Alfred Rodrigues was born on the island of Kauai in Hawaii in October 1922. His mother died early in his life and his father moved. As a young man, Rodrigues caddied nine holes daily for a golfer. He was paid well for his efforts. There was competition between the caddies and Rodrigues' success made the other caddies angry at him. He made big money for many years until a cousin talked him into joining the Navy Reserve. Rodrigues' father approved of his son volunteering. He was called to active duty one year and one month before the attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He had to quit his well paying job at the Naval Shipyard to be inducted. Rodrigues was there on that December day when the war started. He had completed high school and gotten his father's approval for his enlistment in November 1940.

Alfred Rodrigues wanted to be an engineer in the Navy. He found that the engine room was very hot and he passed out in ten minutes after his shift started. He elected to be a storekeeper in supply. He became a 3rd Class Storekeeper [Annotator's Note: Storekeeper 3rd Class or SK3c] and eventually made Chief Petty Officer [Annotator's Note: Chief Storekeeper or SKC]. He was assigned to land duty and not put on a ship initially. He was assigned to the USS Washington (BB-56) in June 1943. His 18 month duty was in the Pacific bombarding islands for amphibious landings. Kwajalein [Annotator's Note: Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands] was the first island but while still in Hawaii, the ship practiced by shelling an old Hawaiian ship. Locals were disappointed when that happened. The training leading up to the start of the war involved rudimentary tools, methods, and equipment.

Alfred Rodrigues identified Japanese aircraft by the large circles on their wings. It was Sunday and he had just sat down for breakfast when the announcement was made [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He missed his breakfast and only had sandwiches that day. His position that day was at the entrance of Pearl Harbor. He could hear what was happening. The planes flew over but the position Rodrigues manned was not targeted. The Army Air Force base [Annotator's Note: Hickam Field, now Hickam Air Force Base, on Oahu, Hawaii] was nearby. It would be named Hickam later. Rodrigues was not surprised by the attack. He had been given a .30 caliber rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle]. The sailors shot at the low flying aircraft. He could see the enemy pilots' faces. He was not angry because many of his students were Nisei [Annotator's Note: first generation Japanese-American]. He could see the damage on what would become Hickam Air Base. The smoke at the harbor was visible. He stayed in Pearl Harbor until boarding the battleship [Annotator's Note: USS Washington (BB-56)] in June 1943. Until then, he was transferred to Kauai where he did storekeeper work dispersing supplies for 120 people. He did that for six months. He got the word to his family that he was fine soon after the attack. The afternoon after the attack, he was restricted to base. That was the case for about a month. The men did not know what was going on.

Alfred Rodrigues reported aboard the Washington [Annotator's Note: USS Washington (BB-56)] as a five inch [Annotator's Note: five inch 38 caliber naval gun] mount gun crewman. He was aboard for 18 months. He was aboard during the naval battles off Guadalcanal but his battle station was below deck. A Navy chaplain explained the action over the communication system on the ship. Rodrigues had master keys to warehouses down below. He listened to the news but could not see it. He could hear the guns and feel the ship shake when the big 16 inch guns fired. He knew the outcome of the battle the same day. They had sunk an enemy battleship. His ship avoided submarines by zig-zagging [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] its course. That was happening when the Indiana [Annotator's Note: USS Indiana (BB-58)] was rammed [Annotator's Note: the USS Indiana (BB-58) and USS Washington (BB-56) collided on 1 February 1944]. Both ships lost personnel as a result of the collision. The damage supposedly was minor and repairs would be in the United States. The crew was elated They went to Bremerton [Annotator's Note: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington] to have the missing bow replaced. A new bow awaited them so they only had 30 days in Seattle [Annotator's Note: Seattle, Washington]. Rodrigues met a girl and spent two weeks with her. He had many significant events aboard his battleship. His shift was four hours on and eight hours off. When he made chief [Annotator's Note: Chief Storekeeper or SKC], his life improved significantly. The chiefs had better quarters, their own messroom, and were served food at their own table. He was satisfied with his rate as a chief. During the Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] kamikaze attacks, he heard about it below deck at his battle station but did not see any of the attacks. Many of the details of the events cannot be recalled. He feels like he did not miss out on anything because they won the war.

Alfred Rodrigues was involved with new construction at the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn Navy Yard] in New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] when the war ended. He helped with the start up of a new distribution center to balance supplies and equipment across the different military activities throughout the United States. He served all branches of the service and enjoyed the year he spent there. He traveled to New York City by train but there was too much celebrating going on during the trip. For the trip home to Hawaii, he tried to take the bus thinking it would be better. The situation was worse. By the time he reached San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], he was happy to sail on a hospital ship back to Hawaii. As a chief [Annotator's Note: Chief Storekeeper or SKC], he bunked with the officers but had to wear civilian clothes. It was a ten day voyage and a different life. When he reached Hawaii, he decided to leave the Navy. Work was difficult to obtain so he reenlisted. The man he dealt with to reenlist had been a Pharmacist's Mate with Rodrigues on the Washington [Annotator's Note: USS Washington (BB-56)]. Rodrigues' reenlistment was expedited as a result. He spent 20 years in the Navy and retired in 1964 as a Chief Petty Officer. He worked for a government agency [Annotator's Note: General Service Administration] another 34 years. His 54 years of government service made him a "triple dipper."

Alfred Rodrigues saw the damage on Battleship Row about two weeks after the attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was in supply and had to get new bunks and expand the mess hall for all the men who lost their ships. He took a pickup to get supplies from Pearl Harbor. He never doubted the United States would succeed in the war. His most memorable experience in the war was the kindness his ship's [Annotator's Note: USS Washington (BB-56)] commanding officer [Annotator's Note: US Navy Captain, later Vice Admiral, Glenn B. Davis] showed to his men. It impressed Rodrigues. Rodrigues crossed the dateline and the Polliwogs were hard on the Shellbacks. He does not know if that tradition [Annotator's Note: the crossing the line ceremony] continues. He did the same thing when he became a Shellback. His life was changed significantly due to the war. His mother wanted him to go to seminary at Notre Dame but that changed with his service. Rodrigues served because his Naval Reserve unit was called to active duty. He had volunteered for the Reserves because of his cousin's influence. His cousin married a sister of Rodrigues' girlfriend from New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. The cousin served on PT boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] in Europe. The cousin's wife did not adjust to Hawaiian life and the marriage ended. Rodrigues thought about applying for police work but was talked out of it by a relative. He applied for a job with the General Service Administration and progressed to supervisor. He was doing exactly the same work that he did in the Navy. He stayed there for 30 years. He did inventory control work. He discovered men taking tools home at night in their pockets. His supervisor was glad Rodrigues reported the infractions, but the coworkers did not appreciate it. He changed jobs and moved up the rating scale to GS-12 [Annotator's Note: the 12th paygrade in the General Schedule payscale, the payscale used to determine the salaries of most civilian government employees]. He was in an inspection department for a nuclear weapons training center in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] for the West Coast [Annotator's Note: West Coast of the United States], Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, and Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. He did that for three years. Being divorced, he was free to travel all over. Rodrigues' postwar life was a direct result of his Navy service. It is important to teach World War 2 history to future generations so that they know what happened. Rodrigues never talked about his service to his own children. They did not know he was in the Navy. He did not want to talk about shooting and killing the enemy. He still does not talk about it. He is sure that he hit enemy planes when he was shooting at them during the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: he was firing at the low flying Japanese planes with a .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle].