Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hi Kay,

You are really impressing me. It is so great that you have a good understanding of your heritage.

When it comes to history, one big overriding question surfaces for me; are we learning from history with respect to making things better for everyone or are we, to a great extent, forgetting (erasing), distorting, and interpreting history inaccurately and selectively?  

For example, recently the US has held, and continues to hold, many immigrants crossing the southern border in what are called detention or processing centers. No, this is not the same as the Japanese interment during WWII, who were citizens of the US. But there are some similarities in that both groups, mostly along racial lines, were (are being) deprived of their human rights (based on an unfounded fear and threat). When it comes right down to it, for me anyway, we are all humans no matter where we were born, or our race, sex, sexual identity, age, religion, class, wealth (or no wealth) and should be treated justly and with respect and dignity—and compassion too (compassion especially when it comes to children). Of course, the question of our values plays a big part in everything; are we caring more about each other and their individual and cultural values or, are we becoming more narrow minded, bigoted, and reactionary. Recent activities in the US, and many parts of the world, has me worried about this.

On a positive note, and I mean this sincerely, I think being raised in CV during the 50s and 60s provided us with some positive core values of honesty, fairness, sharing, and compassion for others. Thanks again Kay for all your insight.

Ciao, Jerry

P.S. I wish Kay Ochi would have been the President of Hilltop High 1964 and not Terry Maple. NOT KIDDING—okay, I’m kidding. Terry, we all love you, really—and most of us did vote for you (have forgotten who ran against you—who was that?).

Terry Lee Maple

No doubt she would have been an excellent president, but she had her hands full as editor of the The Lance. I was her subordinate on the staff and she was a superb editor. Based on my experience in high school, I encouraged my dughter Molly to compete for Editor of the McInosh High newspaper and she was chosen for this honor. Molly is an excellent writer and editor and these skills have served her well as her career has evolved. I should remind you that, despite my deficiencies, your brother nominated me. He was so popular that I'm sure his endorsement contributed to my victory over John Link. Link would have been an excellent President and, as we know, he went on to a brilliant medical career. Being President at Hilltop was a great honor and I enjoyed the opportunity of leadership. Athletics and leadership kept me focused and out of trouble. It was easy to get in trouble in Chula Vista, but my close friends were good citizens for the most part. My brother Brian was elected President of Chula Vista High School in 1958. He has served as a lifelong role model and became a Professor of Physics at UCSD. One of the outstanding women in his class was Carolyn Hanano, Jerry's older sister. The 1958 class at Chula Vista still holds reunions and since I knew many of them, I enjoy the stories that Brian shares with me. When Brian was playing football, I was in the sixth grade and my father took me to his games. Often, his girlfriend would invite me to sit with the girls on the pom-pom squad. I gained an early appreciation of ladies and fell in love with several of them. Those were the days. 

Bruce Wilson

I told her I was the editor of a Famous Etiquette Book.

But the funniest thing was
When I was leavin' the bay
I saw three ships a-sailin'
They were all heading my way
I asked the captain what his name was
And how come he didn't drive a truck
He said his name was Columbus
I just said, "Good luck"

-bob dylan circa 1963

Bruce Wilson

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
He said, "Son, this ain't a dream no more, it's the real thing"

-bob dylan circe [sic] 1978

Kay Kozuye Ochi

Hey Bruce, Thanks for sharing the photos (you're such a friendly guy!). They're from our reunion at the San Diego Country Club, right? A very nice gathering.

Jerry - again, you're hilarious. I could never have won the ASB President spot over Terry Maple. But, that was a very funny bit!

Terry - thanks for the compliments, but I was just an excellent "wrangler" for The Lance. I had to chase folks around campus and to their homes to get their stories in on time (remember?).  Then, I had to drive the copy to the printer across town. I think that I enjoyed it!

Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hola from Espana. This is where my wife and I are staying in La Rioja. I asked for top floor and no windows and this is what I got. Darn that booking.com 😉. Plenty of great wine and food here and prices are unbelievably cheap—for everything. Jerry

P.S. For some unknown cyber reason the snap of my crib didn't attach. Here it is again. Also, I attached the RV I rented. I like it except you have to push and pop the clutch to start it--but my wife doesn't mind.

Robert Eugene (Bob) Beckwith

What a year.  And what made it so good was the trip to San Diego in January.  Thanks to one and all for lunch gathering.  Not only a good lunch, but a good lunch in perfect spot.  Thank you, Rosie, for a nice pick in a nice spot.  Friends and food with a great View.  Thanks too all who could join in. 

What even made it better was the trip to the San Diego Library with Kay Ochi. My sister, Carol (HHS Class of 1961) suggested the visit to see the Japanese living display and learn about Frank Wada’s contribution to World War II effort.  Way up on about the top floor was the Clara Breeder’s display of the Librarian’s War effort to stay in touch and communicate with the children who were imprisoned with their parents.  It is such an eye opener to learn about what was done wrong and right.

When I left Hilltop H.S. I went to The College of Idaho in Caldwell.  I chose a Biology Major with a history minor.  I met Dr. Lesley V. Brock.  Dr. Brock was big framed guy with jowls to match.

Every lecture was an experience of concrete sequentially though:  The room had to be just so; chair rows had to be just so. The chalk board had to be just so.  And then the huge man would start with the day’s lecture.  And could he make his jowls fly.  I lasted through several courses before I changed minors.  What is curious is what I wasn’t taught.  At The College of Idaho or at Hilltop the history of the Japanese Imprisonments after Pearl Harbor wasn’t taught.  I can’t remember a lecture, lesson, or test item being discussed or brought to light. 

Even in Beckwith Family history there wasn’t a discussion. Sadly, events were kept quiet and out of sight. What little truth I can find is interesting.  My Parents met at the Fruitland Packing House.  After getting married they moved to Long Beach where dad worked as a ship building inspector.  Part of the war effort.  Carol was born there.  Grandad Thurston contacted my dad to ask him back to Idaho to help run the Beckwith Packing Sheds. The family moved back. I’m an Idaho native born in Oregon (the only hospital available was om Ontario.) Dad’s job included working with all the farmers and their produce.  My first nine years were spent in Fruitland. 

The Beckwiths owned two packing houses, one in Fruitland and one across the Snake River in Ontario.  My father, Emery, was plant manager.  After the war he worked with and negotiated with Japanese Farmers.  The evidence is that they both held each other in high esteem.  My father was known for treating all he worked with fairly and with respect.  My sister, Carol, recalls (I don’t have the recollections) that our father was invited and included in their major events such as wedding, funerals, and more.  I’m sure he was missed when we moved from Idaho to California. 

Through Junior and High School, I thought of all us being equal and on the same plane.  Jerry Hanano was such an athlete.  He was so explosive.  Good luck trying to catch him running the ball.  It was such a joy to watch him jump over a tackler vs. running over.  Kay Ochi was so good at what she did.  I didn’t even try and keep up.  Yet, impressions, were that I just treated all the same, or at least tried to.

Even into College my view really didn’t change.  I was fascinated by Judo and I became a beginner.  Sensei Mas Yamashita was our teacher/coach.  What a gentle giant he was.  In 1965 he invited Gisuke Tomoda to come from Japan and spent a year with us.  Gus was a 4^th Degree Black belt and quick as lightning.  And a good instructor.  I think he probably had too much fun messing with us beginners.  He represented The College of Idaho at a National Tournament in San Francisco; he beat all of his competitors in less time than 2 to 3 matches last.  We were fortunate to have had such an instructor.

 I never had to use Judo for self-defense, but I did learn how to fall.  That saved me more than once. One time my cousin was towing me on his mother’s low pressure-tired bicycle behind his motorcycle to his dad’s shop air compressor.  The cousin towed me around a corner going too fast.  I raced by his motorcycle and reached the end of the tow rope.  I was ejected off that bike as fast a fighter pilot coming out of a jet plane.  I’m sure I scored 10 on the take off.  Landing wasn’t going to be good, but a natural shoulder roll saved my day. Some things learned are just not forgotten. 

I was promoted from White belt to Brown belt and quit before I got better.  Sensei Yamashita was asking his class what they thought of Judo.  I said something to the effect that I was glad to have learned more about the Japanese people and their traditions.  He quickly corrected, that he was an American citizen, first and foremost.

I was fortunate to visit Japan on RR from Viet Nam.  I was so impressed with Japan, their cities, their transportation (trains so fast and efficient), and their food.  Their photo equipment was expensive then and worked so well.  And I still use Nikon equipment today. 

Ray Allen is a good friend that I met on an elk hunt in Northern Idaho.  Ray was hired as President of Browning Arms Research and Development.  It was Ray who moved all the manufacture of their shotguns, and rifles from Belgium to Japan.  He recently explained that early on the Japanese engineers taught him to tell them what he wanted and they, always-he said, would make a better more precise shotgun or rifle.  The Browning 300 win. mag that I use couldn’t be more accurate.

Recently I have been better educated and informed, thanks to Kay Ochi and Teresa Tamura. Kay, as we all know, was met at Hilltop and maybe even Junior High (that part a blur).  Teresa, I met when she was at Nampa High School 1976-78.  I was her photo instructor and Yearbook advisor. Teresa, like Kay, was also a cheerleader.  Teresa graduated and went on to earn an MFA in photography.  The photojournalist wrote “Minidoka, An American Concentration Camp”.  Kay is an editor/writer of NCRR: The Grassroots Struggle for Japanese American Redress and Reparations.  Thanks to these two women and their work I feel like a better educated and informed American Citizen.  Events that we should know all about and shouldn’t ever be repeated again. 

I know this is an old topic, but couldn’t resist chiming in.  The topic was milk-milk and cream. How would ice cream be possible without milk and cream? Home made ice cream with fresh milk and cream-just makes a day better.  And thanks to guys like Terry’s dad and Uncle Graydeon we had milk while in school.  And thanks to Ellery and Ann Simineo I had both hands experience. 

I was home from Viet Nam and returned to The College of Idaho to finish my education (education still in progress).  I had the notion that with money saved and GI bill I could rent an apartment, buy food, and pay for my tuition.  I lasted a month until the well started to dry up.  I learned that Ellery and Ann Simineo, out in Hartley Gulch, near Middleton, could use some help milking cows.  I went to investigate.

The deal was that I would milk cows 5 days a week to pay for my room (a one-bedroom bungalow that was furnished- I had to pay for the heat).  I could work after classes and on weekends at $1.25 an hour to buy food.  It mostly worked.  The Simineos had about 80 cows and milking took about 2 hours in the morning.  They knew the names of every cow, I learned Babe’s name, she was an all-black Holstein.  They took care of the evening milking. 

There was at least one kicker.  She didn’t want to get milked without kicking the milker or the stanchion she was milked in.

If she couldn’t get her leg pulled forward, she couldn’t kick backward. The preventive measure was to use the right hand to prepare the udder for milking while the left hand and forearm were used to hold the cow’s tail to keep arm in place to prevent her from “cocking” her leg for a backward kick.  There was no doubt if the procedure failed a broken arm would be the least of consequences.  Hanging on tight seemed to serve and the cow got milked.

Besides room and hours of extra works another benefit was all the milk a person could drink.  Fresh raw milk, a gallon at a time. Ellery and Ann Simineo were just a joy to work for and made a major contribution to my life.  If you want steady employment, milk cows.  When I was there Ellery was about 60.  If I went as fast as I, could I could keep up.  We were bucking bails from hay field to stack.  Turns driving and bucking went back and forth.  I was bucking and he was driving.  He stopped that truck in mid load.  He yelled, “the truck is overheated”.  I yelled back, you sure that gauge isn’t attached to my fanny.”  You have to admire Terry’s dad and Uncle Graydeon for their involvement in the dairy industry.  And I still drink milk.

Summer’s end is coming.  Days are notably shorter and the hope is cooler days to come.  Been kind of fun to run around in river shorts and tennis shoe.  Weather will change that.  Already looking forward to fall.

Best to all

Gail Eileen Dillon (Boone)

Robert Eugene (Bob) Beckwith

Gail that sticks out in my mind too.  The Simineos were hard working people.  Probably H.S. education only. But did they have incredible minds.  I still marvel at the fact that they knew all of their cows by name.  I was lucky to learn Babe’s name.  Holsteins all have a unique patterns. The Simineos had sorted all of that out.  I have no idea how!!!

I milked with Ann in the mornings. She just got the cows milked and I helped.  They worked 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I worked 5 days a week.

Terry Lee Maple

My facther didn't have to milk cows once he started driving for Arden Farms, a wholesale delivery to stores all over San Diego. Still, he relief milked from time to time to earn extra money. I seem to recall that Gary Earls dad delivered milk and Gary later worked for the same San Diego based company. I know that Arden owned Mayfair markets and they later merged with Hages. I worked at Mayfair in 1966 as a boxboy. It was a very good part time job. My dad took his boys to work with him from time to time so we could learn what it meant to work hard for a living. It was a great life lesson. 

George Bracey Gillow

Terry,

Gary Earls worked for Golden Arrow on 4th/Highland:

Bruce Wilson

I worked for Twin Pines in Detroit. Got it on video (later).

Not as a clown mind you, I actually carried the metal baskets.

Robert Eugene (Bob) Beckwith

9-13

What dazzles me is that milk was always available.  And very few people knew or know  just how difficult the task was/is to get the milk on the shelf for a consuming market.  And to have it delivered!!!  Seems incredible to me.  I’m tickled that I can still go the store and experience the variety and kinds of milk that are ready for purchase.  We are lucky to have industry filled with dedicated people.  Terry you were so lucky to have a dad that took you along.  And to Bruce and Gary, your efforts getting milk delivered and to market was no easy task.  Maybe hard work made us better??

Bruce Wilson

9/13/2022 Got mistaken for Pete Carroll the other day. Maybe I can do some stunt work.

Hi Bob! You still rafting?

I can still exercise with my one half blnd eye, GCA and aneurysm, but prudence dictates no more long solos. I never carried a phone.

First hand report of possibilites from SB:

"It’s very scary. When I dissected, I was on my phone. It started to feel like my chest was tearing! I called my husband at work. He called 911. By the time they got there, I couldn’t move my legs and I was in and out of consciousness. I can’t remember much else except waking up in ICU on a ventilator wondering what happened to me???"

Bruce Wilson

From a longer article

https://stratechery.com/2022/the-ai-unbundling/

The job was remarkably analog: a bundle of newspapers would be dropped off at my house, I would wrap them in rubber-bands (or plastic bags if it were raining), load them up in a canvas sack, and set off on my bike; once a month my parents would drive me around to collect payment. Little did I appreciate just how essential my role writ large was to the profitability of newspapers generally.

Robert Eugene (Bob) Beckwith

Bruce, Glad you have just kept moving.  What you are battling, GCA, vision, aneurysm doesn’t make exercise any easier either.

I keep a cell phone on me when out and so fortunate that I haven’t had to use it- On long trips, away from cell service, the Satellite phone is within reach.  Haven’t had to use that either. A safety net not needed, but just in case.

I’m still floating the rivers. The 13-year-old Granddaughters, Holly, just keeps me going and going.  Took the two granddaughters on Middle Fork of the Salmon Hike/Float in March.  The snow keeps roads closed so all have to fly- fly in-fly out. The days are pretty lazy at that time of year.  Not always warm and not always sunny.  The river is wide open and the trail is snow free, but he snow isn’t far away.  A great way to get the new year going, get out, and get to see a bunch of wild critters (I think of it as Idaho’s spring Serengeti)

What was fun was being involved with/helping a group of woman Kayakers, Kayak/float from Salmon River headwaters to the Pacific, (a bunch of us did the same in 2018-with rafts).  There goal/mission was to Save Salmon and garner support for breaching 4 lower Snake River dams to clear Salmon run. If interested you can find out all about The Grand Salmon venture at:  https://salmonsourcetosea.com/   Besides paddling the 1,000 miles they had to portage or lock down through 8 dams.  Cousin Eric and I met them on the Columbia River to help lock them through McNary and John Day.  Non-motorized craft have to be escorted through the dams.  Eric’s boat served so well for that purpose.  Our Lodge in Stanley served for shelter and help with their starting point.  I met them in Lewiston to fix meals and help as best could be.  And then fortunate to help on the Columbia too.  They made it to Pacific about July 15^th. 

Right after Columbia River lock downs I joined friends in Hells Canyon and then did a Lower Main 6-day float at end of July.  We rant out of permits and other stuff just had to get done.  And the other stuff isn’t done yet.

It’s been a good spring and summer and looking forward to cooler days that fall with bring.

Michele Ruth Walter

Kay...

I'm so sorry that your family had to endure what you described regarding Japanese containment of WW II  There are so many injustices that people impose onto others, and it's so wrong.  Happily, much of that is changing, but we still have a long way to go.  My mom adores you, and we both have always had nothing but the highest regard for you and your beautiful family.  Let's do better and learn from the horrible mistakes that history has made;  I agree with Jerry's question: are we distorting and interpreting history inaccurately and selectively?  I hope not.  Going forward, my mother's greatest example as the daughter of deaf parents (also discriminated against) has been, and continues to be,  the importance of compassion for others, whatever the differences.  Sending peace.  Love you, Kay!  
Michele 

John Carleton Cowherd

Kay Ochi : The article from the San Diego Union regarding the San Diego city council rescinding the 1942 resolution made the front page of our local Visalia Times-Delta.  Of course it included your quote about it's affect on the Japanese American community.  I don't remember being racially aware as I grew up.  My friends were named Jerry, and Kay, and Gary, and Marty, and Robin, and Gene, just to name a few.  Their surnames and complexion were irrevelant, they were just my friends and acquaintances.  I am truly sorry about the negative experiences that you had.  Keep up the good work.

Georgia Louise Farrington (Hamilton)

Hi Kay- I am sure you already know this but others might be interested.  A sacred book called the Ireicho is now at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. It weighs 25 pounds and lists 125,284 wartime detaines and is 1000 pages long. Before this, all 125,284 names have never been collected in one place. Records were scattered because there were 75 incarceration sites. Compiling the list took several years of research. My daughter's mother-in-law and her family were sent to Rohwer, Arkansas. They had been living in Torrance, California. Irene was only 2 years old. The book was presented to the museum Saturday and Sunday, Irene found her name as well as her parents and brother. Now that I think about it, I'll bet you were there at the opening.

Kay Kozuye Ochi

Thanks to Michele Walter, Georgia Farrington and John Cowherd for your recent messages to me. Michele, you continue to be so kind and supportive! Thank you for sharing about your mother's great challenge, and the importance of compassion for others. I agree completely!   John, Thanks for sharing the news about the recision of the anti-Japanese 1942 San Diego City Council resolution. Even after 80 years, it's never too late to call attention to wrongs and get rid of them! I did a short interview with KPBS that aired today on the Midday program. I used to be so quiet (what happened?!!) I agree about our friendships - I didn't feel discrimination growing up in Chula Vista (from Rosebank to CVJS and HHS) and have maintained friendship and frequent contact with many of you. A lot of fine people, you Lancers!   And, Georgia, yes, I'm aware of the sacred book of names but did not attend the opening. Since the pandemic, I've changed my habit of going to Little Tokyo several times a month. So, I miss many important events. I will go and find my parents and relatives' names very soon. thank you for thinking of me. My parents suffered the desert wasteland of Poston, Arizona. I'm sorry for Irene; Rohwer was a miserable swamp. I'm touched by the many messages and well wishes. 

Bruce Wilson

I know people who have family that suffered the slings and arrows of Alzheimer's. I would say that the effects are certainly more debilitating than GCA, though I would rather get neither.

So:

The pharmaceutical companies Biogen and Eisai said that a drug they are developing for Alzheimer’s disease had slowed the rate of cognitive decline in a large late-stage clinical trial.

The results appear stronger for the new medication, lecanemab. Cognitive decline in the group of volunteers who received lecanemab was reduced by 27 percent compared with the group who received a placebo in the clinical trial, which enrolled nearly 1,800 participants with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s disease, the companies said.

As with previous anti-amyloid drugs, some patients taking lecanemab experienced brain swelling or brain bleeding, but the prevalence of these side effects was lower than with Aduhelm and other experimental medications.

Be wary, Gary Lynch a highly regarded Prof/Researcher at UCI was predicting an end of Alzheimer's as long ago as 2008.

Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hi Kay (and All),

You continue to impress me Kay. I can feel your empathy for others—that’s great. Your brief comment that “I didn't feel discrimination growing up in Chula Vista (from Rosebank to CVJS and HHS) …” is interesting to me. Of course, I didn’t feel discrimination, although I did have an Hispanic last name (some people thought is was a Greek name but, it’s not). Just a ‘side look’ now and then (that’s odd, Jerry doesn’t look Mexican) and I didn’t really perceive any application name discrimination (actually, my name could have helped in graduate school with a grant/loan or two). Anyway, hard to get clear race (ethnicity) data (and other good demographic data) from the makeup of Chula Vista in the late 1950s and early 1960s but it seems like Chula Vista was all white, mostly catholic, male dominated, …, a very homogeneous community. I lived on East El Capitan, and everyone on that street look the same and acted the same (and spoke only English). I can vaguely remember a bit of a stir in the neighborhood, maybe it was around 1960, when a ‘different’ family almost moved on the street. It’s funny I can remember this, but neighbors were close in those days and it was openly talked about by everyone, in front of their kids too. The discussion was basically about “we don’t what those type of people living here”. Given the John Birch Society had there, I think, west coast headquarters, in Chula Vista (right there on beautiful 3^rd Avenue) it seems like Chula Vista was very conservative in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Anyway, it’s good Kay that you didn’t feel any discrimination, but as I now reflect back of my assessment of Chula Vista is that it was a rather segregated community, i.e., difference was not accepted well (or allowed). People may see this differently, and I respect that. My concern over issue like this is the normal (I think) attempt to understand why we/I think and act the way we do, which I believe has mostly to do with our lived experiences.

On a lighter (heavier) note, once again it’s Fall. The 75^th one for me—hard to believe. Not sure, but I think about one-half of our graduating class has moved on to the promise land. Eventually, we will all meet up on the HHS Senior Lawn, and Jerry will be wearing his heavy 100% wool Higgins Cheerleader sweater. Maybe Terry could wear his football uniform—actually he was first string in all the Varsity HS sports so any uniform would do. And Kay, dust off that Songleader’s outfit 😊.

Jerry

Terry Lee Maple

I think a lot about my upbringing. Let me contrast my street, Carla Avenue, with Jerry's El Capitan experience. Our neighborhood was more middle class I believe. Our neighbors on the left side of our little street were the Sousek's. Joe Sousek was an immigrant from Czechosolovaia who married a native American woman, Marie. They had one adopted daughter and one biological son The raising of their daughter apparently aroused Marie's fecundity (or whatever Joe's deficiency may have been), so Eddie was one the first "miracles" I observed growing up He has been a good, lifelong friend of my younger brother Max. Marie was a superior cook. She and my mother (Hispanic origins; Salazar and Lopez), frequenly got together to make flour tortillas for the neighborhood. My Hispanic grandmother, Caroline (Grandma Carrie), suffered from alcoholism and lived with us off and on for years. She would often join in on the Mexican food prep (although she always insited we were "Castilian Spanish, not Mexican". She wouldn't speak Spanish around us because she wanted the three grandchildren to be fluent in English, the ticket to success among lboring familes of the day. My teachers saw my aptitide in science and they urged me to take French, not Spanish. This was a mistake in my opnion. My grandchildren, in Charleston, SC, are not repeating this error They attend a bilingual school and speak fluent Spanish at the age of seven!. Down the street on Carla Avenue lived the Acosta familly, Hank and Marguerit. They had two attractive daughters who went to Hilltop. The family often held Totstada parties in their backyard and the whole neighbood showed up. We were all close friends, unified by a devotion to hard work, the importantce of education, an interest in competitve athletics (in support of Little/Pony Leagues, etc.) My parents didn't graduate from high school. Dad went to work milking cows and later entered the Army Air Force. My mother was a graduate of National City Junior High. She married my father when whe was fifteen. However, she was always active in our schools. She worked every year on elections held at the local schools until her three sons graduated. She was always a room mother, a scout leader. She gave us 100 percent support in all we did and urged us to dream big. The only discrimination I felt (lnote my photo of the little brown skin boy above), was when schools were late to finish; first in Castle Park when Hilltop Elementary was "invaded" by highly organized gangs of Mexican teen-aged thugs who bullied us. They considered me white. Even Frank Fernandez was bullied. I was lucky to be liked by my peers who tried to protect me. I was not a tough kid. Gary Baldwiin was one of the kids who befriended abd negotiated with them. I imagine he was a protector for a lot of the boys. Later, when HHJS was delayed, we were bussed to CP and the next year to CVJHS. As our bus dropped us at the school in seventh grade, I was fortunate to make friends with a 5'9, 234 pound black kid named Biff McClure. We became locker partners in first period gym and team mates in intramural sports. Biff was a great blocker but I made sure he got to carry the ball from time to time so he would be rewarded for his toughness. His friendship kep me safe for an entire year. There was always tension, but there were bad white thugs too who I feared; we called them rogues or hard guys. A lot of us tried to pretend we were hard guys to protect ourselves and our friends. This is not racism, this is how we adapted to fear of getting victiimized. When I matured as an athlete, I often played the protector role for smaller team mates. I preferred not to fight, but I would do it to protect a buddy. In summary, I grew up in a settled, post-war, nieghborhood of laboring familes who wanted a happy life for their familes and neighbors. They largely succeeded in building that world in my opinion and I am grateful to have grown up in a land of opportunity so I could fulfill mly dreams; a wonderful spouse of fify years, three grown daughters who turned out well and met good men, and higher economic success as my career advanced. My father was a common sense conservative who was a union man but who chose to vote for people, not parties. My mother felt the same way. I assimiliated a whole lot of their wisdom. After the army, dad eventually earned his high school equivalent credentials. He was handicapped by a serious hearing discorder but soldiered on in life; a wonderful father and role model. I am so proud of my humble beginnings, the support network that helped me every step of the way, and the value of family and friends. My wife has helped to strengthen my belief in God; the creator had a hand in all this. My mother taught me to be kind to others, and I've tried to lived my life to give the help I received. That is one reason I decided to become a college professor. 

Bruce Wilson

The latest hypothesis in the Alzheimer's saga: soluable amyloid-beta 42

expert reaction to study looking at soluble amyloid-beta (rather than amyloid plaques) and cognition in a group of people with Alzheimer’s disease-causing mutations

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-looking-at-soluble-amyloid-beta-rather-than-amyloid-plaques-and-cognition-in-a-group-of-people-with-alzheimers-disease-causing-mutations/#:~:text='High%20Soluble%20Amyloid%2D%CE%B242%20Predicts,on%20Tuesday%204%20October%202022.

Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hey Terry,

Thanks for sharing all of that. Wow, and I thought you came from a wealthy and privileged background like me—NOT! Whatever your family and neighbors did—they produced a handsome, great athlete, and someone who was liked by everyone. I think we all had similar experiences in CV during the 50s and 60s. Pretty much everyone on East El Capitan was the same—father breadwinner, mother homemaker and a few kids. In a way, as I look back on my upbringing, it was kind of like the baby boomer industry. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not much room for difference. My parents did a good job, but it was my grandparents that I remember the most when I was growing up. When I told my Dad (a WWII Navey veteran) that I was not going to Vietnam, that was my farewell (and my brothers had already exited East El Capitan). Shortly there after I got pregnant (well, not me actually), and who stepped up to help me realize how my and others lives were going to be changing real soon; my brothers and grandparents. Okay, take it easy Jerry—no weeping … got to remain Chula Vista STRONG!

By the way, my son, Jay, may be the oldest at 56 for anyone from our HHS ’64 class. Does anyone from the class of ’64 have an child 56 or older? And Jay and I have been close his entire life—this I am sure has to do, to some degree at least, to the values I acquired during my upbringing.

Ciao, Jerry