Remember the PX?

I remember walking around the east end of our runway at Phabulous Phu Hiep on my way to the PX where we could buy cheap beer (10¢ a can!) or ordering something from PacEx.  In fact, I ordered some Noritake dinner dishes from PacEx and had them shipped home; my son Tim and his wife are using them today! 

Sometime earlier this year I had heard that the PX system was finally opening its doors to us veterans who had faithfully served our country, but did not get the benefit of discount shopping that military retirees or active duty personnel and families have enjoyed.  My son Pete sent me an article from the local Bremerton newspaper about the new online Exchange and how veterans will be able to access it.

I have already used the website and find it easy to navigate and the prices are certainly competitive with other discount outlets.  Just follow the instructions on how to set up an account and shop ‘til you drop! 

Remembrance and Reunions

In the last few months I have attended at least three memorial services for people I worked with a more than twenty years ago at KOMO-TV in Seattle, in some cases nearly fifty years ago.  Bill Strothman was a news photographer who was one of those guys who made it an art telling a story with his camera.  He and the pilot he was flying with in a news helicopter died when the chopper crashed in downtown Seattle.  Milt Furness was a newscaster at KOMO and also a veteran who passed about six months ago after a long illness.  And Bruce King, an all-around-nice-guy, was sports director for many years at KOMO died early in December after a long fight with cancer.

Now, I know that most of you reading this did not know any of these fine gentlemen, but their passing has made it possible for many of us who worked at KOMO-TV and Radio to have sort of mini-reunions after their memorial services.

This can be a reminder for us that we should maintain relationships with those with whom we worked lo these many years ago.  There were perhaps fifteen or twenty former colleagues at these memorials, so it was great fun seeing them again, many after more than two or three decades! 

To this last point I must make a public confession...I have two older brothers, Dave and Paige.  Unfortunately, Paige passed away in 2001.  However, I had maintained contact with Dave over the past few years, but I had made the conscious decision not to actively continue with that relationship since I had prostate cancer surgery nearly 6 years ago. 

Because I have been thinking about the memorials and seeing so many friends from the past, and seeing the old classic movie “A Christmas Carol” with Alastair Sim, Dave has been on my mind.  The day before yesterday (his birthday) I called him to ask his forgiveness for my severing our connection.  We had a great conversation and will begin rebuilding our bond as brothers.  In fact, Dave wrote to me “The best gift I got for my birthday was getting back together with you.  It means a lot to me.  We'll get together soon.  I miss you.”

Also, on December 19^th a couple of us who worked at the TV station went to visit a man who was news director and had left KOMO in the 1970s; we had literally just found him living just north of Seattle.  He is 87 and we are both in our 70s.  What fun to sit and reminisce about “the old days”, remembering names of people we had long forgotten about! 

I want to say that no matter how old we are (and we’re all getting older as the days seem to fly by!) it’s not too late to reconnect with old friends!  Thanks for letting me ramble on about remembrances and reunions.  I hope I didn’t bore you too much!

Newly Unclassified Photo!

We all know that the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) Santa Tracker has helped us all locate Ole St. Nick as he makes his annual momentous round-the-world trip on Christmas Eve over the past 62 years.  But I, for one, had never figured out how Rudolph and his eight buddies had the energy to cover all that distance.  Well, our friend George Drago sent me this recently declassified photo of one our Air Force’s KC-10 tankers helping the Kris Kringle task force refuel!  Amazing!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This photo was taken Christmas Eve in 1969 while on a mission in Vietnam.

A Veteran's Take on Getting Older

Last summer my medical plan (Group Health Cooperative, now Kaiser Permanente) invited me to participate in a “Live Well with Diabetes” workshop.  It was an 8-week class that involved about a dozen folks ranging in age from their mid-twenties to a couple there who were in their eighties.  This workshop was divided into several subjects, including some basic information about diabetes, nutrition, exercise, stress management, managing medicines, setting realistic goals, and planning for the future.  The 2 instructors were ladies who both were diabetics and therefore knew from experience what they were talking about when it was their turn to instruct the class.  There was really great participation by everyone, and we learned from each other as well as the text that we used.

Well, a month or so after the class ended, one of the instructors who is an RN and a Planning & Development Specialist for the City of Seattle asked me to write an article for the Seattle-King County newsletter “AgeWise”.  I asked her the subject she wanted me write about, and she said it was my choice.  Here is the link to the final piece I wrote entitled “A Veteran’s Take on Getting Older”.  I hope you enjoy it.

As a result of taking that class, she also invited me to participate with other older folks in a panel discussion about the book “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande MD with young doctors-in-training at the University of Washington School of Medicine.  Dr. Gawande is a Boston surgeon So, on December 7^th I went to the “U” Medical Center where several of us ranging in age from about 65 to 92 each were assigned to a class of 20 or so students (I was with 2^nd year medical students).  We discussed Gawande’s tackling that “the hardest challenge of his profession is how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending”*.

It was really fun sharing some of my recent medical experiences with these young physicians-to-be to help them be better doctors during their training and when they start practicing on the own.  I would recommend that you read "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande (ISBN: 1846685818).

*Note:  Quotation taken from Amazon’s review of this book.