Goodbye 2007, hello 2008!

The Times Square Ball brings in 2008

Little #7 is Ready for the Playoffs!

Holiday Fun Shared with Friends

Pittsburgh Holiday Night Streets

The end of the holiday season, and the year, is upon us here in Western Pennsylvania. New Year’s eve is the last of the festive days, which are an adult happening that comes in various colors and sizes. The New Year is going to be very special in these parts, as 2008 is the 250th birthday of Pittsburgh; many events large and small are planned yearlong. I will keep you up on the important events so you remain connected to home.

Keeping connected has taken big steps forward for the local reserve military families in a big way. The 99th Regional Support Command Headquarters in Moon has provided video conferencing between there and the members of the 316th Expeditionary Sustained Command somewhere in Iraq … no need to give the location, as some have done. I feel that the less “they” know, the better.

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SPORTS UPDATE:

The PITTSBURGH STEELERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS, despite a loss to Baltimore today in the last regular season game.

‘Big’ Ben Roethlisberger was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week last week.

Big Ben completed 16 of 20 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns during Pittsburgh's win over the St. Louis Rams … 41-24; he had a perfect passer rating for the third time in his career tying him with Peyton Manning.

A local boy does well: Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor took his team to the PIAA and WPIAL Class AA titles. He was selected by USA Today as the offensive player of the year. He won the coveted annual award ahead of many great players because USA Today selected him as the best of the best. Well-done Mr. Terrelle Pryor! May you have a great college career and beyond!

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Although I cannot officially speak for others, but I am going to do just that on this night. I, and the majority of this country want to give everyone of you, over there protecting us over here, so we have the privilege and the freedom to celebrate the New Year, an award … THE PROTECTOR OF OUR FREEDOM AWARD.

I speak from the heart as I know that you hear accolades all the time with a hollow ring to them from folks who have never served, but I speak in deep appreciation, and at the same time I am very much concerned for your situation over there. May this year bring you all home safely.

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January 1, 2008, 0001 hours UPDATE:

WELCOME TO 2008! The New Year is now just this year… Celebrate making it, and those who are not over there please take a moment to not take it for granted that you did, in respect for all of those over there where making it is not taken for granted.

Keep your head down,

Henry Hill, Plum Pennsylvania.

STEEL TOWN USA MEETS SANTA ON STEEL

Santa and steel

Santa and Iron

Santa on steel

Christmas looms over the horizon on this day. I am fully aware that for some of you such can be a worry, and not the fun expectation that you enjoyed as a child. That pureness in innocence was the golden standard of Christmas appreciation before; before that first cynic told you his or her version of the truth about Santa, before girls, before work, and damn sure before the war. You may be alone in a strange place, but when you close your eyes and let remembrance take you back to those days when perfumed girls were not allowed in the tree house, and when Santa actually did eat the cookies on the mantle, then you again will smile.

Everyone here that will enjoy the day in freedom is cashing a check that you are now paying for. They may not appreciate that fact, but then there are the many that certainly do. Many vets will take the time to reflect on those lonely moments while on duty around the globe. Some have written to me to express just that,

“Mr. Hill,

I read the Laurel given to you in Friday's Tribune Review for your efforts in linking up military personnel in our area with families willing to have them for Christmas Day.

My wife and I are interested in having more information so that we can make a decision as to whether or not we can help.

We have two sons in the Air Force who will be in San Antonio (Lackland - Lt. Col..) and Las Vegas (Nellis - SrA) for the holidays. In fact, the Lt. Col. last year had two Airmen from Lackland Basic Training at his home for Christmas.

Thanks for your efforts on behalf of those in the military. I recall from my own experience being away for two Christmases with nothing to do but eat and go to a movie with some buddies. (Wasn't all bad, though, because most of us were and the young folks still are survivors.

Vince and Ellie”

They are talking about my ‘adopt a soldier for Christmas program.’ Pittsburgh has always been a big city with a small town attitude. To have these kind folks volunteering their home and time to share Christmas with our boys over there is amazing in these days of fear. It is like a rekindling of an America from a better time, a time when we all felt a commonality of purpose, of country, and of family. This is a great holiday season here in Pittsburgh. Lynn and Doug wrote,

“Mr. Hill,

First off, God bless you in your endevour. I read an article in the Trib yesterday about your campaign to share Christmas with military personnel. My husband and I would be honored to help. We live in Moon Township (near both 911th airbase and 99th Regional command) and we see soldiers and airmen nearly everyday in our community. If its not too late, we would appreciate your return email to let us know how we can help. Merry Christmas!”

What a wonderful letter. It is not about me, but all about helping you over there. Not many folks would let strangers into their home, but for you it is the exception, as you see here tonight. This warmth of heart should be kept close to yours as you ponder the what-ifs over the holidays.

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I took a short drive this evening to see if any photos that would fit into today’s column would find me. They did, and I have added them to the column. I have found that if I go out looking for a specific image it eludes me, but if I go out with an open mind and eye, images find me, just as these images did on this day. How cool is it that by coincidence I would find Santa on Steel in Steel-Town USA?

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I would now like to honestly say from the heart, without agenda, and hopefully without beating a worn out cliché,

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Keep your head down,

Henry Hill, Plum Pennsylvania

A Call To Arms

Penn Hills V.F.D. spread treats and love in the neighborhood on a wintry day

John and Valerie celebrate, McDonald Pennsylvania

Amidst the storm signs of Christmas are everywhere I go. It is beginning to look a lot like a famous cliché. I even ran across the Penn Hills (PA) Volunteer Fire Department engine out in the neighborhood with a red suited and bearded man throwing treats to the kids from atop the Fire Engine. Families, friends, and others are gathering together for the annual Christmas parties. I hope they all take advantage of the holiday spirit to take a break from all the negative energy that is all about lately. We all need a break from it all with a little time for peace in our lives; no one needs such more so than you over there serving our country. This is the main point of this week’s column.

I can feel your loneliness over there on the other side of the planet, as I have been there. There is nothing that impacts the heart, and which can paint even the brightest heart in the darkness of loneliness more than being away from home on Christmas. This loneliness exponentially grows with the distance, and with the threat of never seeing it again. The sad fact is that those so lucky to not be there cannot see how terribly wasteful their lack of appreciation of what they have is to those who do not. There is nothing that I can do for you who are over there serving, but there may something that I can do for those who are back here.

Tomorrow in your honor, I am going to do what I can to start my “Adopt a Service Member for Christmas” volunteer citizen program. I will be looking to facilitate the meeting of service members who are stationed away from home with families who will have a Christmas dinner or celebration at their residence. No matter how nice a dinner your base facility may provide with the best of good will, Christmas is not Christmas unless you are in a warm home with others celebrating in a common sharing of the day together. I feel strongly that most folks in this country are still deeply concerned about you who are protecting our country, and they would happily share their Christmas with you. It would only be my shortcomings if I cannot get it done, as such, it would not be a reflection on them. I will do my best…

If anyone reading this anywhere, knows of any service member that does not have a family to share Christmas with, please leave a comment below and I will see if I can find the appropriate city, town, or community to assist.

I am asking anyone here in Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania that knows of either a service member in need, or families willing to participate, please leave a note at the end of this column with detailed information. This is a call to arms, to in turn, serve your service men and women. You can also send me an Email at: henryohill@gmail.com

Keep your head down,

Henry Hill, Plum Pennsylvania

The Little Things

Isaly's

Chipped Ham Land

Winter has got a good toehold on Pennsylvania now, as the cold, snow, and icy roads have become more commonplace in the daily routine. The holiday season is now in full bloom with bright colors, as hordes of shoppers armed with Visa Gold forage for deals at the local steel and concrete rendezvous place. Those able to enjoy such freedoms and luxury do not always see that such is so. Just today, Ms. Roberta Miller complained to me about a couple that she observed today, she told me, “I stopped at the store to pick up something. I was standing next to this young couple in their early 20s’ who were having a heated argument about which tree top decoration they should purchase. I made a suggestion as to how to attach the star on the tree, which the young lady wanted to buy. I almost told them that they should be happy that they have someone to share the shopping with, as I was headed to the cemetery to place Christmas flowers on a grave. They were so unappreciative of how good they have it, but I kept my thoughts to myself.”

This is not new of course, but it seems to be at a level that needs some attention. We are in the middle of a war, and those who miss so very much those little things that some of these brats take for granted. I hear constant complaints directly and through the media sources of people complaining about gas prices, food and other necessities … the same items that were restricted heavily during World War Two, but today are not under such restrictions other than pricing, but that is not a government controlled issue.

The good news is the number of people who go so far to the other side to help our boys over there out of love and kindness, which guides them, to do what they do to support the service members. James Ward of Westminster Maryland who is a laid off truck driver is responsible for sending thousands of miniature Christmas trees—ornaments included—to service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. He does this on his own, but now many volunteers have joined him in his show of goodwill. I am sure that he has brightened dark days for so many folks so far from home, so far from family, and so far from a world they once knew. People like James Ward are the Americans that are the true representatives of the majority of our country, quite the contrast against the backdrop of those who complain incessantly.

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The photos are examples of little things that most miss when overseas. This is a small town Isaly’s store, with chipped ham, their famous milk shakes, and that small town flavor and service. I added these images that I shot, not to tease, but to give you a goal, and to give you something to hang your memories on…

Keep your head down,

Henry Hill Plum Pennsylvania

DECEMBER 7, 1941 -- PEARL HARBOR DAY

USS Arizona exploding

On this most reverent day, December 7, I would like to inform all survivors that have participated in the project that your stories have come together in a most wonderful way, as they encompass a very important event in our country’s history.

These stories collectively represent not only the survivor telling their personal story, but all the stories that never will fill a page, never to be passed on, as those so silenced on that day were denied life beyond their moment that day. The day was December 7, 1941.

Each survivor told me about that day, the day that he or she saw through his or her own eyes and actions. The survivors are diverse, but shared that day with a commonality that bonded them together for life. This bond would be as tight as strangers can get in some cases, and only understood by those who came to it by way of the fire. They come not from one branch of the services, but from the many. They served at various facilities around Oahu, from Pearl Harbor to Kaneohe Bay, and all in between. Rank did not matter to me as I located and interviewed survivors, it did matter to the bombs that fell, or to the bullets fired upon them; from Seaman or Private to Officer, they were all at risk. So many across the ranks died that day, without mercy or segregation ... death comes blindly in a surreal sense of equality.

It was not easy for most of them to tell their stories, as tears came with the words from remembrance. There were days when I saw a smile reflecting good times with good friends from a very long time ago. For many, telling their story was not possible for the first 50 years after the war, but time has worked in two ways in that regard. Some, now seeing their mortality before them wants people to know what happened, as they know it. Others let their story become a part of their healing after holding it in for so many years. Looking into some of their eyes and feeling their pain, and their happy times, was quite frankly overwhelming on some days. Some stories were almost too sad to tell, but not telling it would be dishonest, disingenuous, and disrespectful to the ones who lived it, or died because of it.

Hero is a word that may be used too freely by those who have never had to bear witness to a real war; to feel a good friend die in their arms, to smell death, or wonder why they survived the brutal and merciless chaos.
Most who may be called that name, deny it.

Musician 1st Class Petty Officer Albert, who served onboard the battleship, USS Pennsylvania, said this when I mentioned the word,
“We weren’t heroes, we didn’t do anything heroic, and we really didn’t do anything but do the job that we were trained to do.”

Chief Naval Ordinanceman Finn, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, for his actions at Kaneohe Bay air station, said,
“Hell, you are making me sound like some Hero. I was just there!”

Volunteer Nurse Lieutenant Watson, who was stationed at Schofield Barracks station hospital, said,
"I just happened to be in a position of seeing the Japanese planes approaching, then seeing the slaughter in the aftermath of the attack."


Seaman Quartermaster Striker Bruner, stationed on the battleship Oklahoma said,
“It was not long after the torpedo hits that the ship started listing. It is sort of hard to judge time, but when it did start listing a lot of stuff began to come loose. We had spare parts and things that were bolted down, but that is the stuff that was now coming loose, breaking and falling everywhere; I never heard such a noise in my life.”


Staff Sergeant Dunn, flight engineer on one of the B-17 bombers, said,
“We heard the crackle of machine gun fire, and then saw tracers as they started bouncing off the runway all around us, so we just went down flat on the runway. Lying there scared as the dickens while strafing rounds bounced around all of us, all of a sudden I heard a strange noise. One of the large empty brass cases, probably 20mm, had bounced next to me.”


1st Class Machinist Mate Sawick, PT Boat commander, said,
“The California was the first battleship that we saw get hit, then the Arizona, we saw the Oklahoma roll over, we had a good view of all of it as that huge ball of flame went up from the Arizona. We were just sitting there, only 300 yards or so away, it was like watching a movie.”


Seaman 1C Hedley who stationed on the battleship West Virginia, said,
“I grabbed my hat, I ran out on topside, and we had a 40 mm cannon set up off the deck. I dove under that gun tub, and our pilot Lt. White was shooting at airplanes with a .45 pistol! I was wondering, what kind of a war is this?”

Most of the survivors will tell you that the real heroes are the ones who cannot tell their story, and did not make it back home. They now tell you their stories to Honor those heroes who gave their lives for their buddies, while fighting for their country. Reading their stories as told through their eyes may cast a little light on that day, one perspective at a time, one life at a time, from one small world that was right before them on that day. Some of these stories have lived as a nightmare when the fearful night would come to so many. Some of these nightmares have never seen the light of day, various reasons notwithstanding, they now live to tell a story of what happened to them in those early morning hours; these hours defined the rest of their lives.

Any fool can be an expert in retrospect. I am not an expert; I was not there. I can only pass along the stories of those who were, with respect, and to honor those heroes who never had a tomorrow.

Henry Hill

PINE TAR MAKES FOR STICKY GLOVES

Penny Ties Down The Homeward Bound Christmas Tree

Pine tar makes for sticky gloves, a point of fact known to those who went into the country and cut down their own tree. These days’ trees that are available to be cut are on Christmas tree farms, instead of the old way where you cut wild trees growing on the mountainside or at the end of the pasture. If you went today to where the ole’ Bush farm had used to be, you will find a modern community where covenants, legalese, and restrictions, have replaced the open and friendly welcome for tree harvesters. The old tradition can still be done, but it now requires a longer jaunt out into the countryside, which can be a good thing.

The majority of open and available wild trees are now found in places out west where open space is still a way of life, where the family tradition of picking it out, carrying it home on top of the family car, and decorating the tree, is still alive and well. While the natural tree has many bad habits such as dropping needles all over the place, it is still the staple of the purist; you will find no polycarbonate trees in front of the fireplace here.

Not only is December the start of the tree gathering season, it is also when you find families out in the yard, on the ladder, or on the roof, decorating the abode in the wrappings of the Christmas season. Only the creative talents and budget limit this part of the coloration change of the house, and surrounding landscape. Western Pennsylvania has always been a big time leader in this area, and it seems that in spite of, no, in the face of the skyrocketing cost of living, this tradition lives on.

I am starting to notice that the rising cost of basic living expenses has brought hardship to many. I only hope that those so affected come to realize that their hardship is very minor compared to what you have to endure over there, in harm’s way, in the sand, and without family this time of year. What you do makes it safe for those back home to do the little enjoyable family things, without you and those who fought before you, the freedom to be in a position to take things for granted would not exist. Taking things for granted is an act that only the free and well off can do, even if they are too blind to see it.

I can say on behalf of those who do see, that we appreciate your sacrifice, your loneliness, that all of you share. You can see the love with so many organizations, groups, and individuals sending you care packages, letters, encouragement, and support everyday. Beyond all of this there are so many more folks that support you but have no way to express it in a visible manner, but they do. When you return back to your home you will see those in the background who are with you even if they have limited means to show it at the moment. Keep this knowledge close to your heart, as you may need it through this long season away from home. We do care!

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Sports Update:

Do you believe in the long shot coming in?

Pitt pulls off one of the most amazing upsets in years in this, the 100th backyard brawl, and in the national standings! Pitt who is unranked, and having a mediocre season defeated the #2 team in the nation who was expected to go the national championship game … West Virginia … the score was 13-9! The rivalry has now grown to a level that brings anything and everything to every game. I do feel for the West Virginia, as this team played their hearts out this year. Great year West Virginia! Good luck in your bowl game…

The Steelers play later tonight. Look for the update soon.

Update:

Steelers Win! 24-10...

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Keep your heads down,

Henry Hill, Plum Pennsylvania