LJ Article: Young Rotarians Build 17th Home

(Read article on La Jolla Light website)

Members of Interact service clubs at The Bishop’s School and La Jolla High built a home for a family in Tijuana. Courtesy Photo

Members of Rotary’s youth Interact community service clubs at The Bishop’s School and La Jolla High, along with their parents and three members of Rotary Club of La Jolla, constructed a new home for an impoverished Tijuana family Oct. 27. The home replaced the family’s dirt-floor shelter.

Rotary volunteers assembled the wood frame home in seven hours, from the first nail to completion, which included paint and a matching dog house for the family pet.

About $3,900 in building materials was raised by Interact students, La Jollans and the Rotary Club of La Jolla. It was the 17th home constructed by the two Interact clubs during the past five years.

Interact clubs are high school student community service organizations sponsored and led by local Rotary clubs.

To contribute to the clubs’ home-building fund, contact Cal Mann at (858) 336-2557 or e-mail calmann@mac.com

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March 19, 2013 Speaker: General Bob Cardenas – WWII bomber pilot

Brigadier General Robert L. “Bob” Cardenas, USAF (retired)Test Pilot, Combat Leader in both Bombers and Fighters as well as Commander of the Air Force Special Operations Force. He has flown over 60 different aircraft in his career. He was shot down and eluded capture, making it to Switzerland, where he was repatriated to England.  Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during his service in WWII.  He flew the B 29 that dropped Chuck Yaeger when he broke the sound barrier in the X-1.  Also piloted the experimental flying wing down Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington D.C. at the request of President Truman.

General Cardenas began his military career as a Private in the Army Cost Artillery, then became a pilot as a Cadet in the Army Air Corps. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in July 1941 and in 1942 was sent to 29 Palms, CA to establish an Army Air Corps Glider School.

In 1944 he flew combat missions in B-24 Liberators in the skies over Germany, He was shot down on his 20th mission but was not captured. He escaped into Switzerland and then into France prior to D Day. He was later flown out back to England and to a rehabilitation center in the US. He became a test pilot after his graduation in 1945 from the Flight Performance School at Vandalia, Ohio.

He participated in the flight test evaluation of the German jet fighter ME-262 and the Arado 234 bomber. In 1947 Cardenas was a key member of the X-1 supersonic project.

Major Cardenas was the Officer In Charge Of Operations and command pilot of the B-29 that launched Captain Charles Yeager into the realm of supersonic flight.

In 1948, he was assigned as Officer in charge of Flight Test Division projects at Muroc AB and as Chief Air Force test pilot on the YB-49 flying wing project. After completion of the Performance Phase II tests he checked out Captain Glen Edwards in the YB-49 on May 20 & 21st. He then received orders to USC for completion of his Aeronautical Engineering degree. He was ordered back 15 days later, after the crash of the YB-49 and loss of the crew, in order to complete the Stability & Control Phase in the remaining YB-49 aircraft.In November 1948 he gave a final briefing to a Board of General Officers at Patterson AFB on the results of the test program. In January 1949 he was ordered to fly the YB-49 from Muroc AB to Andrews AFB in Washington for President Truman’s Air Show. The transcontinental non-stop flight set a record time of 4 hours and 5 minutes.

During the Korean War, Cardenas was at Wright Field and Edwards AFB testing new jet fighters and bombers. He was then Commander of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing at Naha AB on Okinawa after completion of Air War College. On his return to the States he was assigned to the Pentagon as Chief of the Aircraft and Missiles Program Division.

From the Pentagon, he was assigned as Chief of the Special Operations Division at US Strike Command Headquarters in Tampa, Florida. In 1962 he led a joint Army & Air Force Special Force into the Kashmir, India for the purpose of evaluating and improving high altitude resupply drops in the Himalayan Mountains. He used these techniques to equip forces and prevented an incursion of Chinese through the Himalayas linking into East Pakistan.

He was then sent back to Okinawa as Commander of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kadena AFB. After the Gulf of Tonkin crisis he flew F-105 combat missions from Korat, Thailand over North Vietnam. He returned to the US to command the 835th Air Division at McConnell AFB, training F-105 crews for combat in Vietnam.

He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1968 and placed in Command of the Air Force Special Operations Force at Eglin & Hurlburt AFB, Florida. On October 12, 2002 his contributions to the development of Special Forces was recognized by induction into the Air Commando Hall of Fame.
He went on to be assigned in Europe as Vice Commander of the 16th Air Force in Spain. It was there that he had the dubious honor of negotiating with Muammar Gadhafi the withdrawal of US forces from Wheelus AFB in Libya.

As the US Deputy to Live Oak in Belgium his responsibility to SACEUR was to maintain open corridors to Berlin by calling the Soviets bluff to block travel to Berlin by land, air or rail. Prior to his retirement in June 1973, General Cardenas served as the Chief of the JL Division of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (JSTPS) where he was responsible for the development of the Joint Stategic Target List of the US nuclear War Plan (SIOP).

Cardenas has been honored by the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Presidential Citation. Foreign decorations include the Spanish Grand Legion of Aeronautical Merit with Sash & Dagger.

From 1973 until 1983, Cardenas worked as an Executive in private industry. In 1983 he was appointed to the White House as the California coordinator for President Reagan’s Southwest Boarder Economic Action Group. He resigned in 1985 and accepted an appointment by Governor Dukemejian as Chairman of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Advisory Group as well as a member of the California Council of Criminal Justice.

In 1987 the Governor appointed the General to the California Veterans Board where he was later elected to be Chairman of the Board that is the policymaking body for the California Department of Veterans Affairs. He left in 1993 to serve as Chairman of the San Diego United Veterans Council and as a Director on the Board of the Veterans Memorial Center & Museum.

On April 15, 1993 the University of New Mexico, College of Engineering, honored him for his outstanding Professional contributions and leadership. The USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB honored the General on December 10, 1994 as a “Distinguished Alumnus” and on September 1995 he was inducted into the “Aerospace Walk of Honor” at Lancaster, California.

The Sigma Chi fraternity awarded him the “Significant Sig” medal during their 1995 National Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Currently he serves as a member of the San Diego Mayor’s Veteran Advisory Board, Chairman of the Veterans Memorial Museum & Center as well as a Trustee of the Flight Test Historical Foundation at Edwards AFB.

Gen. Cardenas reports when he received Sigma Chi’s award, it was significant to him as this is a prestigious and long time standing institution; as they celebrated their 150th anniversary in June 2005. The ceremony was held near it’s birthplace, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

To celebrate this milestone of 150 years of existence, they selected 150 members of Sigma Chi to be members of the Significant Sigma Chi Hall of Fame”. He says he was extremely humbled to have been selected, and more so when he saw who the other 149 were.

He was recently appointed By the VA Secretary Anthony Principi to the VA Memorials and Cemetery Committee in Washington. It is a statutory Advisory Committee that meets in Washington and other locations.

General Cardenas lives at home with his wife Gladys and their children and grandchildren in San Diego, California.

March 12, 2013 Speaker: Larry Parsons, Ph.D., The Scripps Research Institute

Larry Parsons, Ph.D.’s research is focused on the neurochemical mechanisms contributing to drug reward, dependence and relapse with a goal of identifying novel pharmacotherapeutic targets for addiction. Current projects seek to characterize alterations in motivation, affective state and cognitive function resulting from long-term drug exposure with a particular focus on dependence-related disruptions in the function and influence of the endogenous cannabinoid system.

Education

Ph.D., Emory University, 1992
Professional Experience

1988 B.A. in Chemistry, Whitman College
1992 Ph.D. in Chemistry, Emory University
1992 – 1995 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute
1995 – 1998 Senior Research Associate, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute
1998 – 2003 Assistant Professor, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute
2003 – 2009 Associate Professor, Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Behavior, The Scripps Research Institute
2010 – Associate Professor with Tenure, Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Behavior, The Scripps Research Institute

Awards & Professional Activities

1992 Charles T. Lester Award for excellence in chemistry research
1994 IUPHAR Young Investigator Award
1996 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) Young Investigator Award
2006 Editorial board member, Alcohol
2005 Membership on the NIH-CSR Neurotoxicology and Alcohol panel
2008 Elected to full membership of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
2008 Keynote Lecture, Neuropsychopharmacology Symposium, Vrije University, Amsterdam
2009 Plenary Lecture, annual meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society
2011 Editorial board member, Neuropharmacology

March 5, 2013 Speaker: Steve Pisanos, WWII & Vietnam Fighter Pilot

He has been shot down over Europe, evaded capture and eventually got back to England.  He  was  awarded  the Distinguished Flying Cross 5 times.   He was born in Greece and was the first person to be naturalized as a US citizen on foreign soil.  The ceremony was attended by Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Morrow.

Spiros Pisanos (now Steven Pisanos) was born in Athens in November 1920 into a family that included five boys and one girl. As a youth he became fascinated with aviation and helped at the nearby Tatoi aerodrome.

He arrived in the US in early 1938 after jumping ship from a Greek freighter, got employment, taught himself English, and had his pilot’s license by late 1940. In 1941 he joined the Royal Air Force under a special program for allied volunteers. After flight training he flew British and American fighter aircraft against coastal targets with the nickname “Steve” or “The flying Greek.” He received his US citizenship after joining one of the American Eagles RAF volunteer squadrons, and was integrated into the US Army Air Forces in September 1942.

Lt Pisanos’ first confirmed aircraft kill was in May 1942 in a P-47. On May 5, 1944 while on a bomber escort mission in a P-51B, he achieved four confirmed aircraft kills bringing his total to 10. On the return, his aircraft had mechanical problems and he crash-landed near Le Havre, France, sustaining injuries. He avoided capture for five days and was sheltered by the French Resistance. Over the next several months he participated in a number of dangerous nighttime sabotage missions before Paris was liberated in August 1944. His combat flying in World War II totaled 300 hours over 110 missions.

In September 1944 he returned to the US and became a test pilot flying captured enemy aircraft and early jet fighters. He was discharged in April 1946 and after a short term as a civilian pilot he was recalled to active duty in the USAF in October 1948. He married his sweetheart Sophie in June 1946 and they had two children, Jeff and Diane. His USAF career included assignments in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, in the pilot and missile fields, and lastly as Chief of the USAF military assistance mission to Greece.

His significant military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, the French Croix de Guerre and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor. After retirement from the USAF in November 1973, Steve lived briefly in Kansas until moving with his family to San Diego in 1978. He enjoys writing, traveling and playing golf. He is a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the International Aviation Hall of Fame.

February 19, 2013 Speaker: Miko Peled – Author of “The General’s Son”

“Miko Peled is a peace activist who dares to say in public what others still choose to deny. He has credibility, so when he debunks myths that Jews around the world hold with blind loyalty, people listen. Miko was born in Jerusalem in 1961 into a well known Zionist family. His grandfather, Dr. Avraham Katsnelson was a Zionist leader and signer on the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His father, Matti Peled was a young officer in the war of 1948 and a general in the war of 1967 when Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and the Sinai.

Miko’s unlikely opinions reflect his father’s legacy. General Peled was a war hero turned peacemaker. The general clearly stated that contrary to claims made later, the 1967 war was one of choice, and not because there was no existential threat to the state of Israel. He then dedicated his life to the achievement of Israeli Palestinian peace.

The political becomes personal with Miko’s stories. He might have learned compassion from his mother who, in 1948, refused the offer of an Arab home in West Jerusalem with the understanding that the family who lived there were now forced to live in a refugee camp. As the daughter of one of the signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Miko’s mother could have used her position of entitlement to get a lovely home for herself and her family. But she said, “No.”

Miko grew up in Jerusalem, a multi-ethnic city, part of a system that conspired to keep Palestinians and Israelis separate. The Arabs of Israel, as the Palestinians are called– the laborers, janitors, cooks, etc. are indistinguishable from Arabs across the Middle East and as such had no special connection to Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Lydda, Haifa, Jerusalem or any other part of the land of Israel. Miko had to leave Israel before he made his first Palestinian friend, the result of his participation in a dialogue group in California. He was 39.

February 13, 2013 Speaker: Tom Garfinkel, President & CEO, San Diego Padres

Tom Garfinkel was named to the post of president and chief operating officer of the San Diego Padres in April 2009, and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in April, 2012.

Since his arrival, he has built a leadership team that has implemented substantial positive change to the organization. The team was recognized in a random Sports Business Journal survey for having the number one ticket sales and service team in baseball in both 2011 and 2012. Following Major League Baseball’s lead, the Padres became the first team to put together a comprehensive initiative to build awareness for Stand Up 2 Cancer, raising over $300,000 in 2010 alone. Garfinkel also led the continuation and expansion of the Padres long-standing Military appreciation programs, and created a program to provide authentic Padres jerseys and hats from every era for over 800 teams and 11,000 little leaguers in the San Diego area.

Prior to joining the Padres, Garfinkel was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks. During his tenure there, he built a long-term strategic plan for the franchise, led the re-branding of the Club and updating of Chase Field, and led a team that produced the highest controllable revenues in the franchise’s history in 2008.

Prior to joining the Diamondbacks, Garfinkel spent five years with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams as executive vice president, overseeing all business operations of the 400-employee company. He negotiated more than $500 million in sponsorship and driver contracts that resulted in a 280 percent increase of annual company revenue during his tenure. While Garfinkel was at Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, the organization won two championships and grew to include three NASCAR Nextel Cup teams, one Busch Series team, two IndyCar teams and one Grand-Am team.
Garfinkel’s background also includes time at Texaco, Inc., where he managed sponsorship and corporate branding, and at Miller Brewing Company in strategic marketing and sales.

Garfinkel earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Master of Business Administration from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

February 5, 2013 Speaker: Dean “Diz” Laird, WWII Pilot, US Navy Ace

The following is excerpted from SD U/T article:  “WWII pilot defeated German and Japanese foes, Ace played role when San Diego became naval aviation “center of universe” ” Read complete article here.

Dean “Diz” Laird is a legend, the only known U.S. Navy ace to shoot down both German and Japanese planes during World War II. Despite close calls — once, his shot-up plane skidded across an aircraft carrier’s flight deck — Diz possessed a fighter pilot’s essential attribute: Supreme self-confidence.

Growing up in rural Placer County, 20 miles east of Sacramento, Laird wanted to follow in the contrail of his older brother, an Army Air Corps pilot. But a friend persuaded the lean college baseball player with 20/10 vision to join the Navy. The fleet’s long-reigning kings — battleships — were being overthrown by a mighty warship that had debuted at the close of World War I. By the time Laird won his flying wings in August 1942, American aircraft carriers were leading task forces in the Pacific and Atlantic.

The Distinguished Flying Cross 

Created by an act of Congress in 1926, the DFC is a four-bladed propeller symbolizing flight superimposed on a bronze cross symbolizing sacrifice. It hangs from a ribbon of red, white and blue.

One of the first recipients was Charles Lindbergh for flying solo across the Atlantic in May 1927. His plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” was built in San Diego.

Creators of the DFC, remembering the dogfight derring-do of World War I aces, always envisioned it would be awarded not just to aviation pioneers, but also to combat giants. World War II gave them the avenue.

 

January 8, 2013 Speaker: Rauni King – Co-Founder & Director, Programs & Planning, Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, La Jolla

Rauni Prittinen King, RN, BSN, MIH, HNB-BC, CHTP/I
La Jolla, CA

Rauni Prittinen King is the Co-Founder and Director of Programs and Planning at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, California.  She is the former Nurse Case Manager for the Scripps Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.  Rauni has over 20 years of experience in critical care nursing.

Rauni is certified in Holistic Nursing and is aCertified Healing Touch practitioner and instructor. She has been coordinating Healing Touch workshops at Scripps Hospitals since 1993. Rauni teaches Healing Touch, designs Integrative and Holistic Medicine conferences for the public, physicians and other health care providers.

Rauni received a BSN cum laude from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Integrative Health from National University.  She also has a degree in Interior Design. She is certified in hypnotherapy, a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association and Healing Touch International. She provides holistic consultations, gives presentations and writes about Integrative Medicine, Lifestyle Change and Healing Environments in the USA, Canada and Europe. She teaches HT in Europe, primarily her native Finland, and most recently taught level one to 55 nursing students and their instructor at the Sri Narayani Hospital and Research Centre in India. The hospital has an affiliated College of Nursing, in which I have been doing charity work. Teaching in India was a most rewarding experience.

Rauni integrates complementary healing with traditional medicine and sees herself as a bridge in this process.

December 4, 2012 Speaker: Hon. Robert J. Trentacosta, Judge, SD Superior Court

Judge Trentacosta is the Presiding Judge of the San Diego Superior Court. Formerly, he held multiple leadership positions within the court including: Assistant Presiding Judge, Supervising Criminal Judge and Supervising Judge of the South County Division.

• In January 2012, Judge Trentacosta was appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to the position of Vice-Chair of the Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, comprised of presiding judges from the 58 counties in the State of California.
• From 2010 to 2011, Judge Trentacosta served as the Chairperson of the statewide California Judges Association Judicial Ethics Committee.
• Formerly, Judge Trentacosta was the President of the Plaintiffs’ Trial Bar, the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (2000)
• President of the San Diego Inn of Court, College of Advocacy (1997).
• Master in the Louis Welsh Inn of Court and Adjunct Professor of “Trial Practice” law at California Western Law School.
• Has taught trial and deposition techniques for CEB, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and other Organizations and law schools.
• He was an instructor of Advanced Traffic Collision Investigation at the San Diego Police Academy from 1985 to 2000.
• He is a frequent guest lecturer for both State and local trial lawyer organizations.

November 27, 2012 Speaker: Jim Bregante, History of San Diego Waterfront/Little Italy

You’re invited to take a historical journey along the waterfront and Little Italy, from the 1930’s to present, with guest speaker and native San Diegan Jim Bregante who is a Docent for the San Diego Maritime Museum, a member of the San Diego History Center and the Italian Historical Society of San Diego.

Join us as Jim shares his experiences while growing up in Little Italy, near all the vibrant waterfront life, featuring pictures from historical and family archives depicting his family’s start in the fishing industry