Pug Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Last Saturday, May 17, 2008 Bill Painter 85 years old, atop Mt. Hood. No friggin' Palmer lift ride either. My climbing hero is my Dad! Quote
woodchips Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Your dad is my climbing hero too. In other news, we got my dad down his first black diamond run on his 65th birthday this winter. Quote
Sherri Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Reminds me of a poem written by my partner's 90 yr old mother(a former pilot and mountain climber): "This very place, arrived at by another trail-- why, it wouldn't be the same at all!" Well done! Quote
trumpetsailor Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Judging by the Whippet - did he ski home? Congrats! I hope everyone is as fortunate! . Quote
mkporwit Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Pug, that's pretty awesome that your dad was able to pull that off. I hope to be able to still eat solid food and not be in a wheelchair at age 85, let alone be climbing. Why did you refer to him as Pu239 man? Quote
mkporwit Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Perhaps it is a reference of Plutonium 239? Well yeah DPS, no shit... but why plutonium? Did he work at Hanford? Does he glow in the dark? Does he have an atomic-powered pacemaker? Maybe he puts the stuff on his wheaties? Quote
Pug Posted May 23, 2008 Author Posted May 23, 2008 Bill is a WWII combat veteran in the infantry in the North African, European, and Pacific theaters, and a retired 35-year Hanford worker. His last job there was manager of the PFP, Plutonium Finishing Plant. He climbed Hood last week with his 2 sons and one of his granddaughters. Bill set the age record on Rainier in 2004 and has raised-the-bar each year since; although he would rather be noted for something besides being "old and stubborn". Quote
el jefe Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 an amazing man who has lead an amazing life. your dad sounds like quite a guy! Quote
spotly Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Your Dad is awesome. He doesn't look (or act) anywhere near his age. What a cool thing to have in common between family members. Simple - I like this! Reminds me of a poem written by my partner's 90 yr old mother(a former pilot and mountain climber): "This very place, arrived at by another trail-- why, it wouldn't be the same at all!" Well done! Quote
sobo Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Bill is a WWII combat veteran in the infantry in the North African, European, and Pacific theaters, and a retired 35-year Hanford worker. His last job there was manager of the PFP, Plutonium Finishing Plant. He climbed Hood last week with his 2 sons and one of his granddaughters. Bill set the age record on Rainier in 2004 and has raised-the-bar each year since; although he would rather be noted for something besides being "old and stubborn". Pug, I know of your father through his exploits, year after year, on Rainier. Quite impressive. He's a local legend here in the TC, as I'm sure you know. Gets a write-up every year in the Tri-Titty Herald, a write-up this year in The Columbian magazine, regular fixture on Badger Mountain, etc. What I did not know and find rather intriguing is that he served in combat on not one, not two, but three continents in WWII. Surely, that must be some sort of record for a combat line soldier, too, yes? Anything you can share about that would be appreciated. I have a curiousness about all things WWII... Quote
sobo Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Perhaps it is a reference of Plutonium 239? Well yeah DPS, no shit... but why plutonium? Did he work at Hanford? Does he glow in the dark? Does he have an atomic-powered pacemaker? Maybe he puts the stuff on his wheaties? perhaps this might help explain... Pug's post from two weeks ago Quote
mkporwit Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 What I did not know and find rather intriguing is that he served in combat on not one, not two, but three continents in WWII. Yeah, that is kind of unusual. Most units served in either the North African/European campaign, OR the Pacific campaign. Then gain, the US repositioned some units to the Pacific theater after the capitulation of Germany, in anticipation of an invasion of Japan. Maybe Pug's father was in one of those units? Quote
Bug Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 As I remember reading, Africa did not go well at first. When our troops moved to Italy, they were successful thanks in large part to the 10th mountain division, but when we started moving north, the African troops were given a rest and some were redeployed after the rest period. Quote
Stefan Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 fricken a. thanks for breaking our stereotyping. Quote
Pug Posted May 23, 2008 Author Posted May 23, 2008 re: trumpetsailor, on noticing the whippet No, Bill no longer skis. In his ancientness and decrepitude he was lost some of his balance, and climbs with two poles, one equipped with a whippet for arrest. When Bill started skiing, during the Great Depression, there were two types of skiing in the Wasatch range, Nordic, which consisted of ski-jumping at the college hill, and Alpine, which was very much what we now call randonee. Elk hide strips were tacked to the bottom of the wooden skis to allow the skiers to "skin-up and ski down. One long alpen-pole was used, often between your legs on downhills. Teenaged Bill ordered a steel-edges kit from a magazine. The kit consisted of a notched woodplane to cut a groove in the edge of the ski, 4 rolls of metal edges, with drilled and countersunk holes every few inches, and small flat-head wood screws. Once installed, Bill had the first metal-edged skis in the Cache valley. Quote
sobo Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 That's pretty damned cool about the first metal edges. Trendsetting! What can you tell us about his military service? Quote
Pug Posted May 23, 2008 Author Posted May 23, 2008 Bill single-handedly defeated the Axis powers! Actually: His involvement in North Africa was limited, mostly herding POW's around. Then he was stationed in England for the big invasion. He hit Normandy at D+8 (eight days after D-Day) and advanced through France. The movie "Saving Private Ryan" gave Bill acid-flashbacks. After the capitulation of Germany, he was shipped via the Panama canal to Okinawa to be part of the Japanese invasion. Bill's commander wanted to be like MacArthur in the Philippines, and be the first GI to set foot on the Japanese mainland. Of course his men all thought he was f'n insane. After 2 A-bombs, and the Missouri, Japanese planes broadcast and dropped leaflets on Okinawa. 30,000 Japanese soldiers came out of the jungle to surrender. Quote
billbob Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I want to be that strong and tough when I'm 85! Or 75. You guys must be damn proud and lucky to have him around. Freakin amazing guy. Cherish every day. Quote
sobo Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Thanks, Pug, for that information about your dad's service. And thank him for me as well for his service to this country. Quote
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