All About Rico

...and for even more about RICO, go to his PHOTO GALLERY.

...and if that doesn't do it, E-mail him at ricovicino@gmail.com .

Here follows a painfully detailed history of my favorite subject: ME.   If you find ME uninteresting, you might want to skip this part.

 OK, I was adopted. (My brother always said so.) this is one of the few ways an Italian boy can grow up in a Nordic household. This established my role as an outsider. (Outside the box?)

I had a sense of humor. This probably saved my life. Aw shucks, I didn't have it any worse than anybody else. I just thought I did at the time.

Fast forward to the Viet Nam War. I tried to stay in school but the draft board was quicker. In order to stay out of the infantry, I joined the Air Force. I trained as a telephone central office technician. In order to stay out of Viet Nam, I volunteered for the Philippines. It turned out I was assigned to a mobile group and found myself in Viet Nam anyway. I had work there and in Thailand, Korea (the Pueblo incident), Laos and Japan. After 18 months in Southeast Asia, I took a 3 year tour in Europe (Wiesbaden and Stuttgart W. Germany.) I traveled to Holland, France, England, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg. In Stuttgart, I met my wife who was Greek and English. After the birth of our daughter, we traveled to Greece.

After 6 years in the Air Force I bought a house in Portland Oregon. My marriage broke up in 1974 and I didn't see my daughter for 10 years.

I lived in a camper and learned to play the tuba. I worked in 20s and 30s jazz bands for the next 20 years. I also studied child-care and worked in child-care centers for those same 20 years. In 1985, I bought a little house which is my hide-out.

Also in that year, my genetic family looked me up. I have spent the last 16 years getting to know them. I have 5 wonderful sisters and a bunch of great aunts and uncles. Finally I got a chance to be Italian.

I have cut fish, recapped tires, made water heaters, worked retail, drove a bus for handicapped, and been a janitor.

I was married and divorced a second time. We remain good friends.

In 1990, I joined Northwest Veterans for Peace and protested the Gulf War. (More about that in my Opinions Section.) With that group, I have spoken in hundreds of school classes; telling my story and my point of view on war and politics. While military recruiters were still allowed in the Portland Public Schools, I asserted our right for equal access and set up a table in the cafeterias and hallways of the area high-schools to offer an opposing view to the recruiters; often just opposite their table.

In 1993, I began working for the Catholic Resettlement Service, teaching English to refugees. I learned a bit of Viet Namese and made some really good friends with whom I celebrate all the landmarks in life.

I have been back to Greece since my service days and have traveled around the islands. In 1994, I went back to Viet Nam and made a month-long journey from Sai Gon to Ha Noi. I made a lot of friends along the way. In Hue, I spent a couple of days speaking in classes at one of the Universities there. In Ha Noi, I visited the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. In 1998, I returned to Viet Nam; this time visiting The Delta and Ha Long Bay. I worked with a theater company in Ha Noi; learning the cues in order to operate the spot light. In the fall, we took the show to America and spent 6 weeks touring the West Coast. I roomed with a couple of NVA veterans who had fought at Khe Sanh. I became close friends with all the theater company.

.....and that's my life in a nutshell. -RICO*