Pittsburgh Patrika October 2021

Vol. 27, No 1 October 2021

www.pittsburghpatrika.com

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 27 No 1, October 2021

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The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul, and Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 27 No. 1, October 2021

www.pittsburghpatrika.com

4006 Holiday Park Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

Phone/Fax: (724) 327 0953 e-mail: ThePatrika@aol.com

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Highlights in this issue... ... ...

Page

The War Many Almost Forgot Finally Ends!

By Kollengode S. Venkataraman ......................................2

Help FBI Stop Hate Crimes Inflicting Fear Among People

By Mike Nordwall, FBI Officve, Pittsburgh.........................9

Monroeville’s Peace Pole Installation Ceremony

By Praveen and Pratheema Kumar..................................`10

Obituary: Vijay Kapoor (1937 to August 21, 2021)

A Well-Liked Long-Time Resident & Music Lover

By Shambhavi Desai.................................................... 14

Human Instincts to Display One’s Prowess

By Kollengode S Venkataraman...................................... 17

कन्यादानं in Vedic Weddings — Receving the Bride

As Important

By Kollengode S Venkataraman...................................... 16

Did You Know We Have A Second Functioning Civil Airport .

in Pittsburgh?

By Kollengode S Venkataraman ..................................... 20

On the cover: Allegheny County Airport (code ACG), a fully functional

24x7x365 civilian airport, is in West Mifflin, an eastern suburb in

the Mon Valley. After refurbishing, the airport had its 90th anniversary

celebrations in September. A brief story is on Page 20. How many of us

even know we have a second civilian airport in Pittsburgh? •

3


The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul, and Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 27 No. 1 October 2021

Phone/Fax: (724) 327 0953 e-mail: ThePatrika@aol.com

The War Many Almost Forgot, Finally Ends!

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

I was in the Bay Area for a wedding in mid-August when President

Biden announced that on August 31, the last American soldier would be

leaving from what he aptly called the “Forever War” in Afghanistan costing

$2.2 trillion and lasting 20 years. Most of the money was spent on the

military, with $85 billion for training Afghanistan’s military. Here are the

war’s mortality numbers (www.tinyurl.com/AfghanWar-HumanCost):

US service members through April 2021: 2,400.

Contractors employed by the US: 3,800.

Afghan national military and police: 66,000.

From NATO and other allied service member states: 1,150.

Afghan civilians: 47,200.

Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,200.

Aid workers: 440.

Journalists: 70.

The Afghan War is the longest in US history. See the adjacent table.

The way the war ended was bizarre. The US handed the country back

Vietnam War (1955-75): 19.4 years

Iraq War (2003-2011): 8.9 years

World War II (1941-45): 3.7 years

Korean War (1950-53) 3.1 years

World War I (1917-18): 1.6 years

Persian Gulf War (1990-91): 0.6 years

to the Taliban, which it had overthrown

twenty years ago. Many in

the Taliban team with which the US

negotiated in Doha — and in the new

Taliban government — were incarcerated

in the Guantanamo prison for

the ghastly 9-11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The US image as

the Sole Superpower and its credibility among allies has been eroded.

The US-trained Afghan army vanished at astonishing speed and its

weak president Ashraf Ghani fled the country. There is irony in Ghani’s

pedigree: bachelor’s degree from the American University, Beirut; PhD

from Columbia; taught at Berkeley & Johns Hopkins; worked at the World

Bank and coauthored a book, ironically titled, “Fixing Failed States.”

It was my nostalgia trip to the Bay Area, where I lived for four years in

the 1980s. We revisited the touristy Redwood Forest and the Berkeley

campus. In the 60s and 70s, the Berkeley campus of the University of

4


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Nearly 800 people (mostly Afghans) jammed into a US

military plane leaving Kabul during the chaoric days of

American withdrawal in Aughst 2021.

6

California was notorious

for student protests

on issues considered

taboos in the US mainstream.

So, with the US announcing

our withdrawal

from Afghanistan after

the longest, costliest

war, I expected some

public demonstration

of relief, if not celebrations,

on the war ending.

But all I saw was total nonchalance — even on Berkeley’s notorious

Telegraph Avenue, where, decades ago, the most radical social outcasts

gathered for all radical causes. People were going about their business in

coffee shops, campuses, and public squares as if it was somebody else’s

war somewhere faraway. In the campus where “Question Authority”

was emblazoned on many T-shirts decades ago, a teenager was wearing

a jacket with “OBEY” printed on it. While I was wondering how much

the place has changed, my daughters told me OBEY is a brand name for

a line of fashion apparel.

While editorial and opinion writers are telling

us in bits and pieces how the Afghan war

ended in defeat and retreat, here are my peripheral

observations, as a tax-paying citizen:

• The Vietnam war (costing ~$170 billion

in the 1970s, or ~$1 trillion in today’s dollars)

was funded by increases in personal and corporate

taxes and through bonds. That is, the citizens of

that era bore the cost of the war. But the $2.2 trillion

Afghanistan war was funded entirely through

long-term public debt. It is estimated (www.tinyurl.

com/AfghanWar-Interest-on-Debt) that by 2050, the interest on the debt

will be over $6 trillion. For the next 30 years, people who had no say on

the war — our children and grandchildren — will be paying for the war

as deferred payment. For the Sole Superpower republic to go to war on

borrowed money, expecting our children and grandchildren to redeem the

debt is irresponsible, to say the least.

• Only 1% of the nation’s young and able-bodied went to the war

in Afghanistan. This is because of the all-volunteer forces that the US

boasts of. As the war dragged on for twenty long years, these voluntarily


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enlisted men and women ended up going to Afghanistan on multiple tours

of combat duty. The psychological toll this took on these men and woman

— not to speak of their spouses, parents, and children -- is incalculable.

• With most of the 900,000-stong US forces serving multiple times

in the war, over 21,000 were wounded. Taking care of these war veterans

(many in their 20s and 30s now) for the next several decades will cost the

federal government another $5 trillion, by one estimate. So, our children

who are already harsh towards us,

their baby-boomer parents, for

bankrupting Social Security and

Medicare, are burdened with an

additional $11 trillion ($6 trillion

as interest on debt and $5 trillion

for the Afghan war veterans).

• The all-volunteer army

was the result of the Vietnam

war, which the US fought — and

lost — with compulsory military

service (called the draft) from

all able-bodied youngsters from

The Taliban soldiers in the victory mood on a

US helicopter left behind.

8

all socioeconomic backgrounds.

There was widespread opposition

to the war from middle class families

and above in campus protests across the nation in the 1960s and 70s,

as part of the Counterculture Movement. Many from rich or influential,

or powerful families dodged the draft using a variety of legal maneuvers

that many middle- and working-class youngsters were not even aware of.

Among those who dodged going to fight the communists in Vietnam are

Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

Many draftees did not know what they were fighting for, and some

were even opposed to the war. The one-year tour of duty for the draftees


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Acknowledgments: Mr. Andy Singer for permission to

use his original graphic. This is how all empires look at

their foreign policy

10

in far-off tropical jungles

twelve time zones away

sapped the morale of the

army, so critical for invading

militaries.

In the mid-1980s, in

PBS’s 13-part-series Vietnam:

A Television History,

Gen. Nguyen Giap, the

mastermind of the North

Vietnam army, said this

about the US fighting with

unwilling draftees: While

we waged one 20-year

war, you waged 20 oneyear

wars.

The draft was one military

factor among other

non-military ones for the

loss in Vietnam. So, the

US military ended the draft

and opted for an all-volunteer

military. Forty-five

years later, even with the

all-volunteer army, the US still lost in this 20-year long Afghan war.

Both GOP and Democratic presidents, the US Congress, the US Defense

Department and intelligence agencies all have contributed by omissions

and commissions to the way this war dragged on. Since every government

institution is culpable, nobody will be accountable in the end.

Retreating from a war in defeat for an invading army is always messy,

even for the Sole Superpower, no mater how well you plan for it. With

noncooperative countries all around, the retreating U.S. military walked

away leaving behind tens of thousands of assault guns, thousands of vehicles

and military hardware. Now, this military hardware worth billions

of dollars is in the hands of the Taliban victors, the Pakistan military (their

advisors and mentors), and other non-state terrorist organizations.

President Biden was unapologetic for ending this long war, though it

was painful to see the way it ended — chaos in Kabul airport, disarray

in Afghanistan, and the Taliban forcing the Afghan women back to the

18th century. The majority of Silent Americans of all persuasions are with

him. For the last twenty long years, did we even know we were going

through the costliest war? •


Hate Crimes Inflict Fear Among Citizens —

Help FBI to Stop Them

By Mike Nordwall, Special Agent in Charge

FBI Pittsburgh Field Office, Pittsburgh, PA

The number of people reporting they’ve been a victim of a hate crime in

Pennsylvania nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 according to the

FBI’s annual hate crime statistics report. That’s

why the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office is engaged

in a multifaceted statewide effort to build public

awareness of hate crimes and encourage reporting

to law enforcement.

The FBI is the lead investigative agency for

criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes.

Hate crimes, defined as a traditional offense

with an added element of bias, are the highest

priority of the FBI’s civil rights program because

of the devastating impact they have on families

and communities. The Bureau investigates hundreds of these cases every

year, but hate crimes are often underreported to both federal and local

law enforcement.

At the FBI, we are very concerned about the lack of reporting when it

comes to hate crimes. We want the community to know we are here for

them. This campaign is a way to enhance collaboration between the FBI

and our local and state partners, not just in law enforcement, but with

the many community groups who work and see victims on a daily basis

that are too scared to report the crime. The more information we can get

from the community, the more trust each side will earn, and we’ll all be

better able to attack the problem head on.

Hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim, they threaten and

intimidate an entire community. The FBI works closely with state,

local, and tribal authorities on investigations, even when federal charges

are not brought. FBI resources, forensic expertise and experience in identification

and proof of hate-based motivations often provide an invaluable

complement to local law enforcement hate crime cases.

If you believe you have been the target or victim of a hate crime or

other civil rights violation, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-

5324) or the FBI Pittsburgh at (412) 432-4000 or submit a tip online at

https://tips.fbi.gov. Tips can remain anonymous and can be made in an

individual’s native language.•

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Monroeville’s Peace Pole Installation Ceremony

By Praveen and Pratheema Kumar, Monroeville, PA

Buddhist monks offfering

peace invocation at the start.

Note: Praveen, with his background in computer

science, is pursuing his PhD program in machine

learning while working in the same field. His passion

are sports car and coffee. Pratheema, an electrical

engineer, works for a semiconductor company. She

loves cooking, baking and dancing. She has learned

Bharatanatyam. They live in Monroeville.

If anyone wanted to have an outdoor

event in our area, July 31st, 2021 was the day -- azure sky with patches

of white clouds slowly drifting, temperatures in the 70s and gentle breeze.

The Rotary Club of Monroeville could not have chosen a better day for

dedicating their Peace Pole, reminding us of the importance of peace in

this world! Around 150 people from diverse backgrounds joined in the

celebrations.

Peace Poles, fabricated with different materials, are internationally

recognized symbols of the hopes and dreams of humanity, standing vigil

in silent prayer for peace on earth.

In the wake of the Second World War,

Masahisa Goi of Japan 1955 in Japan, came up

with the idea of installing Peace Poles. The first

few Peace Poles outside Japan came in 1983.

Since then, more than 250,000 Peace Poles are

in over 190 countries. The central theme in the

monument is the message “May Peace Prevail

on Earth.”

Fitzgerald, County Executive of Allegh-

Rich eny County, was the special guest for the

event. Mr. Fitzgerald said Pittsburgh is a city that

is very diverse and has been welcoming people

of all backgrounds and nationalities for several

decades and will continue to do so in the future.

Moments like these give us time to pause, he

said, to reflect and respect the journey we have

come through as a country, and events like these

make us think forward on ways to strengthen our cultural diversities even

more by respecting everyone and treating everyone equally.

Earlier, Brandon Markosek, the Democratic State Representative in

Harrisburg (from District 25 covering Monroeville) stressed that it is

paramount that we all come together as one, we treat everyone fairly and

12


Mr. Rich Fitzgerald, Chief

Executive, Allegheny County,

addressing the gathering.

equally and for all to feel part of the community.

The Peace Pole, Markosek declared,

“conveys the fact that we are one country, and

we are one people.”

Setting the stage for the event, earlier,

the president of Monroeville’s Rotary Club,

Gerry Maynard, welcomed the invited guests

and the gathering. He highlighted the significance

of installing a Peace Pole as a symbol

for welcoming and nurturing diverse cultures

among people of different national origins,

ethnicity, and religions. He exhorted everyone

in the audience to extend diversity, equality,

and inclusion in simple everyday tasks by

making them a priority.

SOm Sharma, the previous president of the club,

detailed the tremendous efforts that went into the

Peace Pole project. Peace, he said, is at the very

top of Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus, and that

Rotary’s motto, namely, “Service above Self”

continues to motivate fellow Rotarians all over the

globe. Hundreds of thousands of Rotarians in more

than 35,000 clubs worldwide continue to spread

peace around the world.

There are plans to add “Hiroshima Trees,” to

send a strong message of human resilience.

The Hiroshima trees survived the US dropping of

the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima in Japan in August in 1945. The Peace

Pole will only be a beginning inspiration for all to

create programs nurturing peace and harmony in

the community.

The Monroeville Rotary Club, a year ago, decided

to have a Peace Pole in the community. A

team of enthusiastic Rotarians did their research

and engaged the services of a reputed sculptor, Joel

Selmeier, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Rotarians also

identified the different languages spoken in and

Mr. SOm Sharma, the

previous President of the

Rotary Club addressing

the gathering.

around Monroeville, an astounding number of forty

languages to be cast on the pole. Stainless steel

was the choice of the material – we are after all,

the Steel City — based on our location, weather

patterns and durability (expected life span of 400

13

Mr. Brandon Markosek,

State House (D) in

Harrisburg repressenting

Monroeville, at the

podium.


Several people in the audience with Mr. Fizgerald and Mr. Markoserk

years). The $15,000 project, funded mostly by the club’s own funds, took

ten months to complete.

Through the program, Mr. Maynard randomly picked one of the 40

languages and invited people from the audience

who could speak that language. He asked them to

translate the phrase “May Peace Prevail on Earth,”

and the phrase was translated into Hindi, Punjabi,

Japanese, Hebrew, Urdu, Thai, French and Bahasa

(Indonesia).

The event ended with a closing song “Let There

be Peace on Earth” by Diane Milowicki while the

audience stood up and joined Diane in the singing,

followed by the release of seven doves symbolizing

the seven continents.

A Sikh member in the

I

audience reading the

t was a great event, where people of different peace message in Punjabi

cultures, color and ethnic backgrounds were

present unitedly to show their support to the “Peace Pole Inauguration

Ceremony”.

The gathering of over 150 people were spreadout following the Covid-19 prococol.

Suzan DeLaney, member of the Murrysville Rotary Club emceed

the program, with Diane Milowicki giving the national anthem in the

ceremony. •

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Obituary: Vijay Kapoor (1937 to August 21, 2021)

A Well-Liked Long-Time Resident & Music Lover

By Shambhavi Desai, Bridgeville, PA

Vijay Kapoor in a recent

family celebration

Zambia, and Ottawa where he worked for the

Indian High Commission. He was with Allstate

Insurance since 1977, till he retired in 2009.

Many in Pittsburgh knew Vijay Kapoor as a

soft-spoken gentleman with a polite disposition.

His passion was music, a trait he got from his

mother and brother. He told me in an interview

years back, “I listened to Bengali and Hindi

songs on the radio growing up.” An ardent fan

of legendary singers like Pankaj Mullick and

Hemant Kumar, he sang Hindi and Bengali

songs at community gatherings in his melodious

voice. He was facile in Telugu and Urdu

Vijay Kapoor of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania,

a long-time resident in our area, well-known

and well-liked by all who interacted with him,

passed away in his sleep at St. Clair Hospital

on August 21, 2021. He was 84.

He was born on April 28, 1937, in Hyderabad,

India, to Shadi Ram and Krishen Kaur Kapur,

as the youngest of nine siblings. He got his

bachelor’s degree in arts. In 1975, Mr. Kapoor

came to the U.S. with his two children and lived

with his older sister, Shakuntala Prabhu, with

whom he was very close. His wife, Sulochana,

joined him later. Before coming to the United

States, he was in the Indian military, lived in

as well. Mr. Kapoor was with the Bengali Association of Pittsburgh. He

chuckled and told me once, “I am a Bengali soul in a Punjabi body!”

He had a large personal collection of Indian gramophone records from

the 1930s, 40s and 50s, well-kept and cataloged in his basement where he

spent his time in retirement, lost in his world of music. Some of his music

collections are on this link: www.tinyurl.com/Kapoor-Music-Albums

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Sulochana; his children, two

sons, Hemanth Kapoor and Vikram Kapoor; and daughter Krishna Kapoor

Johnston and their spouses; and his grandchildren.

16

Vijay Kapoor holding a

Hemanth Kumar Album (2008)

Kapoor... ... Continued on Page 21


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Human Instincts to Display One’s Prowess

By Kollengode S Venkataraman thepatrika@aol.com

From Olympics to college and school sports, we see the natural instincts

of youth to compete with each other and display their prowess to an admiring

audience. It is an absolute delight to see six- and seven-year-olds

running on soccer fields screaming and chasing after each other to snatch

the ball and move it towards their opponents’ goal post. This instinct to

display physical skills is not only in competitive sports, but also in simple

family gatherings as I found out recently.

We were in California in August for a family wedding, when our

daughters also added a few vacation days for us and our grandkids

to stay in a rented place. The place had an indoor pool with an 8’ deep

diving end. Our nine-year-old grandson, barely 4’ tall, knows swimming

and was trying to learn diving from his dad. After a few trials and some

serious struggle, he did get the hang of how to dive deep into the pool.

No sooner had he got the hang of it than he wanted to show his prowess

to his grandfather, who, growing up in India in the 1960s, was a stereotypical

urban kid, not even SEEING a swimming pool. My grandson told me,

“Thatha, toss a coin at the deep end. I will dive and get it for you.”

I was nervous, not knowing whether he had the lung capacity to dive

deep in the pool, search for the coin, reach the bottom, pick it up and come

out. He pestered me. I looked at his father, and he said, “Go ahead.”

With hesitation, I tossed a quarter into the deep end of the pool. The

kid dived confidently into the deep end, looking for the coin. Then, picking

up the coin, and with a great sense of accomplishment, he soared out

of the pool like a dolphin with a beaming smile, showing me the coin in

his hand. He asked me to do this again and again.

my grandson trying to impress me with his aquatic skills, I

Seeing recalled an old Tamil poem I had read decades ago. This poem is in

the 2000-plus year-old Tamil classic Puranaanooru.

Puranaanooru is an anthology in the Tamil literature, written by both

men and women poets 1800 to 2200

years before our time. The 398 verses

are in classical Tamil with very few

Sanskrit words interwoven, indicating

that Tamil’s history is parallel to Sanskrit’s.

The Puranaanooru verses describe

the valor, pride, pettiness, generosity,

A kid diving into the pool

and even philandering of kings; admonish

them to be loyal to their wives;

19


advise kings not to let bureaucrats harass citizens; describe the grinding

poverty of citizens during wars, thus trying to dissuade kings from going

to adventurous wars… …

But the poem I recalled is quite different. In this, the poet, Todittalai

Vizhuttandinaar, in his very old age, recalls with vivid imagery the innocent

days of his youth long gone, very much like my own. He describes the

prowess he and his buddies showed in their swimming skills to the admiring

onlookers on the banks of a large, deep village pond after the rains.

The sentiment the poet expresses is universal transcending time, place,

and culture that separate humanity into distinct linguistic, religious, and

cultural groups. Here is a free style English translation of the verse:

It feels sad to think about it now.

On the sandy edges of the pond with cool water,

we played with girls who made dolls with the clayey soil,

decorating them with flowers plucked from trees nearby.

Holding hands in the innocence of youth,

we hugged each other, swaying this way and that.

Climbing the Marutha (Arjuna) tree on the bank

with its branches sagging towards the pond,

we dived into the deep pond with a thud and a splash.

Reaching the bottom, we returned showing to the

amazed onlookers on the shore the fistful of sand

we grabbed from the pond’s floor.

Where did that innocent youth go?

Isn’t it pitiful that having become old now, tremblingly

I walk holding a metal-capped stick while coughing,

barely uttering a few words in between?

Sitting on the poolside

in balmy California,

I was amused to see similarities

between my nineyear-old

grandson trying to

impress me with his aquatic

skills and what Todittalai

Vizhuttandinaar, the senile

Tamil poet, recalled in a

2000-year-old poem on his

youth long gone. The Tamil

poem in Puranaanooru in

its original is available here: www.tinyurl.com/Puranaanooru-Swimming

•

20


कन्यादानं in Vedic Weddings

Receiving the Bride is As Important

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

In Vedic and Christian weddings all over the world, the giving away

of the bride is an poignant, emotional part of the ceremony. While the

details vary widely, the tradition of the father handing

over his daughter to the groom is common in

both. I am sure, some anthropologist somewhere

has studied how this ritual is common in both cultures

even though separated by thousands of miles,

and irreconcilably differing in theology — salvation

(Christians) vs. liberation (Hindus); obedience & sin

(Christians) vs. karma & avidya (Hindus).

In August, I attended a cross-cultural Hindu Vedic

wedding on the West Coast. Shri Sashidhara Somayaji (contact number

408 800 5444), one of the pandits conducting the wedding, said this in

facile English before kanyaadaanam, widely understood as the parents

of the bride giving away their daughter: “We understand कन्यादानं (kanyaadaanam)

by splitting the phrase using Sanskrit Sandhi rules into कन्या

+ दानं, with कन्या (kanya) meaning bride; and दानं (daanam) contextually

meaning “gift.” Incidentally, Pandit Somayaji, who is from Udupi in

Karnataka, is facile in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Hindi,

Sanskrit and English.

He continued: “Understanding कन्यादानं exclusively as parents giving

away their daughter is incomplete. Following Sanskrit’s sandhi rules,

कन्यादानं also splits into कन्या + आदानं (aadaanam). आदानं (aadaanam)

means receipt or receiving. So, कन्यादानं should be correctly understood

with emphasis on both parents giving their daughter away and the groom

accepting her in the ceremony.” After all, when someone gives, someone

else receives.

The आदानं part gives an entirely different flavor to the ceremony with

the obligation on the groom to live compatibly with his new bride, with

the implied responsibility on the bride also in their journey together. •

Kapoor... ... Continued from Page 16

Vijay Kapoor’s Hindu cremation was at the Beinhauer Funeral Home

with Pandit Sureshchandra Joshi from the Hindu-Jain Temple helping the

Kapoor family with the last rites.

A note from the editor: Vijay Kapoor (and his son Hemanth Kapoor) supported the

magazine with ads that they perhaps did not need, just to help the magazine survive in its

early crucial days. The editor is grateful for their support. •

21


Did You Know We Have A Second

Fully Functioning Civil Airport in Pittsburgh?

Did you know that we have a fully

functioning airport on 24x7x365 basis

— it even has its own airport code AGC

— in West Mifflin, an eastern suburb?

Did you know that till 1954 when PIT

came into being, AGC, built in 1931,

was the commercial airport for our

region’s burgeoning travel needs with

the growth of the steel industry? Did

you know that ACG was one of the

Traci Clark, vice president of AGC at the first three airports in the nation, and

podium. Rich Fitzgerald is on the right. On

also the first airport with hard-surface

the left is State Rep. Nick Pisciottano (D).

runways?

I too didn’t know these facts till I attended the 90th anniversary of the

airport in September. This is one reason why we all should take an interest

in our region’s rich history and what is happening around us right here.

completing a $2.5 million project refurbishing the airport’s

After passenger facilities, on Saturday, September 25, organizers celebrated

the 90th year of the airport. Elected officials and the people who

run the airport addressed a gathering on the highlights of the airport.

County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald in his brief address informed

the audience that the airport brings over $2 billion in business to the region

with over 60,000 arrivals and departures annually — mostly charter flights

and privately owned planes. The airport also serves other functions, such as

medical emergencies,

disaster emergencies,

and also for training for

new pilots.

The Civil Air Patrol

(CAP) also operates

from this facility.

CAP, the official US

Air Force auxiliary, is a

nonprofit organization

tasked by the USAF to

A medivac helicopter was exhibited in the function.

help in inland search-and-rescue operations and assist in other securityrelated

activities.

A more detailed story on these will be in the next issue.

— By Kollengode S Venkataraman •

22


23


• 4½-hour Open Bar with 2 Specialty Non-alcoholic

Drinks

• Champagne or Sparkling Cider Toast

• Fresh Floral Centerpiece

• Chiavari Chair, Floor-length Linens and Napkins

in Your Choice of Color

• Custom Wedding Cake

• Fresh Fruit Display & Coffee Station

• Complimentary Parking for All Guests on the

Night of the event

• Complimentary Bridal Suites on the Night of the

Event

• Kitchen Use, China, Silver, Glassware, & Servers

For more information or setting up an appointment, contact

us at 724.889.6035 or 24 email kaela.krise@hyatt.com

Pittsburgh Patrika October 2021

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