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Published: January 14th 2009
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I am not sure where to start about Luiz.At the beginning,I guess.He grew up in Manaus,Brazil, on the banks of the Amazon.As a teenager,he worked for the only float plane charter service in that part of Brazil.It was run by some Americans in support of a group of anthropologists.They took a liking to him and offered to sponsor him to come to the U.S.He took them up on it and immigated to Southern California,got a job bagging groceries and enrolled in a junior college .After a year of working on his English and taking science and math courses,he transferred to UCLA.After 2 years there,he got drafted,trained as a lab technician and sent to Vietnam.Upon arrival they decided that Special Forces needed a lab tech,so they gave him a Green Beret and sent him off to the 5th Special Forces Group.Sometime after being there,they realized that he needed a Top Secret clearance.Only problem was,he wasn't even a US citizen!So they sent him off to Hawaii,stamped his citizenship papers,gave him as couple days R and R and shipped him back.(Your US tax dollars being wisely and efficientely spent again.)
At about this point in 1970,I arrived at the same outfit.Luiz was
my lab technichian and medic.During the following 10-12 mos.,we ran the clinic in Nha Trang,ran medcaps out in the countryside,spent time in the Central Highlands,working extensively with the Montagnard tribes,who were allied with Special Forces.We had some pretty amazing experiences together.Those experiences and the friendship we developed has remarkably kept us in touch off and on for the last 38yrs.
When Luiz returned from Vietnam,he finished at UCLA,majoring in government studies,then joined the Air Force.During his career in the AF,he specialized in communications and also got a masters in systems management.He served a fair amount of time overseas(Japan and Korea) and a major tour was spent on the "Doomsday Aircraft",which shadows the president in case the ultimate disaster occurs and the commander in chief needs a mobile,secure airborne command post.During his career he married a Japanese lady,Kumiko,had a son and daughter(Marcelo and Nicole),who spent their early years in Japan and learned Japanese as a primary language.They obviously also learned English,but when they returned stateside ,Luiz didn't want them to lose their proficiency in Japanese,so at home,Japanese is spoken.but outside the front door,it is English.In addition to English and Japanese,Luiz learned Vietnamese when we were there,speaks Portugese as a result
of his childhood and is currently studying French(God knows why).Having gotten frustrated with the pace of the french courses he has taken to watching french movies on french TV,which he has subscribed to.Now he is developing a thing for french films!
At any rate,he retired from the Air Force a number of years ago,as a major.
True to form,he wanted something to do,so because of his interest in science,he decided to become a science teacher.After getting a teachers certificate from the University of Texas,he has gone on to teach chemistry and physics in a local quality high school.
Luiz is planning to retire in a few years and wants to build a house.He has bought 10 acres of land about 30 miles from Ft.Worth,in nice rolling country with lots of trees and some lakes.In preparation for this he is taking courses in architectural design and construction management.
It has been a great visit with Luiz and his family.I had never met his daughter,Nicole,which I had the pleasure of doing this trip.The first nite we went to a program of Brahms and Wagner at the Ft. Worth Symphony.The next day we took the RV out to his"ranch"
and had a wonderful sushi dinner with his kids.Last nite was Vietnamese food and tonite will probably be Brazilian.
Seeing Luiz is always a treat.I consider him the purest kind of intellect,because he has such an endlessly curious mind and fills that curiosity by educating himself.Our conversation the first nite reminded me of "Kaffe Klatches" with my german,expressionist painter uncle(who studied at the Bauhaus with Klee and Kandinzski).It went from politics, to music, to educational philosophy,to warfare analyses,to the Zern reactor and Higgs particles,house design,future trips to Vietnam,etc,etc...
While I was there we talked with our Montagnard nurse,who lives in San Diego and is now a grandmother.She was one of the last people to get off the roof of the embassy in Saigon.She ended up in a refugee camp in Kentucky,where Luiz found her and arranged a sponsorship for her with another Special Forces friend in San Diego.We also talked with that friend,who I have not talked to in over 30 yrs.Out of these talks has evolved a plan for all of us to go back to Vietnam together in 2 yrs.,when Luiz retires.Our nurse,K'phe,still has family in the highlands.
So,needless to say,it has been a quite
a visit.A real pleasure for me,with great prospects for the future.
My RV is having some brake work done today and tomorrow I finally head for Sun Valley,which is 1600 miles.Hopefully the next blogs include snow.But not too much for travel
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