Blau was an Air Force firefighter by day and piano player by night

By Carmina Danini, For the Express-News 

Published 6:24 pm, 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Ira Leonard “Lennie” Blau, who was a fire chief with the U.S. Air Force and played the piano at clubs at night, died on Aug. 19. He was 91.

Blau had pneumonia and heart problems, said his son David Blau.

Stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard in the Virgin Islands during World War II, Blau later served with the Air Force where he attained the rank of senior master sergeant.

“He worked all the way till he made fire chief, chief of fire protection,” David Blau said. He ended his Air Force career at Randolph AFB and he and his wife, Edna, stayed in San Antonio.

Music and the piano were never far from Blau’s life, even when he was in the military. After his job on base, he would entertain guests at nightclubs in San Antonio, the Houston area and other cities.
When visiting artists needed a pianist, Blau was often asked to accompany them on stage. Two such artists were Elvis Presley and Frankie Valli, the New Jersey native who was once lead singer with the Four Seasons. Presley may not have made much of an impression on Blau because it wasn’t until years later that his family learned he had been pianist for the future King of Rock and Roll.
Blau’s family believes he accompanied Presley in the Houston area, possibly in the mid-1950s when the singer was appearing with his trio.

“We didn’t know dad had played piano for Elvis until about five years ago when my brother Johnny mentioned he’d played for Elvis,” Betsy Blau said. “I was stunned; I had no idea.”
Born in Houston, Blau was the son of parents who had a traveling magic show. He learned to play the piano at a young age but he never learned to read music, his daughter Betsy Blau said. “It didn’t matter because he would hear a song and play it,” she said. Blau could play any kind of music, but “oldies” were his favorites, his son said. Blau’s family recalls many jam sessions at home.
Calling themselves “The Fabulous Fakes,” Blau would be joined by sons David on drums and Johnny on guitar. “There would be a jam session every holiday,” David Blau recalled. “It was really wonderful.”

Ira Leonard “Lennie” Blau
Born: Oct. 23, 1924, in Houston
Died: Aug. 19, 2016, in San Antonio
Preceded by: Two sons, Clyde Temple and Johnny Blau
Survived by: Wife Edna Blau of San Antonio; son David Blau of Smithville, Texas; daughter Betsy Blau of San Antonio; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services: Visitation 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Sunday at Sunset North Funeral Home, 910 North Loop 1604 East. Chapel service at 9 a.m. Monday at the funeral home with interment at 10:45 a.m. at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Wurzbach Road.

Fire Department training climbs to new heights

Senior Airman Dallas Gullion, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter, repels off of a mobile T-tail maintenance stand Aug. 17, 2016, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Gullion learned rope rescue techniques during a Rescue Technician Course. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia)

By Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia, 436th Airlift Wing

Public Affairs / Published August 23, 2016
See More Photos Here

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Team Dover firefighters now have a new tool for their tool boxes.

A Mobile Travel Team from the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, traveled to Dover AFB to teach a Rescue Technician Course for 12 fire emergency services Airmen August 2016, at Dover AFB.

The class was comprised of two Airmen from the 87th Civil Engineer Squadron assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and ten members of the 436th CES.

“This was truly a unique opportunity for our team members,” said John Melvin, 436th CES Fire Department assistant chief of health/safety. “We would also like to thank the instructors from the DoD Fire Academy, Staff Sgt. Matthew Keenan and Staff Sgt. Alex Rodriguez. Through their guidance, we were able to increase the number of trained and certified rescue personnel by 35 percent.”

This 18-day course includes classroom sessions and practical application. This training teaches students proper techniques for low and high angle rescues.

“We would use these techniques if we had a victim that was stuck somewhere high, maybe they were injured and couldn’t use the stairs, or if they were stuck at the bottom of a canyon,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Keenan, DoD Fire Academy rescue technician instructor.

Some examples on Dover AFB of where this training could be used in the real world include incapacitated workers on the base water tower, fuel cell confined space, communications vaults, base radio tower and light towers on the flight line.

According to Melvin, only about 350 students receive this training annually. Most of them, 290, at the DoD Fire Academy at Goodfellow, AFB, Texas. The remaining 60 are taught by the Mobile Travel Team.

“Fire Emergency Services would like to extend our thanks to the 436th Maintenance Group for allowing us to conduct most of the required course evolutions on the mobile T-Tail maintenance stand,” said Melvin. “This unique piece of equipment is only located at two locations worldwide: Dover AFB and Westover ARB, [Massachusetts]. At no other location in the active duty Air Force will firefighters be able to train from a more stable platform.”

Both the students and the instructors took full advantage of the T-tail stand.

“A typical fire station would allow us to have 10 to 12 on a rooftop, plus the two instructors; that’s 14; it gets cramped, it doesn’t give you a lot of room,” Keenan said. “This stand provides us a multitude of anchor points, a multitude of levels. What we can do really all depends on what we can dream up. We’ve never used a structure like this before. It’s a first.”

This T-tail stand is normally used by the 436th Maintenance Squadron to conduct Major Isochronal Inspections on C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft. The Fire Department coordinated with 436th MSG for the stand’s use while it was not needed for inspection.

“The students have performed well,” Keenan said. ”This is as typical as they go, and this will open up their ability to add more tools to their tool box.”

For the rope rescue portion of the course, the students learned proper repelling, ascending and basket raises. For the basket raises, Senior Airman Shawn Davis, 436th CES firefighter, volunteered to act as a simulated injured victim.

“It was pretty scary, it wasn’t what I imagined it would be,” said Davis. “But it was pretty cool; very different. It’s good to see what a victim would experience and go through, that way when I’m on the line, I have a good perspective of what the victim is experiencing.”

The two students from JB MDL also said they benefited from the training.

“The rescue tech course brought me here,” said Senior Airman Adam Green, 87th CES firefighter. “I work out of their rescue station. One of our trucks has equipment [for] high angle rescue, and I needed this course to learn how to properly use it. This is an amazing class.”

Ten firefighters assigned to the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron and two from the 87th CES assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. conduct rope rescue training, part of a Rescue Technician Course, Aug. 18, 2016, atop a mobile T-tail maintenance stand on Dover Air Force Base, Del. A Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy Mobile Travel Team travelled to Dover AFB to teach the course. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia)

CBIRF Marines, sailors put to the test during Scarlet Response

PERRY, Ga. – Lance Cpl. Dylan Emerson, an aircraft rescue and firefighter specialist with technical rescue platoon, Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, CBIRF, secures chains to lift a concrete barrier in order to extract a casualty, as a part of trench rescue training during Exercise Scarlet Response 2016 at Guardian Centers, Perry, Ga., Aug. 22, 2016. This exercise is the unit’s capstone event testing the skills of each individual CBIRF capability with lane training and culminating with a 36-hour simulated response to a nuclear detonation. CBIRF is an active duty Marine Corps unit that, when directed, forward-deploys and/or responds with minimal warning to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) threat or event in order to assist local, state, or federal agencies and the geographic combatant commanders in the conduct of CBRNE response or consequence management operations, providing capabilities for command and control; agent detection and identification; search, rescue, and decontamination; and emergency medical care for contaminated personnel. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Maverick S. Mejia/RELEASED)

PERRY, GA, UNITED STATES

08.22.2016

Photo by Lance Cpl. Maverick Mejia 

Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF)

Running toward the sound of chaos: Marines assist Okinawa residents after vehicle collision

Photo By Cpl. Brittany A. James | Lance Cpl. Luis Rosas, left, and Cpl. Ian Burnham, center, are presented a letter of appreciation by Eikatsu Sakihara, Aug. 23 at the Urasoe City Police Department in Urasoe City, Okinawa, Japan. Rosas and Burnham were awarded letters of appreciation for their life-saving efforts following a vehicle collision, and their courage combating a vehicle fire April 16. “We appreciate their bravery,” said Sakihara. “Usually a burning vehicle could cause a big explosion, and is very dangerous to deal with. The Marines were brave enough to stop the vehicle fire.” Rosas is a Wilmington, California, native, and an engineer equipment mechanic with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. Burnham is a Spokane, Washington, native, and electrical engineer equipment systems technician with, 3rd Maintenance Bn., CLR-35, 3rd MLG, III MEF. Sakihara is Chief of Police with the Urasoe City Police Department. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Brittany A. James/ Released) 

URASOE CITY, OKINAWA, JAPAN
08.23.2016
Story by Cpl. Brittany A. James
III Marine Expeditionary Force / Marine Corps Installations Pacific

U.S. Marine Cpl. Ian Burnham and Lance Cpl. Luis Rosas were awarded letters of appreciation August 23 from the Urasoe Police Department in Urasoe City, Okinawa, Japan for their efforts in assisting an injured driver out of a vehicle following a multi-vehicle collision, and extinguishing a burning vehicle.

Burnham, an electrical engineer equipment systems technician and Rosas, an engineer equipment mechanic with 3rd Maintenance Bn., Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, witnessed a vehicle collision as they were walking back to Camp Kinser from a local sports and entertainment facility April 16.

At the scene of the accident, the Marines did not hesitate to assist with the injured driver, as the other driver exited their vehicle safely.
“When we saw the crash, we ran to pull one (person) out of the car, and the other person exited the car safely,” said Burnham, a Spokane, Washington native.

The Marines cleared the area, and ensured pedestrians were out of harm’s way, according to Rosas, a Wilmington, California native. Following the accident, the Marines noticed the vehicle had caught on fire.

“We got two fire extinguishers from a local store,” said Rosas. “We put out the fire and waited for the police to arrive before returning to base.”
The Marine Corps teaches Marines to have a warrior mindset which prepares them for any situation, both on and off-duty, according to Burnham.

“It’s what Marines do,” said Burnham. “They are always ready to act when others hesitate, and when you see someone in danger it's a basic Marine Corps instinct to help someone out.”

The letter of appreciation was presented to the Marines by Eikatsu Sakihara, the Chief of the Urasoe Police Department.

“We sincerely appreciate your prompt response to a vehicle fire that occurred on Highway 58 in 5 Chome Makiminato, Urasoe City on 16 April, 2016,” read the letter of appreciation. “As soon as you discovered the vehicle fire, you quickly conducted firefighting without hesitation. Your positive cooperation made a great contribution for preventing further damage.”

The Urasoe Police Department was thankful that the Marines were there to mitigate the after-affects of the accident, according to Sakihara.

“We appreciate their bravery,” said Sakihara. “Usually a burning vehicle could cause a big explosion, and is very dangerous to deal with. The Marines were brave enough to stop the vehicle fire.”

Mustangs respond to mock IED during Beverly Herd

Firefighters from the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron hook up a water hose to a fire hydrant during a mock improvised explosive device exercise on Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Aug. 23, 2016. The mock IED is a scenario during exercise Beverley Herd 16-2 to test first responders on their emergency capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Steffen)

OSAN AIR BASE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, 41, SOUTH KOREA

08.23.2016

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Steffen 

51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs