REFUGEES

LUNCH WAS AWESOME TODAY, we were supposed to talk about T’s and other products for GQ-6 and wound up sharing family histories.  Two of our respective families were 80’s/90’s refugees.

Richard’s wife was on the last helicopter out of the Hanoi Hilton.  Imagine that.  You’re 5 or 6 years old and your parents scoop you up and your homeland disappears below, forever.  You get to a camp, and wait.  Or, maybe you’re parents in a strange land wondering how you’re going to care for your little family.

Richard’s father’s family was sent to an internment camp.  Anxious to protect his homeland he and the other Japanese-decent young men were part of the 442nd Regiment, the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare

Steven’s parents fled Hungary in 1990.  In Austria, they lived in a camp and received rejection notices from Australia and Canada – the 2 countries where friends and relatives had settled.  Imagine that.  You, your spouse and you young son shuttle off to America with broken English your only asset.

My history is different.  Both sides of my family walked across the plains to settle in Utah, fleeing religious persecution.

All these families were in search of safety and freedom.

And, it got me thinking…

about the refugees pouring out of the Middle East and Africa,

and the contributions they will make to our rides, and lives

… how can I help?

(Me, Steven and Richard (Mr. GQ-6)… mowing down Lebanese food)

Join us for dinner and/or dessert with Chris Carmichael and Brian Co