Interviewed by:
Emma Luster and Natalia Bonfini

"I think about, you know, all the people that didn't come back.

You know, those are the heroes." 00:29:15
~ Robert Anthony

Robert Anthony's Story:

Veteran, and former Provincetown police chief, Robert Anthony was an insightful man. Even though he planned to go to college, his life suddenly changed after he was drafted to the Vietnam war right out of high school. Bobby has lived in Provincetown his whole life. Once he was drafted, the only thing he had control over was deciding to fight on the ground or in the navy, so he joined the navy for four years.

Bobby began boot camp on October 26, 1965 and six months later he volunteered to go to fear-filled Vietnam. In Vietnam he came in counter with many difficult obstacles. "One of the most devastating times that [he] witnessed when [he] was over there was The Forestall". When Bobby when back to the general quarters, one of the bombs when off and blew up The Forestall (one of their ships). He got within 200 yards of the ship, and they were throwing planes over board and people were jumping over board. He said it was so devastating for him because " it was such a beautiful beautiful day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky".

Even worse then The Forestall was the loss of his dear friend from his squadron, Jim Carter. While the two were on the Mediterranean Jim was expressing his strong feelings to Bobby about how he was longing to go home. There were three planes and they had already lost one. Jim, whom was an air crewman, came up to Bobby at seven o'clock in the morning, and said "'I hope this plane crashes.' and he was going to be in it". He did not want anyone to get hurt but hoped the plane would crash so they could go back to the States. "And guess what, 7:30 he was dead. Cause the plane did crash." Bobby still thinks about Jim Carter every single day.

Not all of his days were terrible. Taking a joy ride on a carrier plane was one of his favorite memories he shared with us. He had always been longing to go for a ride, so when he finally got a chance he was mesmerized. As he flew threw the air at 150 miles per hour, all he could hear was the engine whining, then all of a sudden it was silent. It was so incredible for him, he said he could have flown forever.

Once Bobby finally came home, there was no homecoming or recognition for him or any of the other veterans that had fought in Vietnam. "It made alot of young people very angry", but Bobby was still proud of what he did and never regretted one minute of it. After his service in the war, he decided to go to Umass Boston and to get his Bacholers degree in criminal justice. Ironically enough, just after graduating, he quickly became the police chief of Provincetown. During his time as chief there were a lot of hate crimes in Provincetown in regards to homosexuality. There went from being 21 hate crimes in 1992 to zero in 1997. Bobby really changed the community in Provincetown and still to this day, it is a peaceful place with no hate crimes.

Bobby finished the interview by saying "I think about Jim everyday. Yup. And I think about the Forestall. I think about, you know, a lot of people that did'nt come back. You know, those are the heroes." Bobby still continues to say to this day that it was worth it in the end for him because he does "live here, and it's the greatest country on earth!" Robert Anthony was an amazing man, accomplishing many great things over his lifetime, and we are very thankful to have heard his story and we will remember him for the rest of our lives.