Watching what's been happening in this country lately, with so many people bellyaching and complaining about how terrible the USA is, how it's so "unfair", etc., etc., I find myself thinking often about my friend John and the American Dream...
John's the son of immigrants, and he's far-and-away the smartest guy I know. His mother, Greta, was German, and his father, Harry, was Latvian. Harry was a college student from a well-to-do family when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. The Wehrmacht expelled the Russians from Latvia...and then drafted young Latvian men into the Waffen SS. Harry fought honorably on the Russian front, surrendered to Americans at war's end, and met Greta when he was interned at a Displaced Persons camp in her town in Germany.
Harry and Greta married and eventually came to the USA, sponsored by his brother who was already here. They landed in Manhattan, on an old Liberty Ship, when Greta was 6-months pregnant with John. They had to pass an English test and health exam in order to immigrate.
They had their clothes and a little money, and a dream. Harry was able to get a job as the building superintendent in a tenement in Spanish Harlem, where they lived. John and his little sister Ann grew up there, and Harry always told them that although they didn't have much money here, they came from educated people, and they were going to get a good education.
Both John and Ann excelled in school, and went to the Bronx High School of Science. Both went to college, and Ann became a language teacher. (Both John and Ann are bi-lingual, and speak German as fluently as they speak English.)
John financed graduate school by working as a baggage handler at LaGuardia Airport...paid for it all himself. He has a PhD in aeronautical engineering; he is, literally, a rocket scientist.
John spent his career with the Defense Department, and helped to develop some of the best-known weapons systems the United States fields. More than 200 people attended his retirement party, and there were more stars and eagles there than you could shake a stick at.
For all his professional achievements and fame, John is still, at heart, that poor kid growing up in the ghetto. He lives modestly, wears jeans and golf shirts, and never, ever refers to himself as "Doctor". He has a very heavy New York accent (which is hilarious when he speaks German) and a very low tolerance for stupidity.
If you want to see John get really, seriously, ticked off...tell him how "unfair" this country is, or how some people have "privilege" that others don't. He will bite your head off. He loves this country passionately, as did his parents, and points out that only in America could a Latvian-German kid, living in a Puerto Rican slum, become a rocket scientist. He is, he is proud to say, the living embodiment of the American Dream.
Like I said, I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and I wanted to share his story with you. Thanks for reading...
John's the son of immigrants, and he's far-and-away the smartest guy I know. His mother, Greta, was German, and his father, Harry, was Latvian. Harry was a college student from a well-to-do family when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. The Wehrmacht expelled the Russians from Latvia...and then drafted young Latvian men into the Waffen SS. Harry fought honorably on the Russian front, surrendered to Americans at war's end, and met Greta when he was interned at a Displaced Persons camp in her town in Germany.
Harry and Greta married and eventually came to the USA, sponsored by his brother who was already here. They landed in Manhattan, on an old Liberty Ship, when Greta was 6-months pregnant with John. They had to pass an English test and health exam in order to immigrate.
They had their clothes and a little money, and a dream. Harry was able to get a job as the building superintendent in a tenement in Spanish Harlem, where they lived. John and his little sister Ann grew up there, and Harry always told them that although they didn't have much money here, they came from educated people, and they were going to get a good education.
Both John and Ann excelled in school, and went to the Bronx High School of Science. Both went to college, and Ann became a language teacher. (Both John and Ann are bi-lingual, and speak German as fluently as they speak English.)
John financed graduate school by working as a baggage handler at LaGuardia Airport...paid for it all himself. He has a PhD in aeronautical engineering; he is, literally, a rocket scientist.
John spent his career with the Defense Department, and helped to develop some of the best-known weapons systems the United States fields. More than 200 people attended his retirement party, and there were more stars and eagles there than you could shake a stick at.
For all his professional achievements and fame, John is still, at heart, that poor kid growing up in the ghetto. He lives modestly, wears jeans and golf shirts, and never, ever refers to himself as "Doctor". He has a very heavy New York accent (which is hilarious when he speaks German) and a very low tolerance for stupidity.
If you want to see John get really, seriously, ticked off...tell him how "unfair" this country is, or how some people have "privilege" that others don't. He will bite your head off. He loves this country passionately, as did his parents, and points out that only in America could a Latvian-German kid, living in a Puerto Rican slum, become a rocket scientist. He is, he is proud to say, the living embodiment of the American Dream.
Like I said, I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and I wanted to share his story with you. Thanks for reading...
