“My Memoirs” by Fred Pacheco is a great book!
It has guts and reveals many truths!
It describes the odyssey of an immigrant from the Azores who triumphs in America!
He demonstrates that you can be a good immigrant and also a productive American citizen.
Pacheco can be proud of his achievements honoring his family, his country of origin and his adopted country USA.
He visited 104 countries which he describes like a modern Magellan! Fascinating!
Preface
The Modern Magellan!
Frederico (Fred) Pacheco was born in the heart of the North Atlantic in 1935 in the City of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores.
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine islands of volcanic origin. Two hundred million years ago, the American continent began separating from Europe and in this process the middle Atlantic ridge gave origin to the nine islands of the Azores. This is the reason why all of the islands have frequent tremors, earthquakes and even live volcanoes. These geological conditions have made a great impact on the psychological makeup of its people. All of the islands are gorgeous, but most of the people want to emigrate. This is the reason why we find Azoreans in every county of the world. Their preference is North America or Brazil.
Fred Pacheco’s desire since he was a teenager, was to follow the way to the American Continent: drifting toward the west. He really wanted to come to America. I did not want to come to America. He enjoyed learning English. I hate it! Yet we have many things in common.
When his family moved to Angra do Heroísmo, the capital of Terceira Island, he soon managed to find work in the American Air Force Base at Lajes in the same island. He became an expert translator, attained an official position and even won scholarships to come to the USA to take special courses in Human Relations. He realized that if he ever migrate to the USA he would need to know the English language well. He was smart to make this decision for when he finally immigrates to this country, he had no difficulty starting any kind of job.
His many business successes and his community activities permitted him to attain fulfillment of life in this great country. His qualities of leadership with his dynamic personality make him an outstanding American citizen of Portuguese extraction. He has become a true example that you can be a good immigrant and at the same time become a productive American citizen.
Fred Pacheco can also be proud of his achievements honoring his family, his country of origin and also his adopted country, the USA.
I have accomplished many things together with Fred Pacheco. His cooperation has always been most important to me. We have had a common interest in helping the Portuguese-American Community in cultural and historical activities. I am proud and pleased that Fred Pacheco has been one of my most faithful friends for more than forty years.
For more than twenty years he has wanted to publish this book about his travels and the story of his family. I want to be the first one to congratulate him on this achievement. He has written this book with enthusiasm, passion and patriotism! It is a humble and honest autobiography. It records his odyssey as an immigrant and I foresee it will become a historical reference for generations of immigrants to come!
My warmest congratulations to Fred on his inspiring work, describing his many trips, together with his wife, when they visited more than one hundred counties all over the world.
We are made jealous by the so many wonders of our planet that they have seen! Fred has been indeed a modern Magellan!
Manuel Luciano da Silva
Physician and Historian
Inducted into the RI Hall of Fame