you guys!! i am OVER THE MOON with excitement about today’s interview, which will actually be split into two parts (concluding tomorrow) because it’s so chock-full of greatness.
why? because the subject is my dad!!
as i’ve previously explained, i relish doing these interviews, not only cos i learn something new about people i love and admire, but ALSO cos these posts enable me to share my amazing friends (and now family) with all of pants world.
consequently, i am pleased as punch to introduce all of you to my absolutely wonderful father. ok, well, most of you have already met him (aided by the fact that he is the Friendliest Guy In The Universe), but you have no idea how much you *don’t* know about alvin pitre, jr. i have to give him major props for treating this interview like one of my high school history papers… he spent hours writing out his responses, hunting around for photos, scanning them… he even wrote his own captions! in other words, he treated this like Serious Business.
i realized, as i watched him work, that i had never compiled a comprehensive history on either of my parents. sure, i know lots of their stories, where they grew up… but this interview slowly came to mean even more to me than simply a good blog post. i can see my father as a whole person, not just “sarah’s dad” but a collection of selves– a kid with skinny legs (like mine), a gawky high schooler, a european backpacker, a hardworking engineer. it is important for me to *know* all of these facets that make up my father, because his story is a part of my story, his heart is a part of my heart.
my incredible artistic rendering of dad and me on one of the birthday cards i made for him. note the michel gondry hand. also, i was apparently giant when i was six.
in tomorrow’s entry, i’ll write a bit more about why i think my dad is so fantastic, even though i’m pretty sure that this interview will make that abundantly clear.
so let’s get started!!
hi dad! i am really excited to be interviewing you, not only cos you’re my (awesome) dad but also cos i bet i’ll learn something new about you!
You will probably needed to edit this down, since I am a lot older than most of your interviewees and thus have more life to write about. Maybe this will encourage some of your friends to do the same with their parents.
so, let’s get started with your family background. could you tell me a little bit about yr parents, yr siblings, where you were born, etc.?
My dad grew up in a little community near Opelousas, Louisiana. His first language was French. My mom grew up in Bangor, a coastal town in Northern Ireland. My dad was in the first group of American G.I.s to arrive in North Ireland right after Pearl Harbor (he was also in the first group drafted before World War II). My mom served in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, which was part of the British Army. She met my dad in her home town, were he was staying in her aunt’s rooming house. She was the first war bride in Bangor. I was born in Manchester, England in 1944. The Army hospital group my dad was serving in had moved from Northern Ireland to England. I have two sisters, Margaret and Cathy. Margaret was born five years after me, and Cathy was a surprise, coming when I was 17.
i know yr family moved around a lot, so give me a list of every place you’ve lived, then tell me which city was yr favorite and why.
Being a military brat we moved a lot. There was North Ireland, England, Scotland, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Hawaii and Colorado. My favorite two places were Hot Springs, Arkansas and Wahiawa, Hawaii. In Hot Springs we had a home on one of the many lakes. This was during my 4th to 7th grade years and I loved to fish, water ski and swim. Hawaii was during my high school years and after I started driving, it was cars, surfing and girls in that order.
dad, i want to take this opportunity to officially thank you for going to high school in hawaii so that mom and i got to go there for yr reunion. cos that was totally sweet.
what sort of things did you do for fun when you were a kid?
When my dad was in Korea during the Korea War, we lived in an apartment complex near his mother and brother. There were many kids my age (6 – 
plus my sister Meg and we were a regular “little rascals” group. We would get fruit crates (which were made of wood then) and turn them upside down on our wagons, put our pets in them and have a circus parade. In the summer the city utility crews would come around the neighborhoods and open up a water hydrant to flush out the water pipes and all us kids would get our swim suits on and play in the spray.
Our “little rascals” group. That is my sister Meg on the left and me with the hat. I even had a thing for hats then.
In Arkansas, it was fish, swim (summer), boat, built forts, play soldiers or Davy Crockett. Yes, Les Parker’s Davy Crockett was the big show around and all of us wanted a coon skin cap. Alas only a few of my friends had them.
In Arkansas on our dock– me and dad with the biggest fish I ever caught.
what did you think you would be when you grew up?
I honestly don’t remember. I think I was having just too much fun being a kid to think about something so serious.
how would you describe yourself as a teenager?
I think my early teen years (14-16) were very difficult for my parents. I was terrible. I was very rebellious, very immature and wasn’t doing well in school. Moving to a new high school after my freshman year did not help. I improved during my junior and senior year when I started working and got my first car (I was not allowed drive by myself until I was 17). My first car resulted in my dad and I spending more time together as he help me work on it. He really liked my first car, it was 1940 Buick and he borrowed it a lot. Later I sold the Buick and brought a 49 Willys “Woodie”, which was the perfect beach car. My parents loved it too and were always leaving me the family car while they took mine to the beach. Since the family car was a 56 Chev V-8 it worked out ok.
My first car– a 1940 Buick and me trying to look like James Dean.
what kind of music did you like?
I was high school before the Beatles. I have been told that we were the “Do-Wop” generation. There was Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, Chubby Checker, etc. The Ventures were my favorite group. Larry Harden and I went to one of their shows and got to go back stage and get their autograph. We also saw Pat Boone, Brenda Lee and Chubby Checker live. Remember we only had AM radios then. Larry was my high school buddy even though he was a year behind me. We are still in contact with each other. He lives near San Francisco and is still into cars. He has an old Corvette.
what was it like to attend high school in hawaii?
When my dad was transferred to Hawaii I had just finished my freshman year at Irvin High in El Paso. I had lots of friends, a motorcycle, a lot of desert to ride it in and was in the school marching band. So the process of starting a new school and trying to fit in made my first year a very difficult one.
wow, dad. look at you. band nerds unite!
In Hawaii I attended Leilehua High School, which is located in the middle of the Oahu. There over 300 students in my class. It was a very diverse student body with kids from every ethnic group from the Pacific Rim, Hawaiians, plus us “Hoales” (Hawaiian for white)), and African Americans. Remember this was the days before the civil rights movement.
Two years of Junior ROTC was mandatory for all boys in Hawaii. I did three (it really helped later when I enlisted). Every Monday we would wear our starch WWII khakis (yes, Henri, this is what started my love of khakis) and in the morning form up on the football stadium and marched in review of the administration, teachers and students. We had an ROTC battalion (five companies) plus a band (about 500 cadets). For each company there was a girl student who wore a white uniform and was an Honorary Cadet Colonel. I was also in the drill team and honor guard. With working after school, this was about the only organization I had time for.
As a result of being in ROTC we had an opportunity to be extras in a Japanese movie in a scene depicting the farewell of the 442nd Japanese American Combat Team of WWII. Since our uniforms were WWII vintage we stood in for the unit, marching down the streets of Honolulu through crowds cheering us off, with girls running out of the crowd throwing leis around our necks and giving us kisses. The actors marched with us. We had a great time and got great lunch out of the deal (I suspect the school got some cash). The title was “Sanga Art” and the director was Zenzo Matsuyama. Thanks to my mom for saving the article.
This is how I dressed for school every Monday morning.
Any time there was social event that required food there would be something from every ethnic group. Our fast food drive-ins menu reflected this, as your order usually came with chop sticks.
Much of what you see in the movie “American Graffiti” represents much of the atmosphere of my high school days. Life revolved around school, jobs, cars, the beach and girls. Clothes were jeans, white socks, loafers (often we didn’t wear shoes), tee shirts, Aloha shirts, or surfing clothes. “Cruising”, “Drag racing” and beach parties were the main activities. There were many old abandoned air strips from the war years where legal drag racing events were held. When we had a Saturday or Sunday off, Larry and I were at the strip watching the races. These were the days of 35 cent gas (it was 20 cents on the main land), 409 chevs, Hurst floor shifts, four barrel carburetors, “Daddy Roth -Rat Fink” tee shirts.
No booze (we tried beer once and thought it was horrible and threw it away and drove to the diner for Coke to wash away the taste), no drugs and no weapons other than fists. But smoking was common. It was hard not to when your parents smoked.
It was all perfect as there was always the rival between the “local” kids and the “dependents”.
I was in the upper tier of the students but at the lower end of that group. I probably had a C+ average.
My last two years of high school were great and it was tough to leave. We actually left a week before graduation because of my dad’s orders.
Larry and I with our girlfriends. Note the bare feet.
i know you had a variety of jobs while you were in high school. tell me about a few.
During my freshmen year we lived in El Paso and there I delivered the morning paper. I started out with a bicycle and then got a small motorcycle.
My first job while in Hawaii was working in an Italian-Mexican restaurant, which was just open at night. I worked by myself from just after school till about 5 or 6 when the restaurant would open. I made from scratch the frijoles, the piazza sauce, and prepared the piazza dough (I wish I could remember how I did it). I didn’t eat there after I discovered rats outside that were as big as cats.
My next job was working for the PX system on base at the service stations. This was the full service days when you wore a starch clean uniform (well, they never could get the grease stains out) with your name on your shirt. It was full service, put in gas, check under the hood and wash the wind shield. I also changed oil and creased cars and changed tires, which was the hard work.
after you graduated from high school, you tried out college then entered the military. what was THAT like?!
My dad only completed the ninth grade and my mother finished high school. College to them was unavailable. But that was not going to be for me and my sisters as they insisted that we go to college! Having no experience in what it took, like your mom and I did for you (learning the process, visiting schools, and filling out the paper work) they had no understanding of what it took. I did not have a clue of how I was to get to college. I don’t remember much about our student advisors, although I know they were working with us, as I took the PSAT and the SAT. It was fortune for me that I became friends with a new student early in my senior year. She was light years more mature than I. Anyway, she knew that my Dad’s next assignment would be Denver, Colorado and she looked up some colleges in the area and suggested Colorado School of Mines. I was in interested in Geology so I did and much to my surprise I was accepted. So once we moved, I was off to college. Being young and foolish I joined a fraternity and discovered that the Coors Brewery was just down the street (I started to like beer). School was hard, the time the fraternity required was too much and we had under estimated the financial cost. I also had a job; I was one of the two dog catchers for the City of Golden. So I finished the semester, passing all but one course. Left for New Orleans to live my Aunt and Uncle and try to work and go to school. It was too hard and to get a trade decided to follow my dad’s footsteps and joined the Army.
My mom refused to display this picture because she said I looked like a Nazi.
while you were in the army, you spent some time in germany. tell me about that!! i’m pretty sure you did risky things, like riding motorcycles, that you would never let me do in a million years.
I score high on the tests (doesn’t say much for the military of the time) they provided when you enlist and was convinced that life would be better if I enlisted in the Army Security Agency (ASA), which at the time was under the NSA. However it required a four year enlistment instead of a three year enlistment. I was so gullible. But looking back it probably saved me from going to Viet Nam. Most of the men in the ASA were above average in intelligence and had either a year or two of college or degrees. After basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, advance training in Fort Devon, Massachusetts, I depart for Germany via a Navy Transport (I guess it was cheaper in those days). Having been a dependent on a job on to and from Hawaii I knew that I need to get one so that I wouldn’t be stuck standing around. Eventually, I got a job working in the ship’s library. Since it did not open until mid morning, after they woke us at 5 a.m. and make us get on deck (where there was nothing to do) I would got the library and sleep until opening time. I never got sea sick as many others did, so I enjoyed all the Navy food.
Being a G.I. in Germany during the sixties was great. Once I got to my assigned base they found out that I was a very good typist (I took it high school) and that was the end of me getting any other training that would be useful in civilian lift. I was now following in the footsteps of “Radar” in “MASH”. I spent the rest of my military career as an administrative specialist (clerk).
The good thing about being in ASA was that the bases were very small and not in areas where there many other American soldiers. My first assignment was in Northern Germany near Helmstedt, which at that time was in the British sector and was the northern route to Berlin through East Germany. We had very small monitoring station located in the forest near the border. We lived in rooming house in a small town not far away run by a German family.
My next assignment was in Central Germany at Rothwesten, an old German Air Base near Kassel. This was head quarters and was very routine duty. To make additional money I worked waiting tables at the enlisted men’s club at night.
Then looking to make more money and get promoted I volunteered (always a mistake in the military but worked out good for me) for an administrative position with a 44 man ASA special operations detachment (402 ASA SOD) that was supporting the 10th Special Forces unit in Bad Tolz. My unit’s actual location was in another old German base in Lenggries just down the road. It had been a base for German Mountain troops. Being a small unit allowed close camaraderie. In spite of my administrative job I was allowed the opportunity to receive some special training. First airborne school where I got my parachutist’s wings (I made over twenty one jumps both day and night, during my last two years), and then I went to England to the British Army desert navigation school, and was involved in many military exercises. One special assignment was the opportunity to travel through East Germany to West Berlin. At that time the US Military had a special military train that traveled from West Germany to West Berlin. Seeing the border with its barbed wire fence, minefields, guard towers, the armed East German guards lining up along the train while other guards used dogs to check the undercarriage of the train, and the East Germany towns appearing to be stuck in 1939 brought the cold war to reality. West Berlin in 1967 was a happening place.
The administrative specialist for the 402 USASA SOD
I had a wonderful time in Germany. The military had some excellent recreation facilities that I took advantage to learn to snow ski and to sail, all of which helped enrich my time there. If I could have stayed in Germany for a total Army career I would have re-enlisted. I was lucky in that I could blend in since I looked German (blonde hair and fair) and worn German clothing. The short hair was a problem but we didn’t have the real short hair of today’s G.I.s. My Germany was passable, but I spoke for some reason with a Dutch or French accent, why I never knew. But it worked, and most Germans didn’t think I was American and the service was better. I appreciated and emulated the slow European life style of the time. Sometimes we would idle an afternoon or evening away in a guesthaus, side walk café or beer hall playing chess, cards or just watch all the people (especially girls).
My European look at the time. I loved the Michael Caine movies where he played the British agent in “The Ipcress File,” especially his glasses.
dad, i LOVE this look on you. you should go back to it.
While in Northern Germany some friends and I went to see the tour car races at Nurburgring. It was my first exposure to European racing. Just like out of a movie. I must have taken over 200 photographs. I had a single lens reflex camera with a zoom lens at the time (it cost me a month’s pay).
The base at Leggries was in the Bavarian Alps.
This is a picture right outside my quarters. We skied these mountains every time we could.
My buddy during this time was Henry Greene, whom we all called “Hank”. We did everything together. We are still in communication to this day. I was at his wedding and he was at mine.
My Army buddy Hank and I.
We could walk to the ski slopes. During the season we skied every other day (the slopes were lighted at night). During the summer it was mountain climbing, hiking and rafting the river. Munich was 45 minute train ride and there was Schwabing for nightlife, restaurants, beer halls, museums (as you found out in our trip there after you graduated from Rice) and of course Oktoberfest.
That is me with the shades. I wish you could see the “knickers” that I skied in.
The European public transportation system was so efficient and provided a very economical way to travel. Being in the military one could go to the air base and “hop” a military flight for free. It wasn’t first class or even coach but the cost was right. During this time I made two trips to Ireland to see my mother’s family and to see Ireland.
I was back packing through Ireland with these two Irishman. The one in the middle, Colin Barnes, is the son of my mother’s best friend when she was growing up.
Italy and Austria were other countries I travel too. Being in ASA we had some travel restrictions. Salzburg was just a short train ride away and Hank and I would get a pass to go. In those days Austria was neutral country and you had to have authorization to go plus civilian clothes were required. We only needed our military ID and authorization papers (Pass) to travel in Europe. Salzburg was another of my favorite cities (another place we went after your Rice Graduation). Needless to say, since most American girls traveled in pairs, Hank and I were always the accommodating “Pair” to show them the local sites.
Flirting in the Dublin Zoo.
Sometimes we couldn’t get a room. Notice the bottled German breakfast.
dad, are you DRINKING?!! for BREAKFAST? highly interesting…
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW!
