Richard H Chiu Biography

Chapter 4 Moving East

.When David was still a baby, Richard was sent on assignment to
Washington D.C. It was during the Viet Nam war and Richard was
asked to assist a well-known engineer name Amerikian who had been
asked to design a special dock for the Viet Nam war.  After a month or so,
Pat rented out the house in Oxnard and drove to Washington D.C. with her father and the children. David Heywood flew home and Pat and Richard set up housekeeping in an apartment in northern Virginia.

picture of pat with meg and david on carousel

Pat took the children to Washington D. C. to visit the zoo and museums. Richard had success in a very difficult job. Amerikian was something of a rogue and many of his coworkers resented him. Even so, he had the influence needed to get his project noticed, and with the help of his brilliant young assistant, Richard Chiu, he had soon prepared the plans for a floating dock that it could be towed to the coast of Viet Nam as a barge, then elevated on supports to form a dock.

Amerikian won the Lincoln Arc Welding prize for the innovative design. Even though Richard did not win part of the $5000 prize, he was
content with the recognition he received; a step increase in his salary which he expected would be worth far more than $5000 over the years if he continued in the employ of the navy.
Although the family returned to California, living in an apartment until their home in Oxnard was no longer under lease, Richard was convinced that his future must lie in the east, in or around Washington D.C. where the seat of power was situated.

In short order he obtained a position with another arm of the Navy’s
research team and the family moved to Arlington, Virginia and
purchased a brick home on Wilson Boulevard.

Pat with David and Meg in front of 5716 Wilson Blvd.
Not long after settling into their 7th home in five years, Pat gave birth to their third child, Kathleen.

She was born on August 18, 1967 and died unexpectedly just a few months later in November.  Some mention was made of an immature Thymus gland as the cause of death.

As soon as they moved into their house in Arlington, Richard undertook an ambitious remodeling project on their little house, putting in a long rear sun room and forming a patio area of cast octagonal concrete tiles around a huge oak that was adjacent to the kitchen. He had learned from his experience of selling the house in Oxnard, California that a well-planned enhancement could have a positive effect on the selling price of real estate.