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2011-02-27T15:19:00.001-08:00

Life is much different now so, so too should the blog....

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My Greatest Goodbye

2010-04-27T17:11:00.001-07:00

L to R. 1. Unknown 2. Great Aunt Connie 3. Great Uncle Jim 4. Great Uncle Howard (US Army Sgt) 5. My Grandma Bernie 6. Great Uncle Thomas ? 7. Great Uncle / Unknown (This picture was taken in the late 1940s at a place called the Hollywood Show Bar on Sixth Street in Pittsburgh PA)

Well I have not written anything in a while and feel the need to now. I know I was suppose to write about my cross country drive, but some person health problems kept me from driving anywhere. I did just get back from Baltimore / DC / Northern VA on an extended weekend, but I have lived in that area for about 6 months, so it’s really not a new part of America for me. My health is better now, but I am still trying to work some lingering kinks out. Mostly diet stuff I think, for which I will not bore anyone.

I feel the need to write today because death of a family member has become a recent trend in my life. Over the past 7 weeks, I lost my 83 year old Grandmother, my 89 year old Great Uncle, and my 81 year old Great-Great Uncle. My Grandmother was the largest influence in my life next to my Mom and Dad. I am actually still living in her house with my grandpa Bob. I feel the impact of her death each day, as I think about calling her, or going into the living room and talking to her, but I know I will never be able to do that again. I know she is peaceful in the next world, which is how I stay strong about the whole thing. I could write a book about her, but that would involve way more time than a quick blog post, and way too many tears and laughs than I am willing to deal with tonight. If you find me to be a good person, it has a ton to do with my Gram Bernadette.

(Taken in January 2003. I think she would have my neck if I posted pictures past then.)

My great Uncle Al lived in Florida since 1989 and was the main reason I visited that State so often. A great memory I have is of me and about 7 of my roommates from college, stopping at his retirement community home to shower before going out for a good time in Ybor city. That was 2003 and we were on Spring Break. I saw him again in 2005 before going into the Air Force. I spoke with him from time to time, but never saw him since I said goodbye that September day. My Uncle Al was the type of guy to never let anything bother him. He got married for the first time in his 60s, only to lose his wife about 2 years later. He dated a woman for over 10 years once into his 70s, before losing her a few years back. I can remember in the early 1990s riding roller coasters with him at Disney when he had to be about 70. He was in the Navy for a brief stint, before getting medically discharged. My grandpa Herb always said his happy go lucky, faithful outlook on life would get him to 100. Unfortunately his body did not make it that long. He died this morning after taking a stroke a few days ago. I hope I live so long and so happy as you uncle Al.

My Great Great Uncle Joe Peterson married my Dad’s Dad’s Mother’s Sister. Yeah I know you are probably thinking how the hell do you know that? Well I have really been into my genealogy recently, which is easily fueled by finding old documents upon the death of family members. Beyond that though, he was the guy, whose hunting camp, I grew up going to. It was his camp, but the camp’s name was ‘Ours’. The picture below is from 2001 I think. A good shot of some of the regulars. Of course some stories would include my Great great Grandfather from the 70s and 80s, for which I have no recall. When I was growing up he would always tell stories at hunting camp about working at the mill in Pittsburgh, drinking and driving when it was common, having fun with women, and just enjoying life. My Dad never drank when I was little, but somehow Uncle Joe Peterson got him to indulge one night. I think the whole crew was blasted to be honest. But that’s what you do at hunting camp; drink, talk, laugh, and enjoy life. The hunting, or should I say, sitting in the freezing cold woods while dozing in and out was secondary to the night and weekend that preceded the opening day of buck season in Pennsylvania. When anyone would leave the camp to return to their camp for the evening, there would be a shot of Black Velvet whiskey taken ‘ for the road’. So to the man whose voice will stay in my head forever as asking ‘friend or foe’ as you entered hunting camp for the first time each year, here’s one for the road Uncle Joe…. And it’s a road that we’re all on leading to death.

I guess in a way I feel fortunate, to have known so many of my family members who are of the greatest generation. I think a big part of being a Pittsburgher is knowing and enjoying your family members. To me there is no greater joy. The Joswiak patriarch, my Uncle Great Uncle Harry, recently told me that there is no greater thing in life than to raise a family and watch them grow, only for them to eventually raise their own. I guess, since this circle of life has me pushing 30 and seeing my older family members pass, life is pretty simple in this regard.

I know this is a weird tie, but the movie Avatar I think really has a message that is endearing. Modern religion, and Christianity, to be specific, is way too bent on heaven and hell. I think Jesus would rather we treat each other with love and respect, than to worry about who is, or is not getting into heaven. That’s his job anyway. Death will come for all of us. To me its about living right now. I feel way too many Americans have got caught up in how much they make, own, their title, position, power, or how they appear. I think this hits on a secondary sadness for me in losing these wonderful family members of mine.

People in their 80s, in general, are ones who went to work, lived, laughed, saved, prayed, and lived pretty simple, just lives. Of course they had their bandits, thieves, and scarlets. I am just saying, that for a generation entitled ‘The Greatest Generation’, they were / are pretty damn good people. I think people nowadays do not know how good they have it. They do not have the fortitude to speak their mind, even if it means being unpopular. They do not have the gumption and drive to work through hard times at their work, in their relationship, or with their own faith. They do not have the love and compassion to help the less fortunate in a sincere way. They do not know what life is like without the modern amenities.

But maybe I am totally wrong. Maybe my generation, and these aging baby boomers will surprise me as the years roll on. I would love nothing more than to be wrong here, but I just cannot see any generation or group of Americans, bringing more to the table then what my grandparent’s generation has done both at home and away for this great nation. As they pass both in the newspaper, or in a personal fashion like I have dealt with in the last 7 weeks, it is undoubtedly the ending of a unique and wonderful breed.

So I will try to end this blog post in a way that would make my recently passed family members proud. Gram I promise not to smoke, as I saw how hard it was to breathe for you at the end of your life. I also promise to be faithful to the God and Jesus I believe in. No relationship is more important and personal. Uncle Al I promise to not let little things worry me. I promise to invest time, money, and effort into my family even if it is not my own nuclear family, just like you did. I promise to follow baseball, even though I know I will never see the Pirates win a World Series, like you saw 4 times. And Uncle Joe Peterson. I promise to have one for the road with those I love, but I also promise not to get behind the wheel because not even one of your greatest stories from back in the day, would get me out of a DUI in this day. I promise to think about making more things ‘ours’ instead of mine. And to all three of you I promise to visit your graves when I am in western PA to say thank you. Thank you for making me a better person who will have a life time of memories from ‘The Greatest Generation’.

Aloha!!!

2010-02-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well I plan on seeing parts of my own country that I have not ever seen. After living in Europe for the last 4 years I figure it’s time to pay some touristy attention to my own country. What better way to start with one of the two states not a part of the geographical mainland of America: Hawaii.

A buddy of mine was heading to the Daytona 500 in Florida last weekend and was up for visitors. I was looking at flights when I decided to see what military flights were going to Florida since I can fly anywhere in the world via a military flight until March 3rd. Well they had a flight from Pittsburgh to Hawaii! I told my one buddy that I would not be able to do Florida and then called my other buddy in Hawaii who told me his place was always open and said: “Hey do you mind if I stop in?”

So Tuesday morning, as we got another 4 inches of snow I headed down to the 171st Air Refueling Wing of the PA Air National Guard. It’s on the other side of the runway at Pittsburgh International Airport. The funny part is that it is not possible to fly commercially nonstop from Pittsburgh to Honolulu. So 10 hours later I was landing at Hickam Air Force Base. We could feel the heat as we made our final approach to land. As soon as they opened up the door a nice warm breeze hit my face and I knew I made the right call. For those interested, I flew on a KC -135 both ways.

I got off of the plane and to the terminal. I called my buddy and after some logistical maneuvering, was picked up by him and then taken over to Honolulu International where I rented a car. I went with him to a bar for a few brews and then watched him play ice hockey at the only ice rink on the Islands. Not my most ideal first night in Hawaii but he was letting me stay with him so who was I to complain? I was in Hawaii!

When I decided to come I knew I would only have 2 good days to do stuff. So I knew I wanted to snorkel and see Pearl Harbor. Wednesday morning I went to Hickham Air Force base’s ticket and tours office and booked it all. Pearl Harbor, snorkeling, a dinner cruise, and a Luau. Aside from getting a free flight, and free place to stay, I got a real good discount on the bookings because of the military as well. So I drove up the coast to the marina where the catamaran took off from. We were out on the water for about 4 hours. I snorkeled, saw dolphins, a sea turtle which was real cool, and had lunch and some drinks. The wind took my Steelers towel to the ocean which shows me even the Pacific Ocean is a Steelers fan! In all reality the Hawaiians are split between the Steelers and Raiders when it comes to the NFL since they do not have a team. I saw a ton of Steelers hats and paraphernalia.

Snorkeling is a little harder than you think. I did it once before at Disney in a mad made reef. This time I had the flippers, mask, modified life jacket and so on. My beard inhibited the mask from getting a good seal so I had some water in my mask. Having been in the military I should have known that. I got an underwater camera and took some pictures which I need to get developed. At one point I took the flippers off on the boat and jumped back in. Let me tell you, while it is functionally easier to swim without them, in reality it is very hard to swim without them. I was so out of breath after fighting the current with just my hands and feet. I was glad to be back on the boat. We had a nice lunch on the way back and I had a few Hawaiian special Mai Tais. After we got back I drove back to my friends place to shower and get ready for the Luau.

I have to thank Steve and his beautiful family for having me. He is a soldier I met, and did a sports radio call in show while in Afghanistan. I am sure I mention him in that blog. He is a New York Italian and his wife is a Mexican America he met while she was in the Army as well. Together they have 3 beautiful daughters as pictured. They live on Schofield Barracks which is the Army post in Hawaii which dates back to the 1920s and was also strafed during the attack in 1941.

So Wednesday night was the luau. I went to Germaines Luau which is on the coast. It was a great show with traditional Hawaiian dances, fire dancing, involvement with the crowd, and a great buffet. I sat at a table with two couples and then another guy named JR. JR and I talked all night. He was from San José California. Thanks to JR I will have a very fun memory of that Luau which I will not fully share here. I drove back to my buddy’s place and that was my Wednesday.

Thursday I slept in a bit before going to Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona Memorial is literally right over where the USS Arizona sits after the bombing. This requires a water ferry operated by the Navy. Its free but you have to get your tickets in the morning. I got the 2:20 slot so I decided to go over to Ford Island and see the USS Missouri. Now as you may have noticed, I have linked many things I talk about to their information. I do not know everything nor do I have time to completely educate you on all of this. However the USS Missouri is nothing but history so much of my experience is centered on that.

The USS Missouri is the last battleship we have in the Navy. Now it is decommissioned and used as a museum where I boarded it. It was built in the Brooklyn Shipyard in 1943 and saw a ton of action throughout the Pacific theater during WWII. It is also the ship that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signed the documents ending WWII on September 2 1945. My pictures show much of this beyond what you can read on Wikipedia. The ship was last used during operation Desert Shield in 1991. Now our Navy uses submarines and cruisers instead of battleships because of both fiscal and combative reasons. The Missouri is an unreal ship. I did not even get to go below beck, but man was it interesting. It was kamikazed during WWII and served for more than 4 decades. I asked the tour guide, that in a worst case scenario, could it be used again? He said it would take some time to retool and update with modern technology, but yes!

I took shuttle between the tourist sites within the Pearl Harbor. On the shuttle ride back I met an 85 year old guy from Virginia who was completing his lifelong goal of seeing every State in the Union. Hawaii was his 50th State! I also got this picture of an ATC tower for Ford Field that was bombed during the attack. It’s in pretty poor shape, as I hope they renovate it and open it as a part of the places to visit. This is also a location that they shot the movie Pearl Harbor from 2001.

So I get back to the visitors center and wait on the ferry. It was a nice 10 minute ride. I found it interesting that you can be a tour guide in the US Navy. While I got paid to be a DJ and journalist in the Air Force, there are people out there getting paid to be tour guides in the Navy. So when you hear that the military really does have just about any job, it is true. It’s just getting into those niche jobs that can be a real trick.

I have to mention that there are a TON of Japanese and some Chinese tourists in Hawaii. It makes sense since China and Japan are closer to Hawaii than us East Coasters. So being around these Japanese at the USS Arizona Memorial really made me think. 1. We dropped 2 nuclear bombs on their nation so as far as I am concerned with the Pearl Harbor attach, we are easily even. 2. I think it shows that Japan and USA are really good allies and that its good their people are still interested in what occurred between us over 65 years ago. 3. It makes me wonder if our issues with the Middle East Muslim extremists will ever end to the point where their people come to visit Ground Zero memorials. My grandmother was 15 the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. I was 1 day shy of 19 the day the World Trade Centers were attacked. So the question is: In my life time, do we see peace, and an alliance with Iraq and Afghanistan to the point of historical and cultural exchange like we now have with Japan? Just a few thoughts there.

The Memorial is absolutely emotionally moving. You are on top of the USS Arizona as it has sat since 1941! The wall pictured lists the 1,177 still buried there. Anyone who was at anytime assigned to the ship is allowed to have their ashes scattered at the memorial. If a survivor was assigned to the sip at the time of the attack, they can have their ashes embalmed in the ship. There is a small memorial block listing these men all the way up until 2008 which I did not get a picture of because my battery died. The shuttle comes about every 45 minutes. The majority of the ship left above water was dismantled and reused during the war or within the Pearl Harbor defense system.

After leaving the USS Arizona Memorial, I went back to the visitor’s center to board the USS Bowfin, which is a WWII era diesel submarine. It’s a museum now that you actually go in. It was really neat to see how tight men lived during the war when aboard the submarines. They call submarine service the Silent Service. I never knew that before, but it does make sense because all of my sailor friends say that it is a part of the Navy that is all and unto itself. It’s very secretive and as one tour guide mentioned to me, you only see subs come and go, but you never know what they do in-between docking.

I left Pearl Harbor around 5 PM after spending the bulk of my day there. I headed for downtown Honolulu, Peer 4 for my dinner cruise. Basically I went out for 2 hours along the Honolulu coast line and had dinner and another Hawaiian dance show. It was a very nice meal and time. I sat with a nice couple, coincidentally from York, PA. The husband was a Penn Stater as well.

All in all it was an awesome, inexpensive trip that really hit the spot. Hawaii is a place and experience that is everything you imagine and more. Very few times in life have I imagined a place and time and actually had it come through to meet and exceed expectations. The food is very much like Asian dishes I have had before. A ton of chicken teriyaki, the freshest fruit and pineapple I have ever tasted, and salads that are a little different than what I am use to. I will say though that the food and culture is something I could definitely get use to. The weather was no less than 60 at night and mid 80s during the day. Where my buddy lives is 10 degrees cooler than down by the coast where Hickham is because it’s higher up in the mountains. Most of the people are of Polynesian and Asian descent. The laid back atmosphere, phenomenal hospitality, and chill vibe are definitely the way I think life should be lived.

I think the trip has also given me a greater appreciation for the greatest generation, the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during WWII, and our Navy. I had people thank me for my service from time to time, and as I get out it is hitting me that I did serve, did go to Afghanistan, and did sacrifice personal time and effort for my country. I am not sure how much I have helped, but I am glad I served. Although last year was a real duesy, I do not think I would change anything in my life. I stand by my decisions and choices and am content with where I am at in life right now. Blue skies, clear water, and good drinks can help one in realizing that! I would be lying tough if I said I did not miss it. But the thing is that I do not miss the Air Force, I miss my job.

On the way back I met a bunch of other people flying and some guardsmen who we dropped off at Willow Grove by Philadelphia. They all tried to pitch me the Air National Guard gig. They seem laid back and happy, but I am just not sure I am in the mood to shave and cut my hair right now. Time will tell. If you ever get a chance to go to Hawaii, please do it!

I am not sure when I'll continue my cross country travels, but I will be sure to post here once I do!