John O’Brien: A Man after Hemingway’s Heart

“If you ever get the chance to go to another country, do it. Don’t hold back. I mean your whole outlook on life might even change.”

            In John O’Brien lives the spirit of a 20-year-old, caught up in the romance of life, as well as the reality of it. For 24 years John was in the U.S. Air Force, following his dream of working on airplanes. His crowning achievement: working as a crewmember on a B66, the second fastest bomber in the air force at the time. John grew up on Manhattan Island, 600 West 175^th street, a place full of activity and excitement. But “I wouldn’t go back there if you paid me,” he said. After he saw the world, he didn’t miss a thing in New York. “Gave me a different outlook on life, seeing how the other people lived. It made me want to travel.” He has seen the world and all its beauty. England, Greece, Italy, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Vietnam, Iceland, Libya, North Africa… He’s lived it all, seen it all.  

            He joined the air force reserve in 1955 when he was 18 years old with his first station overseas in France. The years he spent overseas are his fondest memories. “The whole thing is a good memory as far as I’m concerned. There may have been some bad times but the good times outweigh the bad times.” John’s experiences are simply amazing. “I’ve skated on some of the small streams in Holland, I’ve seen where Anne Franke was . . . I’ve even seen some of those crazy castles on the Rhine.”

            When in Spain he met a retired bull trainer. He told me the thrilling story of his encounter with a bull in a real fighting ring. “Me and the bull went at it,” he recounted, “we hit each other, he went down and I went down! I was the only one that knocked one down!” Of course, he added, the trainer had cut the bull’s horns off. Even so, because of his war experience and bull encounters, John is truly a man after Ernest Hemingway’s own heart.

            By far his favorite place to go was Holland. Communication was easy there, since most of the people spoke at least four languages. The people were also “very clean,” he exclaimed. “You’d see them out in the morning, sweeping their walkway, then they’d go in and get a dustpan and pick up that garbage and throw it in the trash!”

            As far as his two years in Vietnam went, all he added was a rather sarcastic comment: “It’s always nice when they shoot at you and you’ve got nothing to shoot back with.” The entire time he was in Vietnam he was never shot, though he was injured. “I fell from a bomb blast. It was close by it went off and I ducked!”

John is now 75 years old and lives at Pine Hill retirement home. He explained to me that today he is the only man living there. “See all these women around here? I’m the only man in the house.” He was quite the ladies’ man in his day and by the looks of it, not much has changed. But his days in the Air Force, those are his best memories. “I’d do it over again if I could . . . It might have made me a better person, I don’t know. I’ll find out when I go upstairs or downstairs!” John’s zest for life, reminiscent of none other than Hemingway himself, is infectious and he is guaranteed to continue living regret-free, always remembering what it was like to soar around the world.

My name is Jillian DiPersio and I am a sophomore at Windham High School. After learning the stories of my own grandparents, I have been interviewing the elderly. Through my research and interviews I have been able to dig up some incredible bits of history from the lives of local residents, as well as learn about people who are the products of a different generation. If you or someone you know would like to share your stories, please contact me at jillian@dipersio.com.