7th Finglish trip October 2008 #44
Dave and Fred Orrik were born into an Estonian Finnish family, their father was Estonian and their mother was Finnish. Grandparents came from Ostrobothnia to Massachusetts. Mother Aina was born in Gardner, Massachusetts. Family moved to New York City and Dave and Fred were born in Bronx, New York.
During summers their father sent the boys to hike in the National Park near their mothers birthplace in Gardner, Massachusetts. In the Bronx they went to a Jewish school and after graduation both started studying at the Columbia University in New York City. Dave studied economics and Fred psychology. The Navy paid for their studies and after graduation they joined the Navy.
Dave was a Navy Seal and Fred was a Navy pilot. Both served in the Vietnam War in the sixties, Dave under water in the Mekong Delta and Fred in the air over North Vietnam. After service in Vietnam both were stationed in Hawaii. After Navy Dave started working in a program that tested the security at civilian nuclear plants. Fred worked in the Navy Office in Pentagon. They both live in Alexandria, Virginia.
Near the Washington Monument, which was the place where demonstrations against the War in Vietnam were held, is the The Vietnam Veterans Memorial that honors service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for (missing in action, MIA) during the war. Among the names is also Lauri Törni, Larry A. Thorne.
Next FinnFest USA Cruise 2009 from Washington to Alaska USA