I was pleased to see a profile for Pete on Navy.togetherweserved today, and i was even more pleased when that led me to this site in his rememberance.
Pete and Alicia were very good friends to me in Sigonella, I was devasted as we all were the day I learned of the accident. I had prayed once i heard HC-4 had lost an aircraft that it was not Pete. I will never forget him.
To this day i still work in the helicopter community, and many of times ive sat with my co-workers and discussed "the good ole days". Innevitably stories are told of silly things weve seen Pilots or Maintenance do at work, and of course we generally comment on people froom the past who we remember for the amazing things they did in this community. Pete is always the first Pilot i think of.
From the first day i met Pete in Sigonella he made a lifelong impression, everyone i ever spoke to about him had the same thing yo say "it is IMPOSSIBLE not to like Pete", he was just so friendly and open, and he never judged, he took you at face value and gave everyone a fair shake.
I want to share a few of the funny memories i have of pete so that they arent forgotten.
Those that were at Pete and Alicias house in Sigonella for Thankgsiving in 2002 can never forget that day, it was such a great day of fun and memories! Im sure Alicia will never forget the plastic fish toy and the tile stairs, and the firebreathing!
I also will never forget the day i got a phone call from Alicia, asking me to come over to thier house quickly, Pete and Josh were attempting to change the front brakes on thier car and they had the whole front end tore apart and needed to be rescued lol!
And lest it never be forgotten, Pete standing in his driveway telling the story of how he rescued a baby geep (Sigonnela sheep) that had become seperated from the herd by picking it up and putting it in his beloved Volkswagon and driving around till he found the sheephearder to return it.
Pete left an permanent impression on me, ill never forget him and i know anyone who ever spent time with him will not either.
I, too, prayed that it wasn't Pete. As I write this, I re-play in my head the moment of the hardest hit my life has ever taken: learning that Pete was one of casualties aboard the MH-53E SeaDragon that failed on July 16, 2003. The thing is, after the crash our family got to meet the people Pete worked with in Sigonella... other pilots and crewmen at HC-4. And I didn't see anyone that Pete would have let die in his place on that doomed helicopter, had he been given the power.
Thanks so much for sharing what you have about Pete. When he died, I felt like it was my job to tell everybody who he was and what he was like. But as I listened to other people... such as you... I realized that the only way I would ever truly know him myself would be through all the people whose lives crossed with his and revealed a facet I never could have known. You've just added to my picture of him... and I am grateful.
