Juan Conde Pena’s Life 3

 

 

 

Juan Conde Pena’s Life  3

Presentado por; Iris de La Rosa Vélez, 2014

My experience in the Puerto Rican National Guard prepared me for leadership in the Army

When my sergeant became aware that I knew about Army life, he put me in charge of the first platoon. Being in charge of a platoon was not easy because I had select men for extra duties, and they despised me for that. Additionally, since I was the first man in the first squad in the first platoon, I had to control all the movements of the company during the parades. Consequently, if I did not march in a straight line, the whole company formation would zigzag. For this reason, I always followed my company commander’s advice to pick a distant object and march towards it. After basic training, I went home on a ten-day furlough, and I discovered that all my belongings were missing.

Since I was drafted 1952 during the Korea War, all the soldiers in the company thought that our destination upon terminating the training would be Korea. Luckily, we were sent to the outskirts of Washington, DC, to build a camp. We had to live in tents while we constructed the barracks. Due to the extreme cold weather, we kept our clothes on all the time; and every other day, we went to Andrews Air Force Base for showers. For our daily cleaning, we put water in a steel helmet and heated it on the potbelly stove. To get our clothes cleaned and pressed, we sent them to a nearby Laundromat. One of the drawbacks of living in tents was that the mess hall was also a tent, and it was occasionally raided during the night, depriving us of our regular breakfast the following day.

Peer pressure triumphed- I almost froze to death

One time I went out another soldier to a nearby town, and we became drunk. When my friend challenged me to gulp down a pint of whiskey, I agreed. That pint of whiskey caused a strong reaction in my body, and I lost track of my whereabouts. However, I managed to board a cab and return to camp. When I exited the cab, I walked through the main gate and went to my barrack. Immediately, I went to bed; but I couldn’t stay there because the barrack seemed to be spinning around. Then, I got up and walked to the rear of the barracks, went outside, and threw myself on the ground.

The ground felt good because it had been a snowy winter night, and the coolness seemed to diminish my dizziness. As the snow continued to fall on me, I fell asleep unaware of the danger of freezing to death. Fortunately, the extreme cold woke me up, and I managed to get up and drag myself inside the barracks to warm up by the potbelly stove. Once again, as many times before, I was saved from freezing to death under the snow by some divine help. Since it was time to get up, I went to shower and shave to begin a new day.

In spite of all the deprivations during our first year in the military, we built six barracks for sleeping, a large mess hall, as a large shower room with twenty toilets and twenty wash bowls. We also built an office and several other buildings. Additionally, we constructed sidewalks leading to each edifice and secured the camp with radar and other electronic devices. After finishing all that work, I began to long for my loved ones and to be out of the Army. The thought of being out to the Army, reinforced my love for my girlfriend, therefore I asked her to be my wife. She accepted gracefully, and we made the necessary arrangements to get married.

 

I got married to my sweetheart

I obtained a ten-day furlough and boarded the train to New York City. While I was in New York, we went to City Hall to get our marriage license. The following day, we went to a minister to get married. Since her mother had passed away and we did not have much time for a big wedding, we expedited the process. We only invited our close relatives for a dinner. It was a short honeymoon because I had to return to camp. Time passed so fast during our honeymoon that I inadvertently returned to camp two days late. I was punished with fifteen days hard labor. I had to work two extra hours every evening- moving rocks, cleaning the grease traps, washing big pots and pans, and digging holes. The discipline of hard labor taught me to be more responsible not only while I was in the Army, but also while I was outside in civilian life.

Marriage motivated me to a new life altogether. A deep desire permeated my whole being to be with my wife. Thereafter, I struggled impatiently every weekend to obtain a pass. Most of time however, I had to wait two week or more to come home. It took me from four to five hours to get to New York City by train; therefore, I could only spend Saturdays and Sunday with my wife. In order to prolong my stay in New York City. I would return to camp late Sunday night and I would arrive before roll call Monday morning.

Consequently, during my last year in the Army, I came home every other Friday and returned to camp every other Sunday night. It was impossible to sleep on the train, so I was very sleepy when I returned to camp. I vividly remember a disconcerting experience that I had. While I was on guard duty on a Monday night I couldn’t stay awake. I went inside one of the cars I was guarding and fell asleep. Several minutes later, I heard footsteps a few meters away from where I was. I came out of the car rapidly and saw the company officer approaching me. He reprimanded me for leaving my post. Needless to say, I felt very embarrassed and didn’t ever do it again.

Finally, I was discharged from the Army

On December 22, 1954, I was honorably discharge from the Army. I arrived home the same day to the room we had rented in a building near Third Avenue in the Bronx. That apartment was located so close to the elevated train tracks that every time the train went by, the building shook. In the beginning the noise was a terrible nuisance; but afterwards, it became like a lullaby to my ears, I would stay afterwards, it became like a lullaby to my ears. I would stay awake until the train came by to rock me to sleep.

The following Monday I went to my old job, but my former employer did not rehire me. Although I informed him that by law he had to rehire me because I had been in the Army, he laughed and practically ran me out of his office. Moreover, he lashed me with such derogatory remarks, that to this date, I can still feel the sting of those words. By that time, I was desperately looking for a job because my wife was pregnant with our first child. We eventually moved to our own apartment where the rent was higher. Fortunately, I had found a job by this time with a plastic molding company making plastic articles such as bottles, toy horses, television and radio buttons, etc. I worked from 4ː00 to 12ː p.m., and started going to school from 9ː00 a.m. to 1ː00 p.m.

 I have always a quest for knowledge

The bad experience I had with my former employer did not diminish my desire to better myself. I registered at The Monroe School of Business where I took courses in accounting and business administration. I liked this college because it had an employment agency to help graduates obtain jobs. Even though I sometimes worked until 2ː00 in the morning, I continued attending school. For two years, I kept up this struggle until I graduated in Accounting and Business Management. I was fortunate to have the G.I. Bill of Rights pay for my studies and also pay a stipend for books and carfare.

 

Our three children were born

By this time, I was the proud father of a girl named Magdalena, and my wife was expecting our second child. We lived in a cold apartment infested with roaches and rats. I had to get up early in the morning to light a kerosene heater to keep us warn. One morning when I checked Maggie’s crib, I saw a big rat running over her! Luckily, it hadn’t done her any harm, and I chased it out of the apartment. Immediately, I  placed four cans filled with water under the crib’s legs, hoping they would keep the rats away. I also put pieces of broken bottles in the rat’s holes, but they always managed to enter the apartment. At this juncture, we were desperately looking for a better apartment, so we applied for public housing. About three months before my second child, Jose Jr. was born; the New York Housing Authority gave us an apartment in the Bronx, NY. It was a lovely apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen with a dining room. The housing complex had beautiful grounds with children’s swimming pool, playground, and baseball and basketball courts. Additionally, it had a clinic equipped with a nurse and first aid equipment. Needless to say, we loved our new place very much.

Finally, the time for my wife to have our second child arrived! We were so exhilarated to have our second child. He weighed almost eight pounds, approximately two pounds more than Maggie did. She was scarcely thirteen months old, so my wife had the tremendous task of taking care of two toddlers. I didn’t help much around the house because I was working night and attending school during the day.

 

During 1950’s Hispanics were not hired for office job

After graduating from business school, I immediately began looking for an office job. Although there were many office jobs that decade (during the 1950’s), the employers did not hire Hispanics for office positions. Consequently, my employment counselor spent many hours on the telephone looking for someone to accept me. Finally, a Jewish gentleman, a general agent for a life insurance company, offered me a job. I had to toss aside my Accounting and Business Management certificate and accept a job as an application clerk.

As an application clerk in a life insurance agency I did the following tasksː first, I reviewed the applications for errors and made sure that there was a corresponding part 2 for every part 1. Second, I ordered a retail credit report for every applicant. Third, I typed a cover sheet for every case. Fourth, I made copies of both parts for our records and mailed the originals to the Home Office. I also wrote a report of the daily, weekly, monthly, and annually ‘’submitted business’’. I also checked the daily status of every case submitted for the needed requirements to get the life insurance policy released. When the policies were released, I either paid them, or if there were no prepayments, I set up a file to follow up with the life insurance agent, as to when the payments could be received. Last, I wrote a daily, weekly, monthly, and annually report of the business ‘’paid for’’. At the end of every working day, I took both reports, the ‘’submitted and paid for’’ to the general agent.

This office job was totally different from what I had done before. I felt very proud to dress in a while shirt, a tie, and a suit. As I typed on and old typewriter, 20 words per minute, I felt like a big executive. I worked at this job for ten years. Meanwhile, I obtained my Life Insurance Agent License, and sold some life insurance policies. Concurrently, I attended the City College of N.Y. to study accounting and business management because I wanted to become an accountant or, office manager. At this time, I realized that the Business College I had attended did not cover these subjects in depth.

My wife continued her struggle with Maggie and Junior and was expecting our third child. She gave birth to another girl, whom we named Adelita. In a twenty-eight month period, our family had grown to five members- Maggie was born on September 12,1955; Junior was born on September 26,1956; Adelita was born on January 13, 1958. Three children are really a heavy burden for any mother and its worse when they are still small. My goal was that my wife would stay home and care for the children while I worked and studied.

My youngest daughter, Adelita, was born in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, during my wife’s visit to her family. Although my wife enjoyed her stay in Puerto Rico very much, my son Junior became very ill. He suffered a horrible tropical disease that almost caused his death. Fortunately, my wife returned to New York in time to get the necessary medical treatment. In addition to that, her faith in GOD was so strong that whenever she gave him the doctor’s prescribed medicine; she prayed with the assurance that the Lord was healing our son’s terrible ailment. With the proper care and GOD’S divine help, our son was healed.

How we endured in a dying community

Since our family had grown to five members, we moved to a five-room apartment in an adjacent building. This apartment was larger the previous one; the building not as clean. We reared our three children in this building. As time passed, the living conditions worsened. The beautiful grounds became ugly because of the peoples’ carelessness, (most of the grass and trees disappeared). The children’s swimming pool and the clinic stopped operating, and the whole area turned into another ghetto. It was really heartbreaking to see how our beautiful neighborhood became like a war zone in about five years.

We were able to stay there a while longer because by that time we were attending the 2^nd Pentecostal Lighthouse Church and the members were very supportive. Receiving Jesus Christ my life was miserable and had no goals. I vividly remember that day when I came to Christ. I was attending the church service as I had done many times before; but this time something miraculous happened. As the pastor was preaching, I felt the urgency to give my life to the Lord. Since his preaching always took an hour; I became desperate thinking that forgot to make the altar call; and he ended the service and sent everybody home. In the meantime, I was seating on my seat wondering what to do. At this moment, I felt a supernatural being that grabbed my right arm and took me to the altar. When I got there, I looked up and asked the pastor why he did not make the altar call. When he saw tears coming down my face, he became aware that I was ready to give my life to the Lord. It was then that he prayed for me. As he was praying, my wife and children came to the altar and stood there with me. When I looked at my wife and children, I felt as if I was looking at them for the first time. Nowadays, when I think about that experience, I have to agree that a person without the Lord in his life is completely blind.

Our three children were doing very well in school, and we didn’t want to move and interrupt their schooling. Jose Jr. won a scholarship for a very good high school. The Little Red High School in Manhattan and Maggie and Adela were attending The Dodge Vocational Secretarial High School. My daughter Maggie was doing so well in school that she sought her counselor’s advice in order to get a transfer to another school to study medicine, but the heartless counselor advised her that it was impossible for her to study medicine because she was poor. Although, she was disheartened by her teacher’s callous remark, she continued to excel in all subjects. In the meantime, I was trying to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Not only did I want to be an Accountant, but I also wanted to go into the general brokerage business.

Discrimination was so rampant that it kept me from establishing my own office. But that did not stop me from taking the General Brokerage courses. After taking the New York State for the second time, I obtained my General Brokerage License. Naturally, my next step was to establish my own office. As I pursued this dream, I found many obstacles because this type of business in New York City is very competitive. Everywhere I turned, I found myself with my hands tied. I continued attending college from 7ː00 to 10ː00 p.m., while I worked from 9ː00 a.m. to 5ː00 p.m. At the same time, I sold automobile and life Insurance. I sold life insurance for The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company – the company I had worked for 17 years – and I sold automobile insurance with GEICO, which was the only automobile insurance company that accepted my cases. In spite of my successes, I was completely frustrated because after working for the same company for ten years and studying so much, I was still an applications clerk. By this time, I knew how to work in all the agency’s departments. Finally, my employer recommended me for an office manager position with the same company in an agency located in Scarsdale, N.Y. He sent me there to replace the former office manager who had passed away. When I drove in my old Buick into the parking area; located in the buildings’ basement, the attendant tried to run me out. ‘’What are you doing here?’’ he rudely asked. When I told him that I was the new office manager, he grudgingly let me stay in my assigned parking space. In this new job, I has to work very hard to update the files and the bookkeeping. Additionally, I did all the other related work to bring the agency up to date. This agency had been without ab office manager for two months, and the work had accumulated. After working there for about a year, I found out that my boss was merging his agency with a bigger one located in New York City.

Merging the two agencies was a monumental enterprise that required a great amount of work and ingenuity. In this merger, we not only acquired a substantial number of clients, but we also kept all the old agency’s employees to service them. As the office manager, I had to supervise the two groups. From the beginning, I had difficulties with the old group because they always found fault with everything I did. At that time, there was a woman who wanted my position and was always campaigning against me. Consequently, I lost my authority over the office employees, and my boss lost confidence in me.

The company I worked for bounced me back and forth and finally laid me off

I was not surprised when shortly thereafter my boss called me into his office and notified me about a new office manager position in Greenwich, Connecticut. He left me no alternative. Once again, I went to a second agency that needed to be organized, my first question when I arrived there was if the bookkeeping books were balanced. Apparently, they had never heard that before because they were surprised at the question, and they laughed. As I suspected, the books weren’t balanced, and many records were not filed correctly. I worked feverishly organizing the workflow, balancing the books, and doing other related duties. After working two months in this new agency, I discovered that my boss was leaving, and there would be a new general agent.

Fortunately, I got along so well with the new general agent that he even asked me to help him train the new salesmen. Although getting to work every morning was a real hassle, I didn’t mind it blocks to the subway station, then five long blocks to Pennsylvania Train Station located at 125^th and Park Avenue, and finally I would walk up the steep stairs to board the train. Many times I had to run upstairs to catch the train. If I missed my regular train, I couldn’t get to work on time. I worked at the Greenwich agency for approximately two years. Unfortunately, we did not get the amount of business we expected, and the Home Office decided to close it.

They transferred me to Garden City, New York

About that time, a general agent in Garden City, New York, needed someone to help him. He had gone through a major heart operation and had recently returned to his agency. My boss asked me if I wanted to go there, and I agreed. He even suggested the salary I should request. Within a five-year stretch, I had been transferred to three different agencies in remote localities because they needed someone to organize them. Luckily by that time, I had bought a new car, A CHEVY NOVA, with the cash value I had accumulated in my life insurance policies, and my daily traveling became much easier. My new employer was very friendly and we established a good relationship. Of all the employers I have had, he was the only one who invited me over to his house for dinner. Unfortunately, he retired after I had been working with him for only six months. Before retiring, he warned me about the man who was replacing him. He told me that the man coming to run the agency was not to be trusted I should beware of him

I faced certain problems with the new general agent

As soon as the new general agent arrived, he started changing everything around. He rented a larger place in a nearby building and furnished it to his taste. He also recruited new salesman and hired two new employees. In the beginning, I thought that everything was going to work out; but as time passed, he tried to persuade me to do things that were not permitted by law. He didn’t want to play the Workmen’s Compensation Insurance, the Unemployment Insurance, and Social Security Insurance and also wanted to use some of the agency’s cash for personal expenses. Since I knew that those requirements were to be met I continued paying them. Consequently, he was disillusioned with my work and brought a mature woman to replace me. Even though he instructed me to train this woman, I was hesitant to do so because it meant surrendering my livelihood.

Two weeks later, he demanded my resignation. I disputed it and complained to the company, and to the government agency that handled discrimination cases. The company’s president wrote me a letter explaining that it was the company’s policy not to get involved in the agencies’ affairs. And at the hearing my boss brought two lawyers with him, and I was there alone. Furthermore, I sensed that they had already discussed the case with the head of third agency because he rebutted my testimony and accepted the general agent’s. Therefore, I did not purse this case further and signed my resignation.