A familiar story 12 years later

Deepa Bharath

Ramon Galvan says he has moved on.

The Costa Mesa resident, who lost his 33-year-old son Arthur

Galvan during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, says he has learned to live

with the fact that the eldest of his five children is not coming

back.

Arthur Galvan and 13 others were on a classified mission when

their AC-130A Spectre gunship was shot down on Jan. 31, 1991, during

a fierce clash between Iraqi troops and U.S. Marines near the Saudi

Arabian border town of Khafji.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Arthur Galvan was the only Orange County

resident known to have died in the Gulf War. During the current war

in Iraq, one Orange County man, Costa Mesa’s Jose Garibay, has died.

Ramon Galvan moved to Costa Mesa from Mexico in 1951. At the time,

he was only one of three Mexican families that lived in the area, he

said. Arthur Galvan grew up on Capitol Street on the Westside and

attended Wilson Elementary School, Rea Junior High and Estancia High

School, where he was a Boy Scout, was active in student government

and played varsity football.

After joining the Air Force upon graduation from high school in

1976, he entered the ROTC program at Troy State University in

Alabama, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in international

relations and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1982. He was

promoted to captain in 1989. Before his deployment to the Persian

Gulf in January 1991, Arthur Galvan lived in Florida with Suzanna,

his wife of 12 years, and his 11-year-old son Jason.

Twelve years have passed since Arthur Galvan’s death and the

memories of his lost son are buried deep inside Ramon Galvan’s

psyche. At times, he will unlock those emotions and let them

overwhelm him. He’ll drive down to Fairview Park where the city had

erected a memorial plaque in honor of Arthur and spend some time

there, praying.

But Galvan says this war with Iraq is just too painful to watch,

and the death of Garibay last month just brings back too many

memories. Galvan said he feels sorry for the Garibay family.

“I went through a lot of pain and I’m sure they are going through

a lot of pain now,” he said. “I don’t even know much about this war.

I work all the time. I don’t watch the news.”

But what he knows, Galvan says, is that both his son and Garibay

fought for a noble cause.

“Nothing comes easy,” he said. “Freedom doesn’t come easy. My son

died defending and fighting for something he believed in.”

Galvan said his son “chose his life.”

“He wanted to be in the service,” he said. “I couldn’t afford his

education. The government was going to get him educated.”

Former Costa Mesa Mayor Peter Buffa, who was on the City Council

at the time of Arthur Galvan’s death and proposed the plaque and

memorial service for him, said for him, 12 years later, “it feels

like deja vu all over again.”

Buffa himself is a former Air Force officer.

“Arthur served his country very well,” he said. “He remains a

great source of pride for Costa Mesa.”

Arthur Galvan’s sister, Terry, and brothers, Larry, Gary and Ray

Jr., could not be contacted. His mother Doris O’Campo, who lived in

Costa Mesa, died about two years ago, Ramon Galvan said. He said the

two had been divorced for some time. Galvan also said he has not kept

in touch with Arthur’s wife and son.

Questions were raised after Arthur’s death about whether the Air

Force should have sent the AC-130A, which is basically a refurbished

cargo plane, to the battleground. But Galvan said he has not heard

from the Air Force about whether an investigation was conducted or

not.

“I don’t know what happened or how it happened,” he said. “I’ve

learned to accept it. I just pray to God and try to live with it.”

Galvan says he seeks solace in the belief that his son was

destined to die just the way he did.

“I believe that the day you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die,” he

said. “Whether you’re here or anywhere else. If it’s your time, it’s

your time.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].