A Fijian kid
makes the citizenship grade
By Robert Reed
June 24, 2005
Patrick Varea
was like a brother to me. He was a true professional in every
sense of the word. His story is a story of a Fijian island kid
who came to the United States and earned his citizenship the hard
legitimate way. It wasn't given to him. He didn't get it through an
amnesty program. He worked his tail off for it and he was so
proud to be going for it.
On the Sunday
night before he took his citizenship test we had dinner together in
Spokane, Washington. We
were joined by our mutual friends Tom and his wife Lynn.
He got paged,
had to leave and as he walked away from our table I said "See you later
Patrick". He turned an looked back at me with the look that a life time
friend would give you. It was something I would not forget. I was so
proud of him. It was the last time I would see Patrick.
33 hours later
while sitting in a company meeting in Stratford, Connecticut I learned
of his death. I learned he had died in a helicopter crash just
hours after he had passed his citizenship examinations. He died an
American Citizen. Tom's wife Lynn died with him. Tom lost his
best friend and his wife in that crash.
In my adventures
as a technical representative, I became friends with many of my
customers. They trusted their lives in the work of my hands.
Patrick was one of my customers. I first met him on the
phone. He was a little hard to understand because of his
accent. After some introductions, I learned he was a helicopter
mechanic up there. We talked shop and then arranged a trip up to
Spokane to help install some turbine wheels in 2 of his engines.
I met Patrick at
the base operations for their business. Patrick's presence was
larger than life. His voice was gentle, and I expected a small
guy. He was a solidly packed islander, about 210 pounds and about
6 feet tall. I knew of him from other customers who spoke of him
affectionately.
My first hour
with Patrick was full of surprises. I thought he was just "the
mechanic" at this place. Boy was I wrong. Patrick was a certified
FAA aviation technician and he was also a qualified long line and
medivac helicopter pilot. Not only that, he was a major partner
in the ownership of Eagle Helicopters. We immediately struck a warm and
lasting friendship of respect.
Over a period of
5 years, the friendship grew. We would tear apart and put together the
engines, install them and then test fly them, just the two of us.
I quickly learned that I could completely trust his flying abilities.
When I got stuck in Spokane one weekend waiting for parts to arrive,
Patrick told me to just take one of his company planes home and come
back on Monday. The relationship was a solidly professional one
cemented by a personal friendship built on respect and trust.
I watched his
business grow. His aircraft inventory grew to 6 turbine
helicopters and 3 turbine fixed wing aircraft including one jet. In the
last two months of his life I learned of his efforts to get United
States citizenship. He asked me for a character reference letter,
which I jumped on immediately.
One day some guy
broke into a house in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. The guy had a gun
and tried to rob the house. The home owner also had a gun, and
the home owner won. Patrick was the pilot on duty for
the hospital. Lynn was the nurse on board the helicopter.
They flew from Spokane's Sacred Heart Hospital to Bonner's Ferry, Idaho
and loaded the injured burglar. On the flight back to the hospital the
aircraft broke up in flight, the victim of a bearing failure in the
flight control system. It took a week to gather the remains of
the wreckage. Ironically, I represented the engine manufacturer
in the NTSB investigation, and we found the cause. It was hard to
take.
Patrick earned
citizenship the way it should be earned. He went to school to
earn his FAA mechanic's license, then his FAA pilot certifications,
invested in the business and finally passed his citizenship
examinations. He was a legal alien working to live the American
dream, and he succeeded. Patrick left behind his wife and 5 year
old daughter.
Wouldn't it be
great if American Citizenship had to be earned, as it did just a few
generations ago? My hat is off to the ones who put it all
together and earned it the hard way.
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