Pop

 My Dad in a Dr's waiting room (pic by my sister K). 

My Dad's Phu Cat

The shirt I ordered for my Father for Christmas arrived today. It honors his service in the USAF during the Vietnam War, when he was stationed at Phu Cat from 1968 to 1969.

 Prayers for my father in law, news of a fall and ambulance on its way. Details sketchy right now - Lisa.

A Sad Anniversary for my Dad

Today's the anniversary of the death of both of my Dad's Grandpa's,  and his Mother (each in different years.) As a result he gets awfully anxious about his own health around this time. I offered to take him to lunch (he refused) but I called and checked up on him all the same.

Brewers - Diamondbacks with my Pop

And on the 10th anniversary of Ryan Braun's MLB debut, too!

Brewers - Diamondbacks with my Pop pt 2

As games go, it was a dud yesterday, a lackluster 4-0 loss. For my Dad, who tries to see a game a month, it's an unbroken string of losses dating back years. Still, it was a good time. 

As we were leaving he had a lot of trouble getting to his feet. "When did you get so old Dad?" I asked, not unkindly. "I asked myself the same question last week," he said. 

Later, getting mushy and unmanly, I thanked him for all he's done for me over the years. 

"I could have done better, " he said. 

 "You did fine Pop," I replied.

A String of Bad Luck

In the last few days the furnace motor has broken, my car broke down and went into the shop, my cell phone screen cracked, and my father went to the hospital.

Bob Hope at Phu Cat

These are pictures of Bob Hope performing at Phu Cat Airbase in 1968. My Dad was in the audience, but these aren't his pictures; his Vietnam photo album is MIA in their apartment.

My Dad and I travel to Chicago to see a White Sox game

On a rainy Chicago day in 2003 - back when I still had all my hair - my Dad and I drove down from Milwaukee to catch a Yankees game at U.S. Cellular field. 

Happy Father's Day Pop!

Happy Father's Day Pop! I love you!

BP

I haven't watched batting practice in probably thirty years. My Dad used to take us to the ballpark early to watch it, but I've never done it on my own. Huh. Haven't thought about that in decades.

Tutoring

 My Dad tutoring YaYa at Zablocki library for her algebra final. He must be doing something right, as a stranger just came up and asked him for advice.

An Update on my Dad

Just before ten last night I spoke to my Dad. His heartbeat is still slow, but they haven't determined a cause. Dad mentioned the collapse might have been because of his blood pressure meds, but I'm not sure if that's coming from the doctors or his own thoughts on the matter. Anyway, he was in good spirits and after they implant a heart monitor under his skin today, he may be sent home Thursday. :)

My Dad is in the Hospital

Yesterday (Monday) my father collapsed at work, striking his head hard enough to get stitches. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and remains there tonight. Prayers and well wishes appreciated.

* * * 

No updates yet, other than his heartbeat is slow and he is on a heart monitor. No cause determined, and he will remain there another night.

My Dad many moons ago

When Tribal Sovereignty Challenges Democracy: American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal

@ my Dad's request I read and offered my opinion on "When Tribal Sovereignty Challenges Democracy: American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal" by K Tsianina Lomawaima & Teresa L McCarty [Amer. Educational Research Journal Summer 2002 V30 #2). I agree with the authors that tribal education is far below par and needs to change, but found much of the paper a simple recitation of ills. More time on proposed solutions might have been nice. In short, no different than most papers I read in Education.

My Dad and I went to YaYa's play tonight and she did great - a lot more lines than I thought she'd have! Good job baby girl!

 My parents just left. I'd invited them over for a Lenten meal of cajun style salmon cakes, rice, salad, and that homemade apple cake I made yest. Personally, I think the cake was a little dry, but everyone seemed to like it.

A list, some congrats, and a nasty howling wind

As I write this the wind is howling like mad outside my window, battering against the glass as if I were living in a moody Gothic novel set on a Scottish moor. It is easily the most aggressive windstorm I've experienced since moving into this house.

[We were 'supposed' to get up to six inches of snow Sunday, an amount then downgraded to two to four inches, and then to none as the storm never bothered to arrive. It's like the meteorologists are trying desperately to validate my tongue-in-cheek column, but I'll gladly thank the heavens for nixing the white stuff, thank you very much.]

There is beauty in most things on this Earth, and the wind is no exception. I was reading Smiley a book when I glanced up through his skylight. The bare tree branches were an impressive sight as they fought against the wind, a sight that took our attention off the pages for several minutes.

* * * *

Kudos to my father, who told me today that he'd re-enrolled at UW-Milwaukee in hopes of completing his degree. It's contingent on financial aid, but I'm very proud of him.

* * * *

YaYa is compiling a list of all the books she's ever read, mimicking my own efforts. For the sake of keeping the obsession alive, and because it was a school assignment for her, here are all the books we read to LuLu in March (or rather, all the books we could find when I set out to make the list):

Dora: The Windy Day by Quinlan B Lee
Lady Lovely Locks and the PixieTails: The Golden Ball by Harriet Marcelle
Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow
Walt Disney's Cinderella
Clifford's Puppy Day's: A Snowy Christmas by Quinlan B Lee
Dear Barbie: Too Many Puppies by Lisa Trusiani Parker
Disney's Beauty and the Beast - The Teapots Tale by Justine Korman
Disney's Enchanted: Before the Fall by Tennant Redbank
CareBears: What Makes you Happy? By JE Bright
Goodtimes Storybook Classic: Snow White by Carl Baldassarre
Barbie: Freckles by Mona Miller
Clifford's Spring Clean-Up by Norman Bridwell
Disney's The Little Mermad See/Hear/Read Book
Goodbye Geese by Nancy White Carlstrom

One and just in case I don't get around to a Smiley list: we read Rooftop Christmas tonight.

A Q&A with my Dad about his time in Vietnam

In the '90's I conducted a half-hour interview with my Dad about his service in Vietnam. Eventually I gave up trying to transcribe the tape myself and turned itover to a professional service. They folded soon after and I got neither the tape nor the transcript back. All that remains is this brief bit I personally transcribed. With luck, I may someday conduct a new interview.

* * * * *

Q: Could you please state your full name, branch, and date of service, and lowest and highest rank?

A: Edward M. Slap-, United States Air Force, July 1966 to July 1970. I started at E1, highest rank attained was E5.

Q: Why did you choose to enlist in the Air Force when you did?

A: Didn’t have much choice at the time. It was either that or being drafted. There were not many alternatives for young men at that time.

Q: What age were you then?

A: Oh, uh, nineteen

Q: The Vietnam War had already been raging for some time when you enlisted, what were your feelings about the war back then?

A: … hard question because, like I said, we didn’t have many options as, as a nineteen year old at that time. [You] Either had to go in the military, stay in school the whole time, or become …or head to Canada. Basically the only three alternatives a young man had.

Q: But what was your feeling about the war itself? About what was going on over there?

A: Well the war itself seemed, for what we were told, at age nineteen you just kinda don’t know too much about what’s going on yet, but it seemed like it was, at the time, a just war. Uh…there were some very serious questions being raised already at that time as to how we were going about it. Not only the reason why but how we were going about it. [I] Had questions concerning that.

Q: Like what?

A: Well, it was just like [unintelligible] all we were doing is prolonging the war. It’s the old adage, ah, I hit you, you hit me back, I go out and get a club, then you go get a club and I go get a knife, then you go get a knife. I mean, it seemed [our] battle[s] were just escalating it, were not really settling anything.

Q: When did you arrive in Vietnam?

A: January 1968. Ten days before the Tet offensive started.


Q: What were some of your first impressions of that country and its people?

A: Of [the] country?

Q: Of the country and its people.

A: Well, we arrived about 11:30 at night and it was incredibly hot. Good Lord, was it hot! We just came out of Wisconsin and Seattle, Washington in the middle of winter and I think it was something like 98 degrees at 11:30 at night. You just couldn’t, and I mean you wouldn’t, by the time you got maybe hundred yards you were just soaking wet from perspiration and nothing you could do about it. You know just…didn’t even see my first Vietnamese until about…the following day because we were at Cam Ranh Bay checking in, and my first [laughs] impression of them was, was how incredibly short they were! God they were a small people. My God, I’ve seen kids in, going to junior high here taller then they.

Q: But were they-

A: And yet, after a while you start to learn that height didn’t really mean much.

Q: Where were you stationed?

A: Phu Cat Airforce Base

Q: Where was that?

A: About 40 miles East of Pleiku and about 50 miles North, Northeast of Qui Nhon, right off the, uh, south China coast.

Q: That was Northern South Vietnam?

A: About, uh…we were in the upper half, the lower upper half.

Q: What was your job at that base?

A: Supply Specialist. Just, anything to, our primary job was to make sure those airlplanes kept flying. And, uh, just anything they needed, anything the army unit needed, uh, our job was to get it to ‘em.

Q: You got there right before the Tet offensive. What do you remember about it, when it started?

A: [pause] Well, I didn’t really know it was a, Tet offensive, just, you know, it started. We . . . came under attack around 1 o’clock in the morning. And, uh, at the time we had not been, we were sleeping on a cot, sleeping on a cot, in the middle of a main hallway because our permanent quarters weren’t ready yet. And, I had sacked out and the first thing I knew I could remember hearing the concussion and the next thing I knew some guy who was trying to get out tripped [chuckles] over my bunk and fell right over me. And down went the cot, down went everything. I was on the floor then people stampeding out, grabbing their gear, trying to get up, trying to get this big shit offa me, tryin’ to find out where my stuff was because that was the first time I had been through it. And get over – get your weapon, get over to your, uh, assigned spot where you know down into the bunker. And then you just kinda wait it out, see what happens.

Q: What did happen?

A: Well, it was a mortar attack and, the barracks area itself was . . .away from the flight line where the aircraft were so there was a bit of a