Calculations of deep sea ventilation rates during the last deglaciation are based on the radiocarbon age differences between coexisting surface dwelling and benthic foraminifera. Efforts to reconstruct early deglacial ventilation rates for the Southern hemisphere between the equator and ~45°S latitude, have yielded a broad range of ages between ~1000-4000 years. Here, we present radiocarbon data from mixed layer and thermocline dwelling planktic foraminifera, Globigerinoides ruber and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, and coexisting benthic foraminifera obtained from eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) core TR-163-22 (92.24°W, 0.31°N, 2830 m depth, mean sedimentation rate of 10 cm/kyr) for the last glacial maximum through mid deglaciation between 21.9 to 15.9 cal kyr.  These data demonstrate that a) at the beginning of the deglaciation, from ~20.7 to ~19 cal kyr, both G. ruber and N. dutertrei record a pulse of excess radiocarbon that produces anomalously young ages with a D¹⁴C excess of ~50 per mil.  The anomalous radiocarbon ages are absent from the benthic samples; and b) the planktic-benthic radiocarbon difference for the remainder of this time period ranges between 1570-1885 years, and is consistent with modern ventilation age estimates for the EEP. Carbon isotope analyses of both planktic species indicate the excess radiocarbon is associated with the initiation of the deglacial carbon isotope minimum event (CIME). At the initiation of the CIME (189 cm core depth), N. dutertrei yields a radiocarbon age of 18,920 ± 70 years (21.9 cal kyr), followed by an abrupt decrease to 14,695 ± 45 ¹⁴C years (172 cm core depth) and apparent aging to 15,315 ± 45 ¹⁴C years (150 cm core depth). The 150 cm depth sample corresponds to a calendar age of 18.2 kyr.  Similar age reversals have been observed by investigators studying early deglacial samples from the South Atlantic, SW Pacific and EEP, whereas early deglacial age reversals have not been reported from northern hemisphere sites. The timing of the radiocarbon anomaly and its association with the initiation of the CIME, an event thought to be related to a change in the source of Antarctic Intermediate water (AAIW) during southern hemisphere sea ice retreat, suggests a reduction of southern hemisphere deep water production or an AAIW source water change may be responsible for the anomaly.