 This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. And welcome to another edition of Hawaii in Uniform, I'm Calvin and thank you for joining us. For those of you who may not have seen the program before here, we try to concentrate on information and related matters concerning the veterans and the military because they're a very important part of what's happening over here. Today I have a guest that many of you probably know or heard of or even attended some of his events, but one of the things that, as far as history is concerned, history is told in a lot of different ways. And one of the best ways is through song. Right now I want to introduce to the program is to Gordon Freitas and thank you for joining us. Hey, Aloha. Good. May I call you Gordon? Oh, you can. That's a good thing to call me. Okay. Before we get into some of the heavier stuff, a little bit about your background because I've known you for a while and I'm surprised to learn even more about you. But if you can share your military history and your family, especially with your dad, I'm sure that'd be appreciated. The military for us as a family, it's our Ohana in a week, I embraced the military. It started out my dad, probably back from the 51 or so, he jumped in to Korea, he was a Korean veteran. Yeah. He was, he went all the way up Alexander Freitas, he was command sergeant major. His career took him to the point where he was up for the command sergeant major of the United States Army. Yeah. So he moved up in his career and on the tail of him, my mom, my brother, my sister, Daryl Jean and my brother, Alexander Jr., we were the military brats. So there's a whole relationship and a whole topic in itself, you know, the children that get removed periodically because of their father's sense of orders. So we moved up as military brats, my dad said, you can be wherever you want in life. My mother kept the Hawaiian culture alive, but wherever we were at, we were from places from Georgia, Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, El Paso, Texas, out at Bakes Field, and we were up in Colorado Springs at Fountain Fort Carson, that area. My dad eventually ended up a Northwest Command Sergeant Major in Washington, out at Tacoma, Fort Lewis. And then they asked him where he wanted to be and he took over the Westcom position right here in Oahu. So for us, my father had told us in high school, he said, I got a great plan for you. You put in your 20 years in the service and you come out, you'll be covered medically and you'll have a pension for wherever you're going to live and you can be whatever you want. You can be the best bum ever. What a pension. Yeah. He said, you just promised me you're going to be the best bum, whatever. I didn't know what he was saying because I chose to become a musician. I always had been a Hawaiian musician in front of the house or playing rock and roll or anything. I just wanted to play guitar. So I did what he wanted. I put in that 21 years in the Navy, came out as a Navy chief and my brother retired also. He's a Apache helicopter pilot. Yeah. It's all the way up selected for W-5. So we all went all the way up to the top, but when you're the Navy chief, the chief's a little bit different. The Navy's a little bit different. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. It was great people, all the folks, all the guys that I've worked with in the Navy. Yeah. With your history, as far as your family, you're going back, did a little bit about that? Well, what gave you the gumption to be a Navy chief is when your father is the command sergeant major, and as you grew up, you realize that what he was running from was something really powerful. Yeah. My grandfather, Manufredes Portugese, his family, his father and mother came from Madera from Portugal and came over on a vote, and they became the people who were the Paneol Hawaiian Combois. My dad grew up here with my grandpa's sidekick right there from the beginning. Yeah. And I think he basically cites that he needed to get away from how hard it was to just be the cowboy kid. From seven years old, he'd be out in the middle of the road waving off cows. Yeah. And my grandmother's brother today even asked, why does he have to do that? But he was tough. My dad was tough. And it's probably all the Hawaiian history, which is why I write a lot of Hawaiian cowboy songs, and I kind of stick to that. Yeah. Well, I know that you've had many songs that you've written concerning the military, VP, 60s. Oh, yeah. VP's was interesting because I've never actually, I've never been on a sign to a ship. Yeah. Never once. My whole career is centered around the hunting, the nuclear submarine thing. Yeah. As long as there's warheads rolling around and nobody knows where they are, or you can't really sleep at night, right? So the P-3 was such an incredible aircraft. Same four engines that are on a C-130, so turned upside down. So basically, you got, from the time I came into Navy as an electronic signation, I worked most of that toward that mission of keeping the sea lanes free. It was all about the P-3. Yeah. Like I say, it's part of history that a lot of people really don't know about you anyhow. Yeah. P-3s don't go on ships. That's true. But they're always at the edge. They don't go beyond the runway reef, you know, puts the P-3 where it normally is. You know, just, I take in context, I write about stuff where, that I'm doing basically, or things that I'm seeing. Okay. One of the things that, being a veteran, I know recently, well this week in fact, President Trump had made some changes in the VA, fired a lot of people, everything else. I think that here in Hawaii, like I say, there was some problems that we face, you know. But not to the extent, I think, over in the mainland. And what is your take? I mean, because even though certain things need to be addressed, I like to also talk about the positive things, because we have a lot of good people over here in the system working with what they have, you know, the resources that they have. So what's your experience, and what do you think other veterans think? I'm not going to tell you. When you look on social media, you see a lot of horrible things that are going on, like veterans lying on the floor and waiting room and people not attending to them, all these things. But I think the main number one difference in Hawaii, we have great people in Hawaii. Yeah. And I don't care if you were a transplant, came to Hawaii or whatever. Once a Loja spirit is infused in you, and suddenly this is your home, that Loja spirit is yours genuinely. And I have been deep into the VA system, even, you know, as a service-connected veteran, and everyone, including the tripler side of the staff, everybody in the VA system here, I mean, has been just incredibly full of Loja and expertise, you know, and they deliver it with a lot of Loja, too. Yeah. So I can't say anything bad about them. They've been awesome. Okay. You know, like I say every once in a while, we touch on some of the systemic problems. Oh, yeah. There's something you got to fix. You got to fix it. You got to fix it, yeah. But for the most part, you know, once you get in the system, as you mentioned, with the treatment and everything else, a lot of them go above and beyond the call of duty, you know, when they, you know, when they're serving. I've been in since 95, and I've experienced all the people they contract out to, you know, you get to go see the civilian side of the house or people that they have. If they find a problem, you know, do you tell them? And I see that they actually, you know, go after to fix those things. I've just, I've seen that, you know, there's no place for you problems, so. No, I think it's got to stay on top of it. You know, if you see something wrong, you know, it helps to speak up. Don't just complain about it and write it on Facebook, you know. It's not going to help. Yeah. Come up with a solution. Not a word, but I can't use it on TV. But anyhow. Yeah. Well, like I said today, I did my solid protest. I got on the bus and I took a seat. You know, I just, I rode the bus. I loved the guy's seat. It was just. So, but, again, with your music, a lot of things have started with the historic military connection anyhow. What are some of the things that influence you when you do write? I mean, because I've met a lot of, I mean, vets over here that have some amazing stories. I mean, things you don't read in the history books, you know. Right, right. Is there anything or anyone that is, that stands out in your career as a songwriter that you can think of? All in the military side? Yeah. You know, I was fortunate to meet this guy, Alexander Jefferson. Do you know him? He was one of Tuskegee Airmen. Oh, yeah. I met him. Yeah. And I met him through my friend Keith Haugen. And Keith Haugen is such a great writer, too. He was an army sergeant photographer. Also was with the newspaper here. And for the longest time, he was an advisor, you know, the guy that worked right alongside with the governors, like Arayoshi and all these people. But from the beginning of time, he was a huge fan, photographer and great person that just puts things together. He was the one that kind of guided me toward taking songs I wrote about the Arizona Memorial. And we put it together in a project called Pearl Harbor Songs. And it was actually up in the anthology category. Yeah. At the Huckle Awards. So it's just a matter that we do things that have some kind of purpose. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor was important. Yeah. So for me, that's what's important. Most of my friends think that it's kind of boring while they're crooning and feeling the urge to sing these love songs and do what the people or the fat is at the time. I'm getting most of my songs from like an encyclopedia or the news or somebody telling me a story. That's kind of where it goes for me, you know. You know, it sounds like a love, a story in a way. A love of the culture, a love of love story. There are a lot of people who don't have a voice. They don't have a voice. It's kind of interesting because that voice, what they told me is so powerful. And so I just take that in a storyteller sense and I'm a folk artist. They say what genre music you're in. Probably The Kiss of Death, you know, the four letter word starts with folk, you're dead. You're never going to happen on a radio. I don't even think some of the major guys who are folk artists would refer to themselves as folk artists. But a folk artist entails the music you play for the people, about the people. And I like that space. Yeah. As we say, they're folks. Yeah, they're folks. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Also, what's coming up in the future for you as far as new endeavors, playing on radio to new books, new albums coming up? Well, you know, I am always writing. I'm always writing and putting it together. I think I have a project coming up. I have one, a Paniolo Hawaiian project. Yeah. Based solely on promoting the history. In our family tree is Ikura Purdy. If you look him up, he's actually the guy they made a statue of up in Waimea, the Hawaiian cowboy that won the World Steer Rope Championships back in 1908. Yeah. Yeah. He was the World Steer Rope Champion and he broke the steerer down and tied it up in 56 seconds. Yeah. So I sing songs about that just to keep that thought alive. You know? I sing songs about the Navy stuff. Retirement songs about the Navy. Songs about chasing submarines. You know? Not just the red October, but one named after all the months of the year. You know? I've got a long name painted along the hall. But for me, I think, like you suggested, a lot of people have, you know, write a book or get with some friends and write a book about all these people. One thing a lot of people are afraid to express themselves for fear of being judged or whatever. You know? Yeah. But I think sometimes you got to take the chance. You know? We just express yourself because it's the same thing you're feeling. Someone else may be feeling the same time, you know? So I'm bolding them to go ahead and speak up. And again, what I look at is the lines of communications are open, you know? At least you have a point of reference when you're talking to someone. If you keep your mouth shut and don't say anything and people really don't know where you're coming from, you know? So there is no point of reference, you know? So I think, you know, like as I mentioned before, I really admire individuals who have the talent to, you know, be able to express themselves or the feelings of others, you know? And you do a great job of them. Yeah. I listen to some incredible people with some incredible stories. I mean, for myself, it's almost like different aspects. It's like people say, you must have lived a bunch of lifetimes. What if you're Hawaiian? There's this whole Hawaiian culture. My mom made sure we had a Hawaiian house. You know? I mean, my friends would come over in Colorado and say, we're going to go eat at the Freitas house. You know, they just whip the leaves open like this and then there's meat in there and it's really good. And then they play music with everything that's hanging on the wall. They just put it off and start hitting bamboo sticks and beating on gourds and stuff. Anything that can carry it too, you know? Anything that can carry it too, you know? We're going to eat at the Freitas house. Okay. We're going to have to take a break in a few moments. When we come back, we're going to continue the conversation. You got me emotional getting tears in my eyes and stuff. We're going to eat at the Freitas house. Yeah, my feminine side, whatever. Anyhow, we're going to take a short break and when we come back, we're going to continue our conversation. And I think you're going to grace us with a song or two. Oh, absolutely. Okay. A bigger one. Maybe one. Yeah. Right one while we take the break. Okay. Anyhow, we're going to take a break. I'm Peter McGinnis. This is a live from New York City, Hawaii in uniform. And thank you for staying tuned. Hi, I'm Pete McGinnis Mark. And every Monday at one o'clock, I present think tech Hawaii's research in Manila, where we bring together researchers from across the campus to describe a whole series of scientifically interesting topics of interest both to Hawaii and around the world. So hopefully you can join me research in Manila. Okay, and you're back with me and Mr. Gordon Freitas, and it got so many questions, like I said, so we don't have enough time to ask all, you know, for me to get into a lot of stuff. But one thing I do want to cover before you racist with a song, I think you just wrote one in the last 30 seconds, but it's like, with the military today, what do you see the changes of the past and the present and possibly the future and the attitudes? I think we were a solid military from the beginning. Yeah. Lots of high-tech now and things and I mean personally, my own son, when he grows up, I would want him to be a drone tech before he was an infantryman, you know, so he can play all the Minecraft and Plants vs. Zombies he wants on Xbox. Right. Three-year-old monster. But I think we get inundated with a lot of other issues that consume us, like how many different uniform changes can happen to the Navy? Yeah. You know, how much bluer camouflage can it get to hide out in the water? I don't know. I just, I've seen and heard problems, you know, just not too different than they were before. Right. Everything centered around a budget. Yeah, almost. Okay, I'll tell you what, since I'm not musical in any form or fashion, the only thing musical I know how to play is a radio, but if you could, could you do something for us? Maybe, this isn't really short, just, you know, how about a song about the service in Arizona, maybe something like that? Well, you know, I have a song about me and a song about Calvin, yeah. My grandma, she had, she, I'll play these little excerpts, like when I write songs, I think about stuff, my grandmother had dementia, really bad. My grandfather passed away. She couldn't even recognize that he was in a casket, so she asked him where his time's who it was. Yeah. So I basically, I put together a song to remember her girl's born on her birthday, and so they went something like this. My grandpa died, grandma asked, pretend who passed away. So we walked through us to the casket and found grandpa on display. She broke right down and she cried that day, about 27 times. She kept him in her heart, but she didn't lost him. He forgot about the time she reached her peak. I said, all that hurt diminished by memo. I do that kind of stuff. I do the balladier stuff. And this would be a song about the Arizona. There's a landmark, perched above, a ship below, and it's a long, wide peaceful home. The days upon the wall of the brave man who used to be along the coast. The sun was shining, sun made morning, mad harbor, decked in gray, low wood lay ahead, love was lost, tears were shed, and a memory, a swaying pond. When a full moon trembles on, still see monumental times, where all our heroes in their prime heard the call. It chose to go peaceful, Arizona, a swaying pond, yes, that's coming on. It was prideful as for peace by getting 19, peaceful. Great song. Yeah, you like that? Yeah. Yeah, this was this. I listen to the songs for, not just for the Arizona guys, but all the families and the veterans. I like to do that. Speaking of which, in the past couple months you performed at the Shell, didn't you? I sure did. How'd that work out? That was really the only local band actually performing, because as Renee Berthium pulled me into this with the folks, we had a big concert plan for the 50th anniversary of Vietnam. Everybody's got a different opinion about it, but any time we get a foot in the door to say something positive, we could forego all the negative stuff. But it was nice. It had a good turnout, probably if we had gone on a little bit earlier, like I said, it could have had more people, but Tony Orlando was the star of the show. So we were fortunate, along with the Marine Corps bands and all the other people that were there. Renee himself, our two of our Medal of Honor winners, were up on stage with us. We played a short set, and probably about 50 minutes. It was nice. It was just a put in our time, you know. And Renee said, someone said, there's a lot of fine entertainers on the island. Yes, there are great entertainers. They all could have been a part of that. Renee said, he's a Navy chief. He said, what's he there? He's a Navy chief. Everybody said, you know, we were all there to support our fellow veterans as well. Yeah. It was another big star that was there. I can't think of her name up there. Ann Margaret, I think. Ann Margaret was there. That's right. And she met Ann Margaret with something else. She was going to take a picture with her. I got to find that picture. You know, she's Ann Margaret, Tony Orlando. They had a great band, some of the original members that were there. Yeah. They were just awesome. They put on a great show. One of the best shows I've ever seen, you know, put on at the show. Yeah. They were awesome. I mean, they're pros from a long time. Yeah. I know that was part of Bob Hope's entourage, you know. Oh, she was awesome. Yeah. I know they wanted Bob to show up, but he was unavailable. His daughter, his daughter would have been the one to show up. She had an outstanding presentation. She does for veterans. For some of them, actually, out in the audience and looking up as I was told that they saw their own picture. Yeah. She showed video for her tape or film from back in those eras. And she does a nice show, you know, legacy of her dad. She was busy on the mainland though. She didn't make it. Yeah. I think with Ann Margaret, her dedication and also to the veterans in the military. I know her, I heard her husband was in a very bad way and passed shortly. I think while she was over here, you know. Right. So it does, you know, a lot of dedicated people. The dedication, you know, you can see it and they put on the show. They don't like stuff bothering them. Yeah. It's good soldiers. Yeah. Well, they know about the people that are putting their lives on the line, you know, for our country. Any, you know, I think about the politics and everything else, you know, it takes a special breed of person nowadays to put on uniform and do the job that very few are willing to do, you know. Right. That's right. That's right. It's good. Okay. So what's on the horizon for you as far as career-wise or, you know, anything? You know, I was, when I first got out of the Navy, I mean, I went straight into a country band with Warren Johnson and Gator Creek and all the friends who were in there. They were slamming country music through the 80s and I thought, well, you know, I retired from the Navy in 95 and then I was allowed to be a dedicated for real band member. Oh, a real one. Yeah. And before then, you know, I've been traveling with Hawaiian bands and going on the road to Japan or any place that I would just go to play music. Yeah. Supporting Hawaiian steel guitar, anything to do with the culture. But I still do all of that writing songs. But I'm less of a person who's interested in doing the gig and playing music. I do. Yeah. I still do higher sling of the guitar, you know. But the artist side of it, you know, writing the songs that uplift the community or even call attention to certain things historically or otherwise, you know. I'm not a real politics person. I understand it real well. And I listen to a lot of stuff and tune it out from people who don't understand it at all or even understand what's going on. Sadly, the military on the front line really gets a glimpse of what's going on and the people back home are talking for them on all kinds of issues. You know, even taking any NFL thing is a, hey, guys fight so you can do that. You know. You can explain it forever back and forth and have debates over why or what it means. But that's what America's about. You know, just the point is the people fight on the line. And if you talk to servicemen all across the board, they have all different takes, all different support, but most of them agree that it's all about being free enough to express yourself. Yeah. Because when we're talking offline, something you mentioned about America and the concept, you know. Yeah. And being able to express yourself as an American, American is the concept of America. Our flag is a revolutionary flag. And it's from the beginning. You could pick one thing and say, this is so horrible, I'll never stand up for that flag. That flag is there for everything, for everything that, you know, it's the one you wait around. But under that flag are the Americans, you know, and Americans, it's a concept of America. This, these rights, all these things that you are. You are you not dead by your skin color or by your whatever it is that you believe. All that ethnicity stuff is one thing of your identity. But all of us are Americans, you know, at the concept. On that note, in that sentiment, we're going to have to say goodbye to the audience. Thank you for coming by and also want to thank the audience for tuning in again. And, you know, keep up the good work and thank you for everything that you do for your service and also the veterans and the active duty. Yeah, well, that's it. Anything I can do, it'd be great. Okay. I like what you did, Calvin. Thank you. Pleasure. Thanks. And again, thank you for tuning in. And until that time, God bless.