45 YEARS AGO - Enduring heat in excess of 105 degrees, and in my 10th month at DaNang, I was ready to go on R. & R., and because of a Travel Article, I chose Sydney, Australia - where I would take a plane down to the Great Snowy Mountains of Australia. From Vietnam and temperatures in excess of 105 degrees, I was going Snow Skiing in a place called Thredbo. I just clicked on Thredbo to see how the Snow is there at this time, and discovered that several inches of snow is due soon. Surfing around trying to find things that I knew about, I clicked on Sashas Lodge there, and I discovered the owner of that Lodge just passed away a couple of weeks ago. That brought back memories of a Great R. & R. from Australia, and the Snowy Mountains at Thredbo. I came in contact with Sasha 45 years ago, when I first read a travel magazine of Thredbo, a skiing resort in Australia. In the article I read about her ski Chalet, and that she rented rooms. The story mentioned that she was from Czechoslovakia and was an avid skier. Then, somewhere close to the end of the travel article, there was a mention of a couple of GIs from Vietnam, who were there on R. & R. , and as soon as I saw that GIs had been there snow skiing - I knew that I had to go. At the bottom of the article was the address for Sashas lodge. With my date given for August for R. & R. I sent Sasha a letter asking for reservations. canberratimes.au/act-news/treasured-memories-of-the-angel-of-thredbo-20140617-3abhf.html I waited about a week, and received a letter from Sasha saying that she was thrilled getting my letter, however since it was peak season in August, she was already booked. She gave me the contact information for Proscenia - the organization that handled bookings for servicemen on their R. & R. in Sydney. She added that she knew what it was like, when you longed to go skiing, and she invited me, David Gibson, and Bill Evans to come by and visit her at the Lodge. She promised us tea and cake. On the flight from Sydney to Cooma in the Snowy Mountains, and on the bus ride to Thredbo - Dave and Bill both heard a few times my story about Thredbo, the article I had read, and the very nice letter from Sasha. After we arrived at Thredbo and got checked in at our Lodge, we found our way to Shashas Lodge and Shop. We found Shasha in the Shop, and as she heard as come in the shop talking in our accents - she said immediately, Oh ! Youre the Yanks. Please come in. Whos Sgt. Bobby Edwards ? And, after introductions, indeed she fixed us tea, and we had a very nice cake to go with the tea. We enjoyed our conversations, and I remember to this day her letter, and her kind welcome - I remember the days that I longed to go skiing. What a sweetheart and wonderful person. Our three day trip in Thredbo was absolutely wonderful, made more special by the generosity of a very wonderful person. God Bless - Sasha Nekvapil, and may she rest in peace. The Angel of Thredbo.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 00:25:17 +0000
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