September 11th, Seven Years Later

An Irish Tombstone taken in March 2006

The Seventh Anniversary of September Eleventh is upon us. In honor of this event I decided to write about one of the victims of that awful day. While I was putting together my post for the Sixth Anniversary last year I ran across a Project 2996, a site dedicated to preserving the memory of those victims and decided that I wanted to participate for the seventh anniversary. Preserving people’s memory is important to me, if someone is remembered by anyone, then they can never truly be gone, their memory lives on.

What is my connection to September Eleventh, you might ask? At the age of 55, my mother lost a battle to cancer in the time between the first and second planes hitting the World Trade Center. My father was drawn to the television coverage (as much of the world was) and when he returned to my mother’s side she had passed away. I moved to the Frankfurt, Germany area in April, 2001 (I’m not in the military; it is marriage that brought me here). I was working that day and my wife called me and told me about the World Trade Center and asked me to come home. I rounded up the person that I car pool with and we drove home. On the way home I listened to AFN (Armed Forces Network, radio broadcast for soldiers, and one of the few English radio stations that I can pick up in my area) and they were broadcasting NPR (National Public Radio) coverage and the magnitude of what had happened was starting to sink in and I was becoming aware of more of the details. When I walked in the door my wife gave me the news of my mother’s passing, as coverage blared on CNN in the background. From that moment on, whenever I hear of September Eleventh (which is pretty often) I think about my mother.

Remembering David W. Laychak

I was trying to decide who I wanted to write about and kept running across David W. Laychak’s name, so I seemed drawn to him. I’ve never met or knew David, so the information that I have used to base my post about him was first gathered from stories and articles that I have found on the internet and later I was fortunate enough to be able to get some of my information from David’s sister Molly Laychak Whalen). This is my attempt at remembering David Laychak. He was working in the Pentagon on that September day.

The Father

David is the father to two children. Zachary was 9 and Jennifer was 7 at the time of his death. Losing a parent at any age is always tough, but it seem especially unfair when you’re a child and you lose a parent. David taught Zachary how to ride a bike and I read that Jennifer was looking forward to being taught how to ride a bike by her father. Dave was the coach of all Zachary’s football teams while they lived in Arizona. I can imagine the excitement David felt when he found out that his wife was pregnant with Zachary and with becoming a dad. How thrilled he must have been when Zachary was born. How ecstatic he must have been to find out that his wife was pregnant with Jennifer. With each child parents get to experience a whole world of firsts: first real smile, watching them take their first steps, watching them crawl, their first words, their first tooth, the first time that the eat vegetables (or try to wear them as the case often is!). How proud David must have been when his kids learned to read and write. Being a parent is one of the most important things that people can do in their lives and David brought two children into this world that will live their lives and keep his memory alive. David’s kids submitted a nice electronic card in honor of their father that you can see at Defend America.

The Husband

While giving birth to children is one of the biggest events in anyone’s life, your wedding day is right up there as well. David met Laurie Miller while working at the Pentagon. Both shared the fact that they had been military dependents. Laurie’s dad had been stationed in Hawaii and as such she attended and graduated from Hawaii Baptist Academy in 1980. They met when Laurie interned at the Pentagon one summer. Their first date was a Jimmy Buffet concert. They married in Manassas, Virginia and honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico. Laurie worked for NASA for 10 years before becoming a substitute teacher and raising her kids. They were married 13 years at the time of his death.

The Brother

David was respected and loved by his siblings. His older brother Jim has been the president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund (you can donate here), and hs given a huge part of his life to seeing that a memorial was built to honor those people that lost their lives at the Pentagon that day. The memorial is scheduled to open on the Seventh Anniversary. . His sister Molly Laychak Walen) wrote a couple of really nice tributes to David. She wrote a short one at the Progressive Independent and a longer really nice one at Legacy (note when I checked her entry was on page 3). You could tell from what she, wrote that Molly really loved her older brother. Jim had mentioned in one of the many interviews that he has had, that he was only doing what David would have done for him as well. David also had a younger brother Mile, who keeps more to himself and isn’t as public a figure as the other siblings. You could probably say that having a father (LTC (Ret) Robert Laychak) who server 31 years as an Army officer probably brought the siblings closer together. Living at a number of military posts across the U.S. and even in Terhan, Iran, meant moving a lot and relying more on each other. The family was stationed in Iran in the early 70’s so it was before the whole Iran Hostage situation. Molly, being the baby sister of three brothers, was teased a lot. There are so many families where the siblings have strained relationships, often having very little to do with each other for years, so it is nice to see where siblings do love their brother. I wonder what it was like at their dinner table. Did they have any special family traditions? How did they celebrate Christmas?

The Friend

When you live your life well, you’re bound to make some great friendships along the way. David was a groomsman at Roland Clavien’s wedding in September 2000, and Roland wrote foundly of how David was so happy for him on his wedding day and how David was always so happy when others were happy. Roland discovered that David had died after returning from his honeymoom. Roland also wrote about how David had been so happy that he hugged him, something that David hadn’t done in the previous 15 years. I wonder about some of David’s othe friends. Who was his best friend? Who was his first best friend? It must have been nice to have had David as a friend.

The Athlete

David received Varsity letters for football and baseball (four in total) while attending Hayfield High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He was the winner of Hawk’s Claw Award as top male student/athlete while in high school. Dave was starting quarterback in his senior year at high school. As quarterback in one high school game in 1978, Dave had four thouchdowns, including two where he threw passes to his brother Michael, the headline in the sports section f the local newspaper said “the Laychak-Laychak connection” Dave played quarterback and defensive lineman at Brown University on a football scholarship. He coached several football teams, in addition to his son’s teams while living in Arizona, he coached 6 to 8 year olds in his twenties in Northern Virginia. He was well liked and respected as many parents wanted Dave to be the coach of their kids’ teams. Dave liked hiking, mountain biking, and a variety of other sports.

In the Community

During the years that they lived in Sierra Vista, Arizona, they Attended church at “Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church”. Dave was so liked and respected that the community built a memorial in tribute to Dave at Tompkins Park by the flagpole. The first picnic ramada is named after Dave. Sierra Vista holds a ceremony in honor of September Eleventh every year. After moving to Manassas, Virginia, David and family attended St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle, Virginia.

The Person

From what I have read, David has come across as a kind and good-hearted person. He had genuine concern and cared for people and he shared in the happiness of others, he was happy for other people when they were happy. He was able to inspire people around him to become better people. He was nicknamed bucko while attending college. His favorite meal was meatloaf, I know that a lot of people joke about meatloaf and don’t like it but here must have been something special about the meatloaf Dave’s mom made (hopefully I will hear the story behind it one day!). He earned a B.A. in Organizational Behavior from Brown University. He earned an M.B.A. from Syracuse University. He enjoyed the desert scenery and open spaces during the nine years that he lived in Arizona. Dave served the Department of the Army for almost 18 years, reaching the level of GS-14. He loved his country and was proud to be able to serve his country as a civilian employee in the Department of the Army.

I hope that you have enjoyed the glimpse into David W. Laychak that I was able to provide. If you have anything about Dave that you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment. If you have anything about any of the other September Eleventh victims that you’d like to share, it is welcome in the comments.

What can I do in honor of September Eleventh?

• Go to Project 2996 and write about one of the victims
• Donate to the Pentagon Memorial or become involved in one of the other memorials being planned
• Participate in the Rattle the Runway Ride a motorcycle ride that is held yearly in honor of September Eleventh victims
• Organize your own motorcycle ride or event in your area in honor of the victims and their families
• Pray for the victims and their families
• Don’t ever forget (I know that I won’t)

**I’ve run across a lot of links in preparing this post that I plan to share via our Tumblelog and other social bookmarking sites that I belong to in the near future.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift

Back in June we attended a celebration honoring the 60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift (Die Luftbrücke) at the Rhein-Main airfield in Wiesbaden Germany. I find it fascinating when you think back to what if must have been like to have been one of the pilots and wondering if they had any idea about the historical significance of what they were doing at the time. What were some of the thoughts runing through their minds? Then there are the people that were on the other end of the airlift receiving all the food and supplies. There and to be some fear and anxiety on their part since the Soviet Union was flexing its muscles and trying to take contol of part of Berlin that wasn't alredy under their control. The Soviet Union was blocking off all surface traffic to West Berlin, which was contoled by France, England, and the U.S. If the Berlin Airlift had failed, the world and history surely would have been a lot different.



Anna and Sarah ready to take off!


One of the publicized highlights of event was to be the dropping of candy bars for the kids, much like the pilots during the airlift dropping off supplies. One plane flew around dropping candy bars around the airfield. It is too bad that we weren't able to get any for the girls but it was something to see all the kids (and their parents as well) following the plane around trying to catch one of the candy bars. I didn't manage to see any real close but I did see several falling from the plane with their parachutes.




While the event wasn't a huge air show exhibiting several different models of planes, there were several on display, including a huge cargo plane. I must say that it was impressive seeing all the different planes (and a few helicopters) on the field.


One of the decorated hangers

I really like this last photo showing the German and American flags. It shows the friendship between the two countries and peoples. I've posted several more pictures in an album at Flickr.

If you'd like to read more about the Berlin Airlift you can check out some of the following sites...

• The Truman Library
• Spirit of freedom
• Airlift History What Really Happened
• U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission
• The German Way & More
  

If you like the blog, feel free to add us to your rss feed or subscribe via email. We welcome your comments.

Happy Half-Birthday, Hobbit

Hobbit at six months

Happy Half-Birthday, Hobbit! Hobbit turned six months old yesterday. It is really hard to believe that this time has flown right by. Hobbit has become a part of the family and it is hard to imagine life without him. A lot has happened in those past six months.

Christine and I were so excited when Hobbit’s litter was born. Fortunately for us, we were able to see the puppies shortly afterwards. Then it wasn’t that long until the girls got to see the puppies. Christine and I have wanted a dog for a while and now we were close to getting one. Most of my life I have always had at least one, so it something seemed missing the last eight years when I didn’t have one. All the visits to the breeder were exciting. After the litter was born, it took us a little while to decide between the black and white male (Hobbit) and the brown and white male. Christine had a sense of relief after we decided on the black and white one.

The day finally came when we could pick him up and bring him home and Hobbit’s life with us began. Bringing him home was kind of like bringing Anna and Sarah home, certainly our family changed with each edition and Hobbit has brought a lot of changes. I don’t really know how long it took him to get used to his new home and family but my guess would be that it was probably within the first couple of days.

The weather was pretty lousy when we brought him home and he didn’t quite have the hang of the whole going to the bathroom outside thing. He must have thought that we were crazy to want to take him outside when it was raining! I was so glad when the accidents became less and less and finally he was house broken.

The weekend after we brought Hobbit home, he attended his first puppy class. The class was outside and the weather was rainy and awful. It was so interesting to see all the other puppies and Hobbit didn’t recognize his sister in the class, but had a blast playing with her anyways. Hobbit got so muddy at that class that he certainly didn’t look like the dog that we brought there. When we drove home, Christine joked about getting the wrong dog, and this really scared Sarah, as she started to believe that we might have really gotten the wrong dog!

Hobbit has been very social right from the beginning. Early on, he seemed to look at his walks as more of a chance to meet people and play with other dogs. You could tell that his in enthusiasm and energy seemed to annoy some of the older dogs. Of course there are some people that don’t like dogs, but I’m still often surprised when we’re off somewhere with him and how many people notice him. He has made friends with many of the dog owners around here and many of the neighbors.

My parents’ dog, Angus, was one of the main reasons that we decided to get a Bearded Collie. Angus was not good about riding in the car, which was one of the reasons that we wanted to make sure that Hobbit didn’t have that problem. Early on, Hobbit would ride with Christine to drop the girls off at kindergarten and to pick them up, so he got used to the car fairly quickly.

An early Saturday evening in July, Christine and Hobbit had returned from a walk, and he started howling and moving his head around. He had part of a stalk of wild wheat lodged up into his ear and was in pain. Christine took him to kind of an emergency room for animals. Hobbit had to be put under full anesthesia to get the thing removed. It was really sad seeing the poor guy all groggy but we were all relieved that he was ok. After that we’ve been very conscious of all the things in the nearby trail and fields.

It is really neat how excited he often is when I come home from work and when he first sees you in the morning. He always wants to say good morning to Anna and Sarah when they first come down in the morning.

Last weekend we took Hobbit with us on one day trip. We were walking along and we saw a black Lab puppy that was about the size that Hobbit was when we brought him home. That was one of those moments that sticks in your mind, because then Christine and I realized how much Hobbit had grown and how, even though he is still a puppy, he has matured. I remember that he was a little smaller than these Boston Terriers and it didn’t take him too long to outgrow them and now he was towering over this black Lab puppy!

I’ve really enjoyed these last months with Hobbit and am so glad that he is part of our family. I have posted several pictures of Hobbit at our MySpace and Facebook accounts. Feel free to add us as friends but please tell me a little bit about yourself if I don't know already know you (reminding me might not hurt as well). If you like the blog, feel free to add us to your rss feed or subscribe via email. We welcome your comments.