Navy Steward's Son Spurns Custom, Rises as Marine Officer
The Amer War Lib'y
Navy Steward's Son Spurns Custom, Rises as Marine Officer
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service
EXCERPT: "WASHINGTON -- Rayfel Bachiller once dreamed of being a Navy
steward, just like his father. But his father convinced him to aim
higher. So he did -- but not in the Navy. A colonel today, Bachiller
is the highest-ranking Philippine American in the Marine Corps. Make
that the entire Navy Department. His wife, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Lisa
C. Bachiller, is one of the highest-ranking women in the Corps.
Bachiller is director of special projects for the commandant. He
handles special ceremonies and events and maintains liaison with the
White House, secretary of state and foreign Marine services. His wife
is in charge of the land use and military construction branch at
Marine Corps headquarters in Arlington, Va. Becoming a Marine was
"kind of an unusual thing," he said, because he attended the
University of (Columbia) South Carolina on a Navy ROTC scholarship. "I
was honing my skills to become a Navy line officer. Just before my
senior year, I went in to determine what field I would go into,
thinking I was going to be part of a division aboard a ship with lots
of sailors to work with." But, Bachiller said, that was the racially
turbulent late '60s and he was told, "quite bluntly and candidly, that
the Navy wasn't ready for a Filipino line officer." The ROTC officer
told Bachiller the Navy was going to offer him a commission as an
administrative or supply officer. "The supply officer was in charge of
the stewards who served the chow aboard ships and polished the
officers' shoes," he said. He remembers not thinking the officer was
discriminating against him, he said. "He was looking out for me,
because there wasn't a prejudicial bone in his body. He suggested I
try the Marine Corps, which I'd never considered," Bachiller said. "I
wasn't the model of what I thought a Marine to be -- six-foot-two,
eyes of blue and a chiseled jaw. But I followed his advice. A
psychology major, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in July 1970
through the Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico,
Va. His father, the late Chief Petty Officer Raynero Bachiller, joined
the Navy in the 1920s as a teen-ager. Joining the Navy and serving
honorably was a way for Filipinos to earn U.S. citizenship. His
mother, Socorro, 75, still lives in the family home in Southwest
Washington. Before immigrating, she served with Philippine American
guerrillas during World War II. As a youngster growing up in a Navy
family, "I thought I was always going to be in a position of servitude
-- like stewards," Bachiller said. "But my father made that type of
work honorable duty in his Navy. He said it doesn't matter which
ladder you climb, it's one rung at a time and progress means you go
from one rung to another based on your experiences, proficiency and
compliments of those who are grading you and encouraging you to reach
for a higher rung. "He served aboard the USS Lexington, one of the
aircraft carriers that was sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea,"
the colonel continued. "I read about some of his exploits, for which
he was awarded the Bronze Star. People told him he should have gotten
a higher award for what he did, but back then, Filipinos were not put
in for big awards." When the Lexington was hit, the senior Bachiller
was credited with saving the lives of sailors in sick bay by climbing
through a ventilation duct to open a hatch so the men could escape.
The colonel said tremendous improvements for minorities in the
services have occurred since he became a Marine nearly 30 years ago.
"When I joined the Marine Corps, I was watching over on the Navy side,
Filipinos being stewards, supply or administrative clerks," he said.
"You didn't see them in engineering, weapons or as corpsmen. Over the
years, I saw these jobs open up in the services not only for
Filipinos, but also African Americans, Hispanics and other
minorities." Today's military services offer opportunities for
everyone to do things civilians don't have a chance to do, Bachiller
said. "You get to be an ambassador in your country's uniform and you
get tremendous experience in foreign nations. You also get leadership
lessons you can't buy on the outside. The leadership you learn in the
military is a handed-down-type of leadership that can't be taught in
the classroom." Blaming the past for a lack of accomplishment today is
no excuse, the colonel said. "I grew up in a bad neighborhood. When I
go back there, I see some of my peers still sitting on the streets
drinking wine out of a bag. They're breeding youngsters who will grow
up and say, 'If that's all I've got to look forward to in life, why
should I try?' I say, if you get off your can and use a thing called
self-motivation, you can succeed." Even with all the positive changes
Bachiller said he's seen in society and in the military for
minorities, he said there's still a need for ethnic observances like
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. His ideal world is free of
prejudice and people are judged by their character and expertise
rather than the color of their skin. "But this isn't an ideal world,"
he said. "I hope that somewhere down the road these celebrations are
just a remembrance to revitalize pride in your heritage and culture,
rather than to bring forth how far you've struggled and how much
further you may have to go," Bachiller said. In the meanwhile, ethnic
observances are necessary, he said, "not so much to Asian Pacific
Americans, African Americans or Hispanic Americans -- they're aware of
it. It's to bring awareness to the rest of the ethnicities."..."
Brooke Rowe, Correspondent
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