Witnessing the Battle of the Hawk: An LACC Veteran’s Story
On the morning of October 11, 1972, his first day in the United States Navy, David Almond stepped foot onto the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk bound for Vietnam. David had no idea that within his first 24 hours he would witness the Navy’s first race riot aboard a warship.
The son of a preacher, David Almond was just 17 and fresh out of L.A. High School when he enlisted in the Navy, inspired by his sister’s work as an Army nurse. After his honorable discharge from the Navy he worked at the V.A. Hospital in West Los Angeles as a cardiology technician before joining the Los Angeles Fire Department as a paramedic from 1977-1982. Afterwards, he attended LACC and Vanguard University before going on to receive his M.A. in Computer Based Education from California State Dominquez Hills. After working for several years, he was called to the ministry, and began his pastoral ministry with New Hope Community Church Assembly of God in Lynwood, CA. Today he is the Chaplain for the Arizona State Prison in Kingman, Arizona.
David recently published his book, ‘A Sailor’s Story in Black and White: Battle for the Hawk’ a first-hand account of the events that unfolded on the Kitty Hawk and the impact the riots had on the future policies and programs in the Navy. It was his daughter, Monica, who gave him the nudge he needed to get started on writing his book by sending him to D.C. to conduct research of all military and personal accounts of the events. David reconnected with his old captain and crewmembers in order to give an accurate description, from both sides of the racial spectrum, of what occurred onboard the U.S.S. Kittyhawk on October 12-13, 1972.
On February 4, David led a reading and discussion of his book in the President’s room within the Navy War Memorial in D.C. The event was attended by his family, former and current members of the U.S. Navy, friends and history buffs. “If nothing else” David said, “I’d like my readers to understand that united we stand, divided we fall. We must come together and see ourselves as Americans and stop being racially divided. Race has been at the forefront of the majority of conversations and clashes for the past couple of years in the U.S. Even more tragic, the conversation hasn’t changed too much since the incident occurred on our ship back in the 1970s.”
You can view an excerpt from his book and presentation at the U.S. Navy War Memorial here.
If you are an alumnus of LACC and would like to share your story, please contact the LACC Foundation at alumni@laccfoundation.org or call 323-953-4011.
