An honorable man

I have been blessed to have many wonderful men in my life - a wise and loving father; two grandfathers who spent time with me (even when I was a pesky little twirp); a brother who stuck with me through thick and thin; and I even had the privilege of knowing my great-grandfather up into adulthood.  Then, of course, there is Brian - the love of my life, with whom I will celebrate 29 years of marriage in just a few weeks....but that's a story for another day.

However, with Brian came a free bonus - my father-in-law, Theodore Freddie Hahn, or "Pop," as I liked to call him. Fred was a melting-pot child, the youngest of 13 children born in 1932 to parents of Prussian-Bulgarian-German-Romanian descent. He grew up working hard and playing hard (so many stories of naughtiness!).

Fred and Lavelle Hahn

Fred joined the Air Force on January 14, 1951 at the age of 18. It was a pre-emptive strike against the draft (his draft notice came three days after he was sworn in). He initially received his training in administrative school, but his first big assignment was as a medical technician for the 374th Troop Carrier Group in Korea, picking up wounded personnel from M.A.S.H. units, taking them to Japan, then returning to Korea with supplies. After a couple of years, he returned stateside to lovely (not really) Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas. However, he found beauty in the middle of that desolate place, meeting Lavelle Henrichsen, who would soon become his wife.

He thought life would be better as a civilian, so he got out of the Air Force in 1955, but re-enlisted in Oct. 1956.  Fred did an additional 13-month tour in Korea, and he also worked 12 months in Thailand as an air attache, traveling into Viet Nam, Rangoon, Burma, Vien Tien, Laos and Cambodia. He called it "delivering the mail." All I know is that he was left with a leg wound from a Viet Cong booby trap (pungee stick) and a cloud of sadness that descended every Christmas because of terrible things that happened on that day in that place.

During his 20 years in the Air Force, Fred did administrative work, recruited for the Air Force, inspected units with the Inspector General's Office, and retired as a Master Sergeant. Other than his short-term overseas tours and travel with the IG's office, he and his family (including Kevin and Brian) somehow managed to have assignments that stayed within the great state of Texas. Fred retired from the Air Force on June 30, 1974, and on July 2 began work for the National Guard at Camp Mabry in Austin.  He did 20 years there, too.

Brian, Fred, Lavelle, and Kevin Hahn, early 1980s

Fred in the kitchen on Patton Ave., cooking something delicious!

Jan and Fred with Katie, 1988

Fred was a survivor - he survived injury, hardship, separation from his family, watching his fellow soldiers fall.  At the same time that he served in the U.S. military, there was another life that happened in tandem. Some might call it ordinary. This is a man who drove to Rosenberg every other weekend for what seemed like forever to help his aging in-laws.  He raised two sons to honor their country, to honor their mother, to work hard and serve in the church and do the right thing.  He loved his wife, and then, after enduring the pain of being widowed, loved and cherished his second wife, Jan, with all the energy he could muster. He welcomed me into the family as though I were born into it, and he did the same with Jennifer, Julie, Joel, Sandie, and their families. He reigned supreme in the kitchen, with a level of pre-planning, logistics, and enormous commissary trips that could only come from military training! He finally succumbed to illness in July 2008, teaching us lessons up to the very end.

Was he a perfect man? Absolutely not. But an honorable man? Yes. I am thankful to have known Fred Hahn, to see his mark on the lives of his children and grandchildren, and to pay tribute to him this Memorial Day.

Grandpa Fred with Bekah, 1991

P.S. I have borrowed heavily from a booklet of stories that my mother-in-law, Jan, was finally able to wheedle out of Fred and edit into print form in 1991. It was under her gentle, loving care that he finally shared some of his personal history. She captured his sense of humor and mischievous nature in a way that makes me smile all over again as I read it!  Thank you, Jan, for all you meant to Fred and all you mean to our family.