Interview with Vahan Parseghian |
After an article appeared in the ‘COUNTY SEAT’ local newspaper Vahan Parseghian called me (Bob Meli) and he said I could come by his home and interview him. On February 9, 2011, I went to his home and we talked. Vahan Parseghian told me he came from a family of eight children, seven boys and one girl. Vahan Parseghian mentioned that in High School his sister had a crush on Ted Sellarole. Out of the seven brothers six served in the military, three during World War II and three during Korea. Edward, and Armond Parseghian 1943 Hackensack High School graduates served together side by side in the African and Italy campaigns during World War II and George Parseghian, 1943 Hackensack High School Graduate, served in the Pacific theater during World War II. Haig Parseghian 1947 Hackensack High School graduate and Masis Parseghian, 1948 Hackensack High School graduate served during Korea. Vahan Parseghian, Hackensack High School Graduate 1951 (He was called ‘Babe’ by family and close friends) was Boot Camp training when the Korean War came to an end and he served the remainder of his time in Japan. Vahan was in the Naval Intelligence and was stationed in a town just north of Yokahama Japan. Vahan Parseghian talking about his service in Naval Intelligence in Japan said “I was in Boot Camp in 1954 when the war ended. Before being allowed to serve in Naval intelligence the U.S. Government did a background check on me. I lived in New Milford with my family still and the government sent FBI agents to the neighborhood and they asked people questions about me etc. I went overseas to Japan on board the ‘USS Billy Mitchel’. I was stationed in a radio facility in a city or town about 10 miles north of Yokahama Japan called Kamiseya (not sure of spelling) for sixteen months. I was an intercept operator and we monitored Foreign Radio Frequencies primarily Russian radio messages. Everything was coded in five numeral groups and we did not know what was being sent, we would just intercept the message and they would decode it somewhere in Washington.” Vahan Continued, “Another interesting and I should say funny thing that happened was that all the service men were paid with MPC money which stands for ‘Military Payment Certificates’. Some Japanese group made counterfeit MPC money so the military had a stoppage of that printing till the U.S. government made new MP Certificate money. During the time the new printing was being worked out they would only reimburse U.S. military personal not Japanese civilians or military personal for the fake money. So all the guys were buying one hundred dollar MPC money from the Japanese who had the fake money for five dollars and turning it in for one hundred dollars. We did OK!” I asked Vahan Parseghian if he had played any sports at Hackensack High School and Vahan said “Yes my brother Armond was captain of the Soccer team in 1943 and they were State Champs and I played in 1951 and we won the States also. I played center forward and I broke my arm against Ridgewood. I was running down field and I passed the ball and just as I passed the ball a big fullback ran into me and I put my hand and arm out to brace my fall and broke my wrist. We had played seven games and were not scored upon yet. After I broke my wrist we gave up a few goals. Our goalie was really good his name was Bruce Ramer.” Vahan Parseghian at the age of 78 has Parkinson’s disease but that did not stop him from willingly sharing his story. Let us never forget the servicemen’s sacrifice. |