the first graduating class was ’67, and I was in the first graduating
class there in 1967.
And I like to tell the story that when I went across the stage
to get a diploma—in those days, they didn’t give you a diploma,
they just gave you a piece of paper wrapped in a rubber band—and
when you turn in your cap and gown, you actually got the diploma.
And I remember when everyone else was getting their high-fives
and talking to their parents and congratulations, well, I went
backstage and turned in my cap and gown, so I actually got the
very first diploma issued from The University of Texas at Arlington.
Gonzales: I understand your class ring also had some significance.
Garonzik: Well, that’s true. The class ring was affected that way. It was when I
got the class ring, you had to have sixty-five hours of studies and
so I was able to get the class ring because I was—understand—an
unlikely candidate for a college degree. My high school grades
were terrible, my college grades a little worse than terrible, and so it
was unlikely. So I, by gosh, wanted to get the class ring, and I did
when I had the sixty-five hours, which was 1965. When I ultimately
graduated in ’67, by then it was the University of Texas at Arlington,
which I thought may have a little bit more significance nationally. So
I actually sent the ring back to the Balfour Company and had the
top half of the ring changed to University of Texas at Arlington, and
the bottom half still has the Rebel flag because we were the
Arlington State Rebels back then. So, yeah, it has lots—and unlike
a lot of people, I still wear the ring. Matter of fact, can’t even get it
off anymore.
Gonzales: So what would happen after that approached the graduation date?
What decisions were made?
Garonzik: Well, back again, I think talking about in those days, for those
people that were in the military science department that were about
to graduate, you coincidentally were commissioned the same day
that you graduated, and you would have had to, of course,
completed your four years of ROTC and then get a degree. And
they were expected to go to—they would have a choice, but it was
probably a wish list. They didn’t always get their first choice, that
depending on a lot of things with the cadre being part of it, that
decision-making process, their grades been another, and how they
did generally. But then they would actually have to go to a combat
branch first to get the training there, which was infantry, artillery,
and armor, one of those three combat branches. Then later they
would go to another branch, which could be engineering, signal
corps, a number of things, adjutant general, military intelligence, a
number of things, but they had to serve in a combat branch first.
Now, in my case, where I had finished my ROTC prior to
graduation, I was delayed on the commissioning, and ultimately I
ended up moving back to New Orleans. I was in a reserve unit, and
I moved back to New Orleans and worked at the same place that I
had worked when I graduated high school. That company had
developed to—it was kind of a renowned hydraulics-type
engineering company, and so I had gained some knowledge there
and so I had a clearance that related to the military. They had three
clearances. Without making it too complicated, they had a
confidential clearance, a secret clearance, and top secret
clearance. I had a secret clearance that related to my military, and I
had some unique knowledge of hydraulics, and so I was tapped on
to go to work to buy hydraulic parts at LTV, which at the time was
the eleventh largest company in the world. And we bought and
supplied parts for U.S. military specifically for navy and air force
fighter jets, F-8s and A-7s. So I actually went there after graduate
school at Tulane to work there, and so my time in the reserves just
extended on for another—a total of about eight years.
Gonzales: Okay.
Garonzik: But I never served an active duty role within the military.
Gonzales: So what were your duties or responsibilities as a reservist?
Garonzik: Well, as a reservist, there was still some tough times, I suppose. I
was in a military police unit, and back then there was the problems
at a lot of the universities. Kent State would happen during that time
and so what we as a military police unit did was we actually trained
to work with and in support of national guard units that would have
to go to these various universities to prevent, stop all riot-type
purposes, and that’s what we did. And of course, the other training
of disaster and so forth of guard units, that’s what we did.
Gonzales: So were you involved with that while you were at Tulane?
Garonzik: I was still in the reserves while I was at Tulane, so I worked a sixty-hour week. I went to graduate school in the evening and then I had
military duty weekends and so forth.
Gonzales: So what are some of your more memorable experiences from your
time as a cadet and your time as a reservist?
Garonzik: Well, the time as a cadet, of course, is what really sticks in my mind
probably more than the military service per se because that was as
a reserve, but as a cadet we had a unified group of dedicated
potential and generally active army and in some cases marines and
in some cases air force. The cadet that graduated from UTA would
generally get a army commission, but there were instances where
some cadets could just walk across the street and get the air force
commission. In one particular case, who, another gentleman who is
in the Hall of Honor got an air force commission because he
wanted to fly jets and he got commissioned in the Air Force having
had Army and Jodie training. So a little bit unusual on that but that
still happened.
Gonzales: So was your education supported by the GI Bill?
Garonzik: No, no. On the one hand I’m a little bit proud of this, but on the
hand I wish it didn’t happen this way. I paid for 100 percent of my
education. There were no scholarships. I didn’t have the grades for
that, and so I didn’t have a good resume as it related to previous
academics, so no scholarships, no athletic scholarships. I paid for
the whole thing and worked the whole time. So it means a little bit
more although I would say that I didn’t learn as much as potentially
was available. Today it’s important to make grades, back then it
was important to just graduate.
Gonzales: Do you feel what you learned as a cadet has influenced you now
either for your current work or past work?
Garonzik: Of course. As I look back at the training that I received while I was
at UT-Arlington and before that Arlington State College, I would say
100 percent revolved around being a cadet and a Jodie. That was
what we learned there. Stamina, perseverance, tenacity, getting the
job done, dedication, all of those things, and I think those things are
certainly important in the military but they’re also important in
civilian life, and so I attribute everything including graduation—had I
not been on the military drill team, the Jodies, I would not have
graduated. I didn’t have a purpose to—I wasn’t learning a lot from
the academic end, so the only reason I got a degree was because
of the Jodies, so yeah, it influenced me 100 percent in everything
I’ve done.
Gonzales: You said you formed some close relationships or friendships while
you were at Arlington State College. Do you still stay in touch and
how so?
Garonzik: I’m in touch with almost everybody that was on the drill team when I
was on the drill team. And we actually started—when I was living in
New Orleans in 1967, we started a Sam Houston Rifle Alumni
Association, and I actually came up to Arlington to help get that
started, and I was the president in about the third go-round and
actually remained president for a number of years and was the
editor and I wrote the newsletter and go it distributed, and I did that
for well over twenty years.
Gonzales: So would you say you’re somewhat the unofficial historian for the
department of military science?
Garonzik: Well, we actually have someone that was the historian and kept
scrapbooks and whatnot, but I probably know as much about the
history and the continuity of the organization from the beginning.
Gonzales: So what was your experience serving as the president of the Sam
Houston Alumni Association?
Garonzik: Well, I felt then and felt now that being in communication and
maintaining the lines of communication and continuity was
extremely important, and our members were scattered throughout.
Everybody was, you know, deployed or went to someplace, and
very few remained actually in Arlington the whole time, and so that
link to the outside world in terms of communication was I think
paramount and it kept the organization and the people in touch with
one another.
Gonzales: Were you able to organize reunions?
Garonzik: Yeah. We have a reunion for every year and the reunion coincided
with homecoming activities, and I will say that since I graduated in
1967 I’ve not missed a homecoming.
Gonzales: Do you like that homecoming has moved from February back to the
fall?
Garonzik: I think the thing that I’m most disappointed in as far as homecoming
is that it used to revolve around the football game, so like so many
alumni, not having a football team is not a plus in my opinion for the
University. If someone comes to a school, the full college life I think
is important. From the perspective of a football team—and I know
it’s a financial consideration—but from the perspective, you have
the marching band, you have the marching drill team, you have the
cheerleaders, you have the continuity, you have the purpose, and
to have a major school like UT-Arlington in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas and not having a football team, it is
in my opinion somewhat embarrassing.
Gonzales: I think many schools would agree with you on that.
So you were inducted into the UTA Hall of Honor in 2007
and honored as the UTA Distinguished Alumni in 2009. Can you
describe receiving those honors?
Garonzik: Well, I think as far as UTA Hall of Honor, I would say that the word
that comes to mind is shock because I did not have a stellar military
career; however, the criteria for the Military Hall of Honor at UTA is
a compilation of military service, of community service, of
supporting of the University and various charity events, those sorts
of things, and so I felt as though that’s what prompted me to get
into the Military Hall of Honor.
Gonzales: So what community events do you participate in?
Garonzik: For twenty-two years I was involved with the Leukemia Society. We
have a branch of the Leukemia Society that’s called the Chili
Society and I was the president of the Chili Society for a number of
years, and all of the proceeds from the various events that we did,
100 percent went to Leukemia Society, so for twenty-two years, I
was involved with the Chili Society and for five of those years I was
the president.
As far as other community events that I participated in, I was
involved with American Red Cross during the Katrina relief, and I
was involved with the relief efforts on the explosion in West. We put
together a cooking team and then about ten hours after the
explosion, we were down there cooking. We served two thousand
meals in a one-day period and our guys picked up and went home
after that.
I’ve been involved in a number of events. The Boy Scouts, I
was an assistant scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts. My son is an
Eagle Scout. I participated in those events for five years, never
missed a campout.
And Indian Guides. My daughter was in Indian Guides and I
went to all of those events.
So a lot of things that relate to community events I’ve been
involved in.
And of course, my work here at UT-Arlington.
Gonzales: So what was your involvement in the UTA Corps of Cadets 126-
mile-march to Fort Hood in 2010?
Garonzik: Yes. I put together a cooking team for that event and we had three
of our members that actually went and participated the entire
march, which was over a five-day period, and we would show up
and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for that period of time for
those days for all the cadets that went on that march. And we also
called on various other Jodies that showed up at these different
cooking times not every day but if we were near Fort Hood or down
in Central Texas, those folks that lived there would show up and
help us cook. It was an enlightening, interesting, and educational
experience. I can remember one guy, Levi Wilson, he’s also in our
Hall of Honor. Levi was in the Green Berets and Special Forces in
Vietnam for a couple of tours, and there he was with a paper cook
hat and cooking meals for the cadets. It was something that sticks
in my mind.
Gonzales: So returning to campus as an alumnus, how has the campus
changed?
Garonzik: Well, it’s night and day. This campus has grown exponentially. I
was just walking through it today seeing all the courtyards and the
trees and the beautiful buildings and all that. I will say that the
dormitory that I lived in, although it’s changed its name, it’s still
standing, and Lord knows we tried to take it down a number of
times.
Gonzales: So is there anything you’d like to contribute to the interview that I
haven’t asked you?
Garonzik: Well, I know we can’t talk too much about the pranks because
some of those things were a little bit on the, let’s call it, shady side.
One such event was we formed a detail, you know, where we put a
lot of the military training together, where we formed a group. Each
one had a job and a task— (end of interview)