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Barbara Nelson was Barack Obama's English teacher in high school in Hawaii.Sharon Cantillon / Buffalo NewsUpdated: 01/20/09 08:17 AM
Teacher from Kenmore recalls Obama was a focused student
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When Barack Hussein Obama places his hand on the Bible today to take the oath of office as 44th president of the United States, Barbara Nelson of Kenmore will undoubtedly think back to the day he was born. It was Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu.
“I may be the only person left who specifically remembers his birth. His parents are gone, his grandmother is gone, the obstetrician who delivered him is gone,” said Nelson, referring to Dr. Rodney T. West, who died in February at the age of 98. Here’s the story: Nelson was having dinner at the Outrigger Canoe Club on Waikiki Beach with Dr. West, the father of her college friend, Jo-Anne. Making conversation, Nelson turned to Dr. West and said: “‘So, tell me something interesting that happened this week,’” she recalls.
His response: “Well, today, Stanley had a baby. Now that’s something to write home about.”
The new mother was Stanley (later referred to by her middle name of Ann) Dunham, and the baby was Barack Hussein Obama.
“I penned the name on a napkin, and I did write home about it,” said Nelson, knowing that her father, Stanley A. Czurles, director of the Art Education Department at Buffalo State College, would be interested in the “Stanley” connection.
She also remembers Dr. West mentioning that the baby’s father was the first black student at the University of Hawaii and how taken he was by the baby’s name.
“I remember Dr. West saying ‘Barack Hussein Obama, now that’s a musical name,’” said Nelson, who grew up in Kenmore and went to Hawaii in 1959 to be in Jo-Anne’s wedding party. When Nelson was offered a job as a newspaper reporter and photographer at her friend’s wedding reception, it led to her living in Hawaii for 47 years. She returned to Kenmore in 2006.
Ten years after that memorable birth announcement, Nelson would hear the Obama name again. This time, the father, now a Kenyan government official, was coming to speak at the Punahou School in Honolulu where Nelson was teaching and where his 10-year-old son was a newly enrolled fifth-grader.
“Dr. Obama had this lovely, attentive manner,” she said. “When he answered the children’s questions, he would do it as a story, which is the way they do it in Kenya.
“His son, whom he hadn’t seen in eight years, seemed as fascinated as we all were,” said Nelson, who went on to be a high school principal, a harpist, a watercolor artist and poet.
A few years later, Nelson encountered “Barry” again, when she watched high school basketball games, where her students played.
“The team came alive when he got on the court,” she said. “He was not only quick and graceful, but he could see the pattern and zero in on the opening. Though he wasn’t a starter, he was a graceful, passionate athlete who played back-up forward. He had a definite presence on the court.
“I often sat with his grandmother, who was a no-nonsense woman with these very solid Midwestern ways about her,” said Nelson. “She loved that boy and he adored her.”
As a high school teacher of British, Biblical and Middle Eastern literature, Nelson taught Obama.
“He wasn’t usually the first one to speak, but he was an attentive, active listener,” she said. “While the others might be bouncing off the surface, he came straight from the center. He picked up on the patterns of ideas and then he’d make a statement that moved the class to the focal point.
“He also had a lovely, engaging sense of humor,” Nelson said. “He was firm, but he wasn’t aggressive or in your face.”
During one class the question was posed “of what should we be most afraid,” drawing answers that included “death,” “hell,” “biological warfare,” “fear” and “isolation,” said Nelson.
“I recall Barack sitting in the back of the room,” Nelson said, demonstrating a hands-behind-his- head pose and describing his lanky, outstretched legs.
“When he pulled himself upright I thought ‘Bingo. Here we go,’ ” she said, expecting the discussion to move to a new level.
“And he said, ‘Words. Words are the power to be feared most. Every individual has an unmonitored arsenal and whether they are directed personally or internationally, words can be weapons of destruction.”
It was such moments that led Nelson to honor Obama at his 1979 graduation with the traditional draping of a lei around his neck.
“I had a yellow plumeria tree and I could get only enough blossoms to make five leis,” she said. “I had taught more than 200 students, but one of those leis went around the shoulders of Barack Obama.”
Years later, the ideas Obama expressed resonated as Nelson wrote “War of the Words,” which includes the lines: “ I fear the powerful pugnacious words, Weapons that miss the flesh and pierce the heart.” (Songs of Honor, 2006).
In the author’s notes, Nelson describes the classroom discussion with Obama that inspired the poem and she adds this information: “Interestingly, this former student is now a very wise, articulate U. S. senator.”
DR. WEST RETIRED IN 1956. SEE FULL ARTICLE AT THE END.
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The Buffalo News
Friday, January 23, 2009
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Rodney T. West, M.D.
Naval ReserveFord Island Dispensary
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Rodney T. West, M.D.
Rodney T. West's Story
Rodney T. West, M.D. was born on the island of Maui in the then, Territory of Hawaii. He graduated from the Punahou School in Honolulu and attended Northwestem University in Chicago, where he earned his Medical Degree. He returned to the Islands, spent l8 months as an intern and resident at the Queen's Hospital and then went into a private practice in Honolulu. He joined the United States Naval Reserve in January of l940. Twenty months later, September 5, 1941, he was called to active duty and was stationed at the Medical Dispensary on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor and was there on the morning of December 7, l941. He spent the rest of World War II on Johnston Island in the Pacific and at various Naval Air Stations on the American mainland. At the end of the war, he returned to Honolulu and on March 26, 1946 was discharged from active duty. In September of l949, he resigned from the Naval Reserve as a full Commander. Then, after practicing on the Big Island of Hawaii for a year, he returned to Honolulu and joined the Obstetrics and Gynecological department of the Straub Clinic. In December of l956, after delivering at least 5,OOO babies - and other things, he retired from the practice of medicine. In l963, he served as the President of the Hawaii Medical Association and in l975, he helped found and was the first president of the American College of Physician Executives.
On the moming of December 7, l94l, Dr. West rushed into the Ford Island dispensary to help with the wounded. In the middle ofthe quadrangle of the dispensary, there was a huge crater in the ground, which was caused by a bomb meant for the USS California, moored nearby. Had the bomb be a few feet more off target, it would have gone through the dispensary and killed or injured even more. Dr. West remained on Ford Island from December 7th to the llth, working at the dispensary. Most ofthe wounded were sailors from the sinking and listing battleships, who had to swim through the burning oil in the waters of Pearl Harbor. Most of the injuries were flesh burns, since most of the sailors had been wearing shorts and t-shirts, and the burned areas were those that were exposed. After Dr. West gave them preliminary care, the wounded were sent to the U.S. Naval HospitaI at Hospital Point for further attention.
The 50th anniversary ofthe events of World War II was a very inspirational time for Dr. West. These activities reminded him of the many Honolulu civilians who had volunteered their talents to insurethat Hawaii was prepared for a major disaster. These preparations began because ofthe war that was aIready happening in Ewope in the l930's. In l939, Dr. West acted with a group of concerned Honolulu residents from the Hawaii Chapter ofthe American Red Cross, the Honolulu County Medical Society, the City and County Emergency Unit, and the Queen's HospitaI that help set up a program that prepared O'ahu for a serious disaster. Volunteers were trained to run a blood bank night and day; to manage multiple first-aid stations; to be able to drive ambulances to pick up wounded and dying in a combat situation; to be able to transport families with children to safer areas; to know how to feed hundreds ofworkers; to be willing to deliver suppIes to civilian and military hospitaIs; and to possess the knowledge to assist the Red Cross -just to name a few. The preparations that were meticulously attended to in the eighteen months pjor to the attack, went into full gear on December 7, l94l , and these early preparations saved many lives. History consistently reminds us that the Japanese attack on the island of O'ahu was a totaI surprise, but the quick civilian response on that Sunday moming proved that the island was indeed prepared in one area. The reminders ofthe many Honolulu civilians who had volunteered for a over a year prior to the attack and were willing to place themselves into a dangerous situation inspired him to write a book about these efforts. Dr. West's book, Honolulu Prepares for Japan's Attack was first pubIshed in l992 and is now in its seventh printing. This book is for sale at the Arizona Memorial Museum Association Bookstore.
And, aIthough not a USS Arizona Memorial Pearl Harbor Swvivor volunteer, Dr. West does perform book signings and greets visitors every Wednesday at the USS Arizona Memorial visitor center.
