B004L2LMEG EBOK (16 page)

(c) At the same time, all members of Convoy No. 25 coincide in asserting that during their compulsory stopover of eight days in Borja, Specialists Coca, Peludita, Flor and Maclovia (the latter only while she was in the garrison, of course) were induced to grant daily and repeated services to all officers and subofficers of the unit, against SSGFRI regulations, which exclude high-ranking and intermediate authorities from its benefits, and without said services being financially compensated.

(d) The pilot of the
Delilah
declares that the reason for his confinement to the Borja jail was, exclusively, his having attempted to prevent the specialists from offering their services
ad honorem
and against regulations when they were so demanded, which services, according to approximate calculations of the women themselves, amount to the escalated figure of 247.

(e) The undersigned wants to make it clear that he is not communicating the findings of this investigation with the thought of contradicting the testimony of Col. Peter Casahuanqui, PA, an outstanding Army chief whom he admires and respects, but rather as a mere contribution intended to amplify the report of said chief in order that the whole truth may shine forth.

2. On the other hand, he has the honor of making known that the investigation conducted by the SSGFRI into the flight and subsequent marriage of Specialist Maclovia to former First Sgt. Teófilo Gualino coincides mathematically with the version contained in Col. Peter Casahuanqui’s report, the former averring only that former First Sgt. Gualino and the woman took possession of a garrison launch as a loan, because the river was the only means of leaving Borja, and that it was their firm intention to return it on the first possible occasion. Specialist Maclovia has been expelled from the SSGFRI, without compensation and without a letter of recommendation on account of her irresponsible conduct.

3. The undersigned allowed himself to make the observation to headquarters that the origin of these incidents, like the majority of those that have been recorded in spite of the efforts of the SSGFRI and the officers in charge of the utilization centers, is the Service’s dramatic lack of funds. Notwithstanding the dedication and the good will of all the collaborators in the SSGFRI, the corps of twenty (20) specialists (nineteen at present, since the said Maclovia has still not yet been replaced) is totally insufficient to cover the exorbitant demand of the utilization centers, which we are unable to take care of as we would like, except, if the expression will be excused, with so many drops in the bucket, and this rationing causes anxiety, feelings of frustration and, at times, precipitate and regrettable actions. Once again, the undersigned permits himself to urge his superiors to take a vigorous and bold step by allowing the SSGFRI to increase its operational corps from twenty (20) to thirty (30) specialists, which would signify an important advance in pursuance of the still distant satisfaction of what science has called the “virile plenitude” of our soldiers in the Amazon.

Encl: Report of Col. Peter Casahuanqui, PA, Chief, Borja Garrison (Marañón River), and two (2) meteorological reports from the PAF and the PN

NOTE:
Transmit the above report from Capt. Pantoja to Gen. Roger Scavino, Commander in Chief of Region V, (Amazon) with the following instructions:

1. Carry out an immediate and detailed investigation of what took place with Convoy No. 25 of the SSGFRI at the Borja Garrison between 22 and 30 September and severely punish those who are found to be responsible; and

2. Accede to the request of Captain Pantoja and provide the necessary funds to increase its operational corps from twenty to thirty specialists
.

Confidential communiqué from Rear Adm. Pedro G. Carrillo, PN,

Chief of the River Forces of the Amazon, to Gen. Roger Scavino,

PA, Commander in Chief of Region V (Amazon)

Santa Clotilde Base, 2 October 1957

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

I have the honor of informing you that expressions of surprise and dissatisfaction in regard to the Hymn of the Special Service have reached me from the different bases that the Navy has spread throughout the Amazon Basin—as many from sailors as from their officers. The men who wear the spotless uniform of the Navy regret that the author of the lyrics of said Hymn has not found it necessary to mention, even once, the Peruvian Navy and its sailors, as if this institution were not also a supporter of the Service, to which (is it necessary to remind you?) we contributed with a transport boat and its respective crew as well as with an equitable percentage of the maintenance costs, having paid until the present with flawless punctuality the fees that have been set for us for the required services.

Convinced that this omission is exclusively owing to carelessness and chance and that there was no intention to offend the Navy nor to foment among the sailors a feeling of being passed over by their comrades in the Army, I am sending this communiqué to you, along with my greetings and the petition to remedy, if it is in your hands, the omission of which I inform you, since although minor and banal, it could be the cause of irritation and touchiness that should never trouble the relations between the sister institutions.

NOTE:
Inform Capt. Pantoja of the content of the preceding communiqué, reprimand him for the inexcusable lack of tact displayed by the SSGFRI in the matter in question and order him to give due and quick satisfaction to Rear Adm. Pedro G. Carrillo and to his comrades in the national Navy
.

Requena, 20two Oktobor, 1950seven

Braive Sinshi:

Herd yor program aginst injustis on Amazon Radeeo witch all of us hear hurd and we aplawd you, cause the salors of Santa Ysabelita Base bring there hores hear from Iquitos in a wale of a bote named
Eve
and they take here baths with purfumed water an dont let nobuddy tutch them and they get rid of them with out us, the progreshive yooth of Requena, doin nuthin to them. Is that fare Braive Sinshi? We alreddy formed a comity of men from the town, with our own mayor Teófilo Morey at the hed, to protest to the cheef of Santa Ysabelita Base but that coword deenyed evrything saying how Im gona permit you bois of Requena to marry the speshalists if the speshalists dont eggsist, this hairitick swaring on the boy mardir. As if we dont have ises or eers, Sinshi, what dya think? Why salors yes and us no? Dont we have prix? Tell em this on yor program Braive Sinshi makem shake an nock em ded.

With this ledder we sent you a gif of a pairit that has a gold beek like you Sinshi.

S S G F R I

Dispatch Number Twenty-six

The undersigned, Capt. (Quartermaster) Pantaleón Pantoja, PA, Chief of the Special Service for Garrisons, Frontier and Related Installations, respectfully presents himself to Rear Adm. Pedro G. Carrillo, PN, Chief of the River Forces of the Amazon, salutes him and reports:

1. (a) That he profoundly deplores the unpardonable carelessness by which the lyrics of the Hymn of the Special Service do not make explicit mention of our nation’s glorious Navy and of the valiant sailors who belong to it. (b) That not as a justification, but merely as an informative quotient, he wishes to inform you that this hymn was not commissioned by the leadership of the SSGFRI, but instead was a spontaneous creation of its personnel and that it was adopted in an unpremeditated and somewhat hasty manner, without submitting it to previous critical evaluation of its form and content. (c) That in any case, if not in its lyrics, then in the spirit of said Hymn, as in the minds and in the hearts of those of us who labor in the SSGFRI, are always present the Navy bases and their sailors, for whom all of us in the Service profess the greatest love and the highest respect.

2. That we have proceeded to correct the shortcomings of the Hymn by enriching it with the following changes:

(
a
) The chorus or refrain, sung five times between the stanzas, will be sung three times (first, third and fifth in its original form, that is:

Statistical Report

Col. Máximo Dávila, PA, is pleased to submit to the SSGFRI the following condensed report of the visit that its Convoy No. 32 made to the Barranca Garrison on the Marañón River: