Erie Times News 7/21/11: LOVED BY EVERYBODY

"Friends remember local soldier killed in Afghanistan"

The flag at Millcreek American Legion Post 773 is at half staff for the man some thought might be its commander one day.

Staff Sgt. Kenneth R VanGiesen, 30, of Millcreek Township was an active member of the local post. He was killed Monday in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy outside of Bagram.

Post members got word of VanGiesen's death early Tuesday and immediately lowered the flag at the post home at 4109 W. 12th St., in his honor. The post color guard will escort VanGiesen's body to Kane, the sergeant's hometown, later this week, post Commander Ben Suchocki said.

"It is so sad," Suchocki said. "Ken was the future of this post. He was up and coming. I was hoping someday he'd be commander." VanGiesen's close friend, Adam Kernohan, doesn't doubt that. VanGiesen had made friends at the post and in Erie since moving to the area about six years ago, Kernohan said. "Ken was just a good guy. He was loved by everybody." Kernohan said. "He didn't have an enemy at all.

Van Giesen joined the Pennsylvania National Guard after his graduation from Kane Area High School in 1999 and had served four tours of active duty: in Germany, in Iraq with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and later with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team and most recently in Afghanistan, a Pennsylvania National Guard spokesman said.

Two more PA National Guard soldiers died along with VanGiesen in Monday's explosion. Funeral services for VanGiesen were incomplete Wednesday.

Aunt Lois sent this article to the family. "Thought you might be interested in this article that made the front page today. The Kane branch of the Van Giesens are not on our family tree but I remember going there to visit them once, stopping for pictures at the Kinzua Bridge."

Girls and their cars

Aunt Jeanie agreed to let me post this classic story --

Grandma Sophie in Jeanies painted car.

One night Amy and I were talking about the ice man and rag man in Erie and were trying to think of other memories from the past. We remembered the time we were going back home from the Lake Erie Bible Conference. Riding with me, besides Amy, were Barbara Shull and Janice Shreve. Here’s what happened:

Having saved enough money from my first job after graduating from school, I made my first major purchase; an old ’35 Ford coupé with rumble seat. Being fortunate in having a brother who was a car nut, he put fender skirts on it and painted it a deep maroon. And with its white sidewall tires it was a classy looking little car and my favorite of all the cars I’ve owned since then, but it also gave me the most trouble.

The most memorable experience I had in it was one evening when my sister, two girl friends and I were on our way home from summer camp. As it was too windy to ride in the back, we were all crowded in the front. Cars weren’t as spacious as they are now, so the girl next to me had to shift the gears.

Everything was fine until we started through the city (Erie) and had to stop at a traffic light. The motor stalled. We yelled to the driver behind to give us a push. At the next light the coupé stalled again. The man gave us another push, and we arrived at the next intersection just as the light turned red. This time our pusher, either weary of pushing us or in a hurry to be on his way, pulled around us and disappeared into the night.

I decided, once we were started by another kindly soul, to go through a quieter part of the city. Bypassing numerous stop signs, we went several blocks until I noticed a red light a few hundred feet away. Quickly, I turned down a dark street, only to find ourselves between two railroad tracks that intersected a few yards ahead. As the girls hopped out to push I told them that once the motor started I couldn’t stop, and they’d have to get in while the car was in motion. So once the ignition caught they ran alongside and jumped in one after the other. Thank heavens for running boards!

With all safely aboard and laughing till tears came to our eyes, we managed to get through the city without having to stop. Luckily, no policemen spotted us, as I not only went through stop signs but 2 or 3 red lights.

One of the girls lived midway between the city and my hometown. We stopped to let her off, and the inevitable happened. Her father, whom I believe knew less about mechanics then we did, came out to have a look. I can’t remember his lifting the hood to look at the motor, but he did shine his flash under the dashboard! Can’t imagine what he expected to find there.

After a few minutes we waved down a passing motorist who nudged us on our way.

As we neared our hometown the only problem facing us was in leaving off our other friend, as it was quite late and there’d be no one about to push us. Our friend decided to jump out while the car was in motion. Slowing down as much as I dared, she opened the door and jumped. We turned around to see her lying flat on her stomach in the middle of the deserted street, waving frantically for us to keep going, which we did.

Jeanie adds, "I wrote up this account and sent it to the Reader’s Digest. They paid for funny stories. But I never heard from them. During my early years in NYC I went to all kinds of evening classes. Once I took a writing class at the YWCA, and the teacher told us to bring in things we had written. So I brought in this story, and she liked it. She even read it to the class! I would love to have had a video of that experience!


LATER: Jeanie dug up these pictures of the actual car before it was painted. She said Uncle Ray painted it with a 1-1/2 inch brush! Wow, that must have taken a long time.



Hey, this looks like a completely different car!



Even later: Here's the Ford with an array of mechanics underneath. Hmmm. That's a later model.