Do You Feel Like Dancing?

Our friend Larry Haglund sent this to me this week.  With all the bad stuff happening around us, take a couple of minutes and just enjoy this remarkable video!  This is like taking a trip around the world with a smile on your face and your feet a-tapping. There ARE happy people out there, all around the world!  Not everyone is fighting & killing one another! 

Click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwe-pA6TaZk?rel=0 

Fly with the Navy's Blue Angels!

Our friend George Drago sent this to me.  Enjoy the ride!  And keep an eye on the guy on the right of the frame.

Click here! (opens in new window)

Old Soldiers Can Still Run!

Yes, old soldiers can still run (sort of)!  My eldest son Pete (right above) and I ran the Race for a Soldier 5k on September 27^th in Gig Harbor, Washington.  Race for a Soldier raises awareness and money about and for our troops who are returning home suffering from PTSD and TBI after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I have done nine 5ks since March 2008 and my times have been up and down between 39:09 and 53:16.   Today I just completed my tenth (this time in Seattle) with a time of about 41:00.  This one benefitted Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.  I’m planning on doing one in December here in Kirkland.

Try one...you might like it!

Here is the mission and vision statements of the Race for a Soldier organization:

Our Mission is to inspire hope and action in the Community and provide access to solutions for Soldiers, affected by Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, and their Families via professional services, challenging peer adventures, education and spiritual devotion.  And Our Vision is for every Soldier and their Families, a fulfilled life within reach of their dreams: our hope is for every American Citizen’s heart, the will to make it a reality.

San Diego, October 2015

It’s been a few weeks since I got back home from our 26^th annual OV-1 Mohawk Association reunion, this time in San Diego.  I look forward each year to renewing decades-old friendships face to face, and making new ones of guys I did not know while I was at the 225^th.  There were over two hundred men and wives at this year’s reunion.  It’s just fun to get together!  Here’s a list of the (by my count) twenty-two Blackhawks/Phantomhawks that attended:  Joe Beckham, Alex Berkeley, Don Bernstein, John Britten, Tom Cote, Joe Floyd, Larry Haglund, Steve Hammons, Felipe Hilburn, Arlan Lando, Bobbie Luthi, Gilberto Mendoza, Dave Nelson, Bill Page, Ben Perez, Ron Pitcock, Bob Riha, Steve Sachs, Ernie Serna, Rich Steinbock, Alan Summers and Gary Todd.  Helmut Haberl was on the reunion attendance roster, but I don’t recall seeing him.

This year John Bosch, the Association Reunion Director, put together some great events to give us a sample of what San Diego has to offer.  I took the tour to the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum and was amazed as I wandered with John Horvath and Sandy Wolfe on the flight deck, hanger deck and down into the bowels of this floating airport.  We met a former Marine from Tennessee in the gift shop who told us that he also had actually flown a Mohawk while he was in the Marines.  I forget the details, but it’s such a small world.  Maybe Sandy Wolfe or John Horvath remember because we were all together in the gift shop when we met him.  Oh, I almost forgot, I also got my annual airplane fix (even though it was a Navy airplane fix) this year!

An experience like touring the Midway and attending our reunion always causes me to pause and reflect on the achievements and sacrifices of those who have gone before me in other wars.  It also reinforces how important my relationships are with you I served with in Vietnam!

I hope you plan on being in Washington, DC September 22-25, 2016 for our 27^th reunion.  I plan on being there and would sure like to see you too!

Click here to see an album of photos...(opens in a new window)

A Very Cool Shell Commercial

Our friend George Drago sent this note to me.  You gotta see this commercial!  (Click the link at the bottom of this article.)

Can you just imagine the red tape, permits and cost to pull off this commercial?  This is very cool.

Here's a link to a Shell commercial shown in Europe.

Ostensibly, they're selling gasoline, but the cars used in the video steal the show.

Ferrari pulled several of their race cars from various ages out of storage, flew them around the world and filmed them running through the streets of Rome, Rio, New York, Hong Kong, Honolulu and Monaco.

No computer graphics, these are the original cars on the original streets.

The best part is the sound from the basso-profundo notes of the early, front-engine era, each scene cuts to a later generation, ending with the wail of a modern F1 car.  The sounds alone brings a tear to the eye. 

Even if you're not a gear head, this video will stir the soul.

There's just something about 3 liters and 14,000 RPM! 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/1_kwxzU4wL4

Seasick Piper Cubs

Our friend Terry Carlson sent this to me some time ago...I hope you enjoy this about a little airplane that had a big role in the military.

http://laststandonzombieisland.com/2014/05/31/the-saga-of-the-seasick-us-army-piper-cubs-on-the-navys-smallest-aircraft-carriers/

Orthodontia 45 Years Later

Dr. Rod Dubois

As I’ve gotten older I’ve discovered what a small blue marble we live on!  After losing my job of thirty-plus years at KOMO-TV in 2000, I went to work at Seattle Children’s Hospital as an Emergency Department administrative assistant in May 2001.  It has been an amazing fourteen years working with stellar young physicians who are dedicated to providing the best and safest care for the children of the Northwest.  Working at SCH has provided a glimpse of how small our world can be.

Dr. Rodney Dubois was the orthodontist I went to when I was 23 years old and six months home from Vietnam.  I had decided that I wanted my teeth straightened and my dentist recommended Dr. Dubois.  I don’t remember why I looked him up in our hospital’s physician directory, but one day I went to the dental section and found a man named Dr. Rod Dubois in the pediatric dental section.  One day a couple of years ago I went to the dental clinic at the hospital and renewed a friendship with Rod after 40 years, right here in the hospital!  It certainly is a small world we live in! 

It’s the same with my connecting with you guys from the 225^th and from other men who served in Mohawk units and other services while I was in the Army.  It turns out that Rod Dubois also was in the Army, a fact I did not know until we were talking over lunch a few weeks ago.

Take a minute to reflect on your relationships with people you have known in the past, with those with whom you’ve renewed your friendships and with those who might be new friends.  I believe that many, if not all, encounters we have are divinely-directed and have meanings that often don’t become clear until a substantial amount of time has passed.  It’s fun to see how God works through these happenstances!  I believe that God sometimes provides these unexpected encounters to remind us that He is in our situations no matter what they may be.

That Ragged Old Flag

Our friend George Drago sent this to me yesterday.  I had not seen it before.  I'm one of those who tears up whenever I hear our National Anthem.  Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1156247044095

Fathers Day at the Wall 2015

 

Please join us at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Fathers Day - Sunday, June 21, 2015. We will meet at 21st & Constitution Ave. NW  Washington DC 20037 at 0800 hrs. (8:00 am).

 

    We will prepare and present roses for all 77 of our lost Mohawkers named on the wall. After the roses are paired with  personalized cards with name and location, a service will be held approximately 10:00 am including guest speakers. After the service we will take  the roses to the Wall and present them and salute our fallen comrade.  Activities are usually over by late morning.     

 

    If you have any questions call me at (240) 298-1856 or email NKH465@cs.com. 

 

    Hope to see you there,

     

    Norman Haller

    #1380 

San Diego Here We Come!

It’s the 1^st of June and I’m making plans for our October San Diego trip to the 26^th Annual Reunion of the OV-1 Mohawk Association!  I made hotel reservations for Karin and me at the Crowne Plaza San Diego – Mission Valley back in January, and today I bit the proverbial bullet and booked seats on Delta. 

John Bosch, the Association’s Reunion Director, has planned some great touristy events.  On Friday, we can go on a City Tour that includes La Jolla, Mt. Soledad, Balboa Park (museums and the famous, very good San Diego Zoo), the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center, Seaport Village and a tour of Coronado Navy base.

Or we can go on a tour of the USS Midway aircraft museum that’s on the aircraft carrier docked right in downtown San Diego.  Lots of restored aircraft and exhibits are on board and lunch will be on our own at Seaport Village.

Then, in the evening, we will have a Mexican Fiesta in historic Old Town, the birthplace of California.  Old Town is a state historical park in which all the merchants and employees dress in period attire, and they sell quality items in their stores.  Karin and I were there in April and it was by far one of our favorite places to visit!

On Saturday a professionally narrated Harbor Cruise is planned.  Included will be Harbor and Shelter Islands, Point Loma, Cabrillo National Monument, North Island Naval Air Station, the Submarine Base, Coronado Bridge and much more.

Saturday evening, of course, is the banquet.  This is always a highlight of our Reunions! 

If you have extra time in San Diego, be sure to take in the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park or some of the many other great attractions that San Diego offers.

I’ll send my registration into the Association this week...there are some really good choices that John has picked for this year!  Click here to get a registration form and print it and then be sure to send it in!

I hope all you 225^th guys can make it this beautiful city in October; you can go to the Association web site to see who’s registered at the hotel; several from the 225^th are already on the list (Joe Beckham, Don Bernstein, Tom Cote, Steve Hammons, Arlan Lando, Bobbie Luthie, Ben Perez, Ron Pitcock, Ernie Serna, Alan Summers and Gary Todd).  Oh, and a special note to Joe Beckham....there are some great craft brews available in San Diego too!

I’ll see you there!