In the U.S.A. Air Force and used to travelling

Tu Tangata, Issue 35, 1 April 1987, Page 43

In the U.S.A. Air Force and used to travelling

TEWA I R U A

Throughout his youthful years Christian Sturm had led a very global lifestyle, travelling every year and living in a few places. Perhaps this may have been the influence when he joined the United States Air Force to hopefully continue his travels as well.

As well as this Christian Sturm says “I joined the Air Force because I thought it was a great way to get my life started”.

Most of his life had been in Hawaii, but he was bom in Lower Hutt when his mother flew from Germany, just a few weeks before he was born. He had lived in Vancouver B.C. Canada, Chicago and Boston. Every change meant another trip to New Zealand to stay with his nanny, who is Ngai Tahu. .Ngati Mamoe. His mother, however, is Te Ati Awa and Christian’s father is German.

Military recruiting officers aggressively promote the armed services to graduating high school students. Recruiters continuously visit high school classrooms, interview suitable candidates and visit parents homes to enlist prospective persons. Phone calls are made repeatedly for the students to make their final decisions. This can be quite intense and may proceed for months. Christian recalls.

“The recruiting officer was pushy about telling me to join the service, especially the good things. Then once you are committed then they tell you the bad things”. Before Christian graduated from Kahuku High School in June 1986, he had had his physical, been tested, and even sworn in already. His mother, however, had thought that he had ideas of going on a mission for his church first. But it is not uncommon for the Polynesians to join the armed forces. Forty students from Christian’s class applied for the Air Force, but only three were accepted. His Samoan neighbour’s son was in Thailand, and up the road another Maori boy was near Hamburg Germany in the Army.

Hawaii may have a lot going for it with its lifestyle but Christian says “I

could not wait to get off this “rock”. Of course this implies that it’s a chance to taste the life in the fast lane of the mainland USA. The youth are always itching to leave Hawaii for this so called glamorous and exciting lifestyle on the mainland. Parents also think experience on the Mainland makes them mentally tough as well. Benefits in the US Forces are excellent for educational pursuits, technical training and for retirement.. After twenty years service and the provisions for retirement with benefits are very attractive. However, the exacting standardised behaviour of military life is also very demanding. Angus Christy, another Maori, is a radiologist technician in the US Airforce, and is stationed in Texas. Like father like son, Christian certainly follows in his fathers footsteps as he was in the German Air Force stationed at Oldenburg North Germany.

Christian first went to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Lackland Air Force Base is a busy community. Spread over 7,000 acres in the southern portion of San Antonio, Texas with more than 1000 buildings, the base resembles a small city. It has a great medical center, a modem shopping center, theatres, restaurants, bowling alleys, swimming pools gas stations, and shady residential areas. The main purpose of Lackland is still

training. Dormitories and athletic fields cover much of the base.

The daily population of Lackland averages over 33,000 people both military and civilian. The majority of the students are at the Air Force Military Center to take the basic military training. Over 77,000 air force personnel are trained here annually. The demanding six weeks course gives the men and women who enlist in the Air Force a speedy transition from civilian to military life. For them Lackland is the “Gateway to the Air Force”.

Many of the others at Lackland are taking more advanced technical training in subjects ranging from law enforcement to electronics. More technical training courses are held at Sheppards Air Force Base in north Texas, where Christian attended school for 6 weeks.

Now Christian is stationed at England Air Force Base near Alexandria, Louisiana a much smaller base. “It is very much like where I live..all country and a small community” says Christian. He is in the Transport Unit. In contrast he is lonely for his old friends and the lifestyle of his close knit community. It is a far cry from his happy and lively Hawaiian surroundings. His best friends are Samoans, Sasi and Alope who are brothers. His other good friend, another Samoan boy Terry moved to Los Angeles. One aspect of his LDS lifestyle is continued because he can attend his Sunday meetings. One of the Air Force officers takes him to church, but Christian is the only Polynesian there, and certainly the only Maori for miles. This is very important to him to attend meetings and people in the military who are LDS are helpful, friendly and fellowship with each other.

His mother knows only too well as she worked for the US army in Frankfurt, Germany and is very familiar with the military lifestyle while in Germany for three years. She had many friends on different military installations, and visited many homes on the bases. Again most of her friends

were Samoans, and they entertained at many NCO clubs. Working at the military complex of the I.G. Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main was a most interesting experience. Christian was surprised that his mother knew so much about military life.

Christian is also an Eagle Scout..the highest award of the Boys Scout of America. He attained his prestigious scouting award at the age of thirteen. Much of the credit goes to Waha Tupaea Elkington who has assisted dozens of boys to become Eagle Scouts. In his new church ward Christian is the only Eagle Scout and so he will be assisting the programme in his ward, for all the youth there.

In 1982 as a reward for attaining his Eagle Scout award Christian attended the family reunion of Hori Kerei Taiaroa descendants at Taumutu near Christchurch. He represented his family. His dear Uncle Riki was in hospital at the time. From numerous visits to New Zealand Christian knew his Uncle Riki well, as well as his Aunty Ruku Arahanga and Aunty Lu Williams. “It’s good to see all my relations. They are always so happy to see me and are always making a fuss about me”.

But the main purpose for his visit was to collect all the whakapapa which he did.

In 1975 when his nanny Peti Parata died, Christian was living in Boston. He, his mother and sister planned to fly to Taumutu near Christchurch where his nanny was to be buried. Already the time difference in New Zealand was 17 hours ahead, and there was no time to waste. Christian’s father worked for Lufthansa Airlines at Logan International Airport, and their offices had not opened yet to cut the tickets. Twelve tickets had to be cut and only two hours before flying out. The family had only moved into a new house and things were not easy to get at. All the winter clothes were in the basement stored away as it was a New England sweltering hot summer’s day. New Zealand was recovering from a major winter storm.

Suddenly the local weather changed and it was heavy tropical torrential rain. The family had to drive thirty miles to the old bank for the money for the ticket, at a real snails pace. The day before the car had almost been in a serious accident on a rain slick freeway. The car had hydroplaned and spun around in a reverse direction facing an oncoming fast moving rig but escaped a collision miraculously. Christian kept asking “Are we going to

be able to catch the plane”. However at the United Airlines counter, Christian’s mother had to explain to the agent with only twenty minutes to flight departure that they were flying to Chicago, San Francisco, Honolulu, Nandi Fiji and Sydney then Christchurch New Zealand, but did not have the tickets yet. Five minutes before the plan departed, they still did not have the tickets, and so the agent called up the Lufthansa office.

Then the family rushed on the plane with security and agents waving frantically to hurry aboard. But unknown to the family they only had a one-way ticket as the return ones had not been cut yet. While the plane was backing out of the boarding gangway the Lufthansa agent rushed out and threw the rest of the tickets into the pilots opened cockpit window.

All the family in New Zealand could not believe that family could travel so far from Boston and make it like it was only down the road. It was even more unbelievable when the explanation of the circumstances it took to obtain the tickets as well.

Christians’ father lives in Boston still and so he and his sister Riamohiko fly nearly every summer to stay with him and they go to Philadelphia also where he works as well. From the age of eight Christian has travelled, even making the flight connection at O Hare International Airport of Chicago, the busiest airport in the world, by himself with only an hour to change flights. But with well rehearsed instructions from his parents, he and his sister always managed OK. They even flew to Frankfurt Germany by themselves

as unaccompanied minors with a 10 hour wait at the Los Angeles Airport, and airline friends looking out for them. On trips to Boston, Christian would be able to go up to the cockpit of the 747 or DC-10 while his father was working.

Oma or grandma from Germany would visit them while the family lived in Vancouver, Chicago and Hawaii. She doesn’t speak any English, but Christian and his sister are always trying hard to speak some German. Once she came from Germany to babysit while the family was living in Boston, so Christian’s mother could fly to New Zealand on family business. But Oma came nearly every other year to visit her only mokos.

When the Wi Te Kakakura Parata family reunion was held in December 1983 Christian and his family flew home to join all his whanaunga at Waikanae at Whakarongotai. The most memorable event was the boat trip to Kapiti Island by all the family, even though the sea was so cold. Especially when a good omen of the native birds like the weka suddenly appeared from the bush unperturbed by people gathered there.

During his junior year at Kahuku High School, Christian and his family were chosen to be the first host of the AFS programme to host a student from Jamaica, Donald Jackson. It was a big learning experience, even though Christian had been exposed to many cultures, he realised that he gained much from having another living as a family member for a period of twelve months.

Riamohiko, Christian’s younger sister is a cheerleader at Kahuku High School. She has been on the squad for two years performing for the football games as well as the basketball. Being a cheerleader, it is considered very popular for a girl to be selected.

Ria has also been in a hula halau for four years and travelled to many Hawaiian luaus performing in all special programmes with Polynesian dancing and loving the poi (to eat), taro breadfruit, raw fish, squid, seaweed and opihi (limpets). She has a real local set of taste buds but Christian has not acquired the taste at all. At the same time they both belonged to the local swim club and competed all over the island at Kamehameha Schools, Punahou and at Scholfield Barracks for three years. For two years Ria was a Girl Scout and was always on weekends camping up at the mountans learning survival skills and making crafts with other girls.