Living on the Peninsula - Winter 2010

WINTER 2010

Saluting Those Who Serve Pg.10

Coming Back: C YYoung veterans return to the peninsula

Pg.15

TThe Force of a Great Idea T military and the Red Cross: The SSolferino to stand-downs

Pg.19

Military Formation M PPort Angeles High School Naval Junior ROTC

Pg.28

America’s Maritime Guardian A CCoast Guard protects nation’s heartland, ports & seas around the globe

Pg.40

‘‘Sounds good to me’ FFrom Iowa to Antarctica, as an officer and a lady

Pg. 44ON V Volunteers Stand Up2010For LIVING THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER

Veterans

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

8 32

12 19

DEPARTMENTS Recreation 8 Winter A day at the ridge

& Soul 23 Heart Drawing from a dry well

& Entertainment 9 Arts “The Final Forest — Big Trees, Forks,

50 Events Calendar

and the Pacific Northwest”

Gardening 12 Good Dried hydrangeas as an art form

28

18

Living End 52 The Differentiate between the warrior and the war

& Then 54 Now Photographic journal

Food & Spirits A taste of Sequim’s Sunshine

SPOTLIGHT Back: 10 Coming Young veterans return to the peninsula

Collar Artwork 32 Blue Profile of metal sculptor Ray Hammar

Force of a Great Idea 15 The The military and the Red Cross:

38 Veterans Are Unique

Solferino to stand-downs

Formation 19 Military Port Angeles High School Naval Junior ROTC

good to me’ 40 ‘Sounds From Iowa to Antarctica, as an officer and a lady

42 Sarge’s Place

Money, Big Trouble 25 Big Iraqi service changed his life

Stand Up 44 Volunteers For Veterans

Maritime Guardian 28 America’s Coast Guard protects nation’s heartland,

46 From a Grateful Nation

ports & seas around the globe

48 Quilcene VFW LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

On the cover: A motor lifeboat from the Coast Guard’s Station Quillayute River at LaPush powers through rough 15-foot seas offshore of the mouth of the Quillayute River in February 2010. Lifeboat crews aboard two of the vessels laid wreaths in the Pacific Ocean as a memorial to three Coast Guardsmen who lost their lives in February 1997, responding to a distress call from a dismasted sailboat in heavy sea conditions on the windward side of nearby James Island.

Photo by Chris Cook - Forks Forum

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Contributors Patricia Morrison Coate is the award-winning editor of Living on the Peninsula magazine. She has been a journalist since 1989 and earned degrees in Spanish from Eastern Michigan University and Indiana University. Coate joined the Sequim Gazette in 2004 as its special sections editor and can be reached at patc@sequimgazette.com.

Lorri Gilchrist graduated from Sequim High School and spent 20 years as an officer in the Navy. She is vice commander of the Sequim American Legion Post and president of the Olympic Peninsula chapter of MOAA. She helps with the Port Angeles Stand-down and at the Washington State Veterans’ Home in Retsil.

Chris Cook is the editor and pub-

Beverly Hoffman

writes a gardening column for the Sequim Gazette that appears once a month. She is an enthusiastic longtime gardener. She can be reached via e-mail at columnists@ sequim gazette.com.

lisher of the Forks Forum and a resident of Forks. He is the author of “The Kauai Movie Book” and other regional bestsellers in Hawaii. His book “Twilight Territory: A Fan’s Guide to Forks and LaPush” was published in May 2009. Cook is a graduate of the University of Hawaii.

Elizabeth Kelly

has lived on the Olympic Peninsula nearly a dozen years. She has worked for three newspapers as reporter and freelance writer.

She also wrote as a technical writer. She has traveled to all seven continents and continues to be curious about the world around her.

Karen Frank

received her master’s degree in transforming spirituality from Seattle University. She is a writer and spiritual director in Port Townsend.

Reach her at karenanddana1@q.com or www.yourlifeassacredstory.org.

Jerry Kraft is a playwright, poet and theater critic. He reviews Seattle theater productions for SeattleActor.com and the national theater website AisleSay.com. In addition to his writing and photography, he teaches memoir writing at the YMCA in Port Angeles where he lives with his wife, Bridgett Bell Kraft, and their daughters McKenna and Luxie.

Contact us:

Viviann Kuehl has been a landowner and resident of Quilcene since 1982, although her family ties go back to homesteading in Jefferson County in 1905. She has written about the Quilcene community and Jefferson County over the past 20 years.

P.O. Box 1750, Sequim, WA 98382 360-683-3311 Patricia Morrison Coate: patc@sequimgazette.com

Barb Maynes has worked in nine national parks, from Everglades in South Florida to the Kobuk Valley in northwest Alaska. She has served as the public information officer at Olympic National Park since 1994.

226 Adams St., Port Townsend, WA 98368 360-385-2900 Fred Obee: fobee@ptleader.com Vol. 6, Number 4 Living on the Peninsula is a quarterly publication. © 2010 Sequim Gazette 6 © 2010 Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

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Mike McEvoy joined the U.S. Navy in 1964 and spent four years directing aircraft on the flight deck, doing two tours in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam.

He’s been a veterans employment representative for 11 years in Port Angeles through WorkSource’s Disabled Veteran Outreach Program.

Kelly McKillip has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Marylhurst College in Oregon, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Hayward State University in California. She works as a nurse at Olympic Medical Center and volunteers at The Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic.

Ashley Miller is a former Sequim Gazette reporter and now is a freelance writer with a journalism degree from Washington State University. She’s a stayat-home mother of two energetic young boys, ages 1 and 3. Contact her at ashley. lavon@gmail.com.

Design: Melanie Reed is the awardwinning lead designer for Living on the Peninsula. She has been a graphic designer for the Sequim Gazette since May 2004. She earned a bachelor’s degree in drawing from Western Washington University and also enjoys painting.

Reed can be reached at mreed@sequim gazette.com.

An editor’s personal note: This edition of Living on the Peninsula is the last to be designed by the Sequim Gazette’s talented graphic artist Melanie Reed.

She and I have worked as a team, since the initial issue in March 2005 and with great fun and pride have produced 24 LOPs, some of them award-winners.

I have greatly appreciated her creativity, her grace, her calmness during deadline crunches and seeing her grow personally and professionally. Melanie has made us all look great, from the cover to the back page. We will miss her and wish her family the best.

Sincerely, Patricia Morrision Coate, Special Sections Editor

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

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Winter RECREATION

A Day at the Ridge

by Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park information officer

O

lympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge winter schedule has been announced for the 2010-2011 season.

“Contributions from communities, organizations and individuals across the North Olympic Peninsula provided the additional funding necessary to hire the eight new staff needed to keep the Hurricane Ridge Road open seven days a week this winter,” said Karen Gustin, Olympic National Park superintendent.

Details about the range of winter activities and services provided on Hurricane Ridge are outlined below.

enter any of the park’s roadways, costs $15. The Olympic National Park Annual Pass, good for one year after the purchase date, costs $30.

Hurricane Ridge shuttle van All Points Charters and Tours will provide twice-daily van service from downtown Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge Wednesday-Sunday.

under development and will be made available soon. In addition, park entrance fees ($5 per person for anyone 16 years and older) will be required at the park entrance station. Park and national public lands entrance passes will be honored.

Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center The information desk will be staffed daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., except when rangers are outdoors leading snowshoe walks or assisting visitors.

Snack bar and ski shop Hurricane Ridge Road Weather permitting, Hurricane Ridge Road will be open daily from 9 a.m. to dusk through the winter season.

All vehicles, including four-wheel drive vehicles, are required to carry tire chains when traveling above the Heart O’ the Hills entrance station in winter.

“Having a set of chains in every vehicle provides an extra measure of safety when sudden storms arrive or road conditions worsen during the day,” said Gustin. “In fact, this practice gives us more flexibility in keeping the road open when conditions are marginal.”

Winter storms can close Hurricane Ridge Road; high winds and blizzard conditions are not uncommon. “Hurricane Ridge is well-named and despite our best efforts to keep the road cleared and open, severe weather can force a road closure or delayed opening,” explained Gustin. “Our No. 1 priority is safety for our staff and visitors.”

Road and weather condition updates are posted on the Olympic National Park website (www.nps.gov/olym) or by calling the park’s Road and Weather Hotline at 360-5653131. People also can follow “HRWinterAccess” on Twitter to receive road condition updates.

Hurricane Ridge Road also may close temporarily if the parking lot becomes full. To make best use of the available parking spaces, park staff urges Hurricane Ridge visitors to carpool or use the new Hurricane Ridge shuttle whenever possible and pay extra attention to making the best use of parking spaces.

“Ride-sharing and carpooling will conserve the limited parking spaces at Hurricane Ridge and we ask our visitors to help in this effort,” said Gustin.

Entrance fees are collected at the Heart O’ the Hills entrance station whenever the road is open. Olympic’s seven-day entrance pass, which allows a private vehicle to

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The Hurricane Ridge snack bar and ski shop, with both ski and snowshoe rentals, will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday through March 27; along with Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 17) and Presidents Day (Monday, Feb. 21) and during the holiday period from Sunday, Dec. 26, through Sunday, Jan. 2.

Ranger-led snowshoe walks

Sequim photographer Chris Menges spent a day at Hurricane Ridge in 2009, catching some spectacular views. Here are some samples. See the full set online at www.flickr.com/photos/stendex/sets.

Shuttle vans will depart from the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on Railroad Avenue at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and will pick up passengers at the Vern Burton Center at 9:05 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. before the 45-minute drive to Hurricane Ridge. Vans will depart Hurricane Ridge at approximately 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Scheduling details will remain flexible during the start-up period for this new service.

Advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling All Points Charters and Tours at 360-565-1139 or 360-460-7131. Round-trip tickets will cost $10 per person; rates for special circumstances are

Ranger-led snowshoe walks for individuals and families will be offered at 2 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Monday holidays through March 27. The walks last 90 minutes and are less than one mile in length. Space on walks is limited, so people should register at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center information desk 30 minutes before the scheduled walk.

A suggested $5 donation from each snowshoe walk participant helps the park provide snowshoe walks and repair and replace snowshoes.

Organized groups such as youth or school groups must make advance reservations for snowshoe walks. Group snowshoe walks are provided Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Monday holidays at 10:30 a.m. for groups holding reservations. Space is limited, so group leaders should call Olympic National Park at 360-565-3136 for reservations and more information.

Downhill ski and snowboard area Weather permitting, the downhill ski and snowboard area will operate from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through March 27. The ski tows also will be open Friday, Dec. 31; Monday, Jan. 17 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day); and Monday, Feb. 21 (Presidents Day). More information about the Hurricane Ridge downhill ski and snowboard area is available at www.hurricaneridge.com.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

&

ARTS Entertainment

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing Opportunities for cross-country skiers and snowshoe walkers range from open, level meadows near the visitor center to extreme terrain in the park’s wilderness backcountry. Anyone skiing or snowshoeing beyond the immediate Hurricane Ridge area should signin at the registration box in the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and be prepared for steep terrain and the possibility of avalanches.

“Although it’s close to town, Hurricane Ridge is subject to extreme winter conditions, including sudden storms, whiteouts and avalanches — planning and preparation for winter conditions are vitally important,” said Gustin.

Information about ski and snowshoe routes and trails is available at park visitor centers, the Olympic National Park website or the park’s visitor newspaper, The Bugler.

‘The Final Forest — ‘T B Trees, Forks, and Big tthe Pacific Northwest’ B William Dietrich, By with a new epilogue by the author Seattle: University of Washington Press Published November 2010. $19.95 trade paperback 320 pages, 2 maps

Overnight wilderness camping Overnight wilderness camping is permitted in the Hurricane Ridge area with advance registration. Winter camps must be at least one-half mile from the Hurricane Ridge parking area. Overnight parking is not permitted at Hurricane Ridge; parking and shuttle options are explained at the time of registration. More information is available by calling the park’s Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100 or the Olympic National Park Visitor Center at 360-565-3130.

Avalanche information Up-to-date information about weather and avalanche risk is available from the Northwest Avalanche Center on the Internet at www.nwac.us/ or by calling 206-526-6677. Anyone planning to venture beyond the maintained downhill ski area or the immediate Hurricane Ridge area always should check with the Northwest Avalanche Center or a ranger for current conditions.

Hurricane Ridge webcam and weather station Hurricane Ridge weather conditions are available on the park’s website at www.nps.gov/olym and clicking first on “Photos & Multimedia” and then on “Webcams.” The webcam image is updated every 15 minutes (although severe weather can cause webcam outages); weather station information is provided hourly.

Tubing and sliding Tubing and sliding are permitted only for children 8 years of age and younger at the small children’s snowplay area just west of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.

If conditions become too dangerous for sliding, the small children’s snowplay area will be closed. Visitors should check at a park visitor center for current information.

Olympic National Park Visitor Center The Olympic National Park Visitor Center, at the base of Hurricane Ridge Road, is open daily throughout the winter from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. More information about visiting Hurricane Ridge and other areas of Olympic National Park is available at www.nps.gov/olym.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

sparked a reissue of the book.

In a letter to contributors to the new ome 20 years ago, Pulitzer Prize- version, Dietrich writes: “The original text is almost exactly winning author William Dietrich the same; but an update was overdue traveled to Forks to do interviews and to learn on the ground the story thanks to the many changes in the timber behind the spotted owl logging versus industry and the ‘Twilight’ phenomena. environmentalist battle then raging on The book was originally published as a hardback by Simon & Schuster, then pathe West End. Upon the publication in 1992 of the perback by Penguin, and finally went out book he wrote, “The Final Forest — Big of print after about 15 years. I was asked Trees, Forks, and the Pacific Northwest,” by teachers to update it for classroom Dietrich received what to a journalist is use, and I’m hoping it still has some life a backhanded compliment when both as a classroom text. We’ll see.”

Dietrich also comments on the sides argued he went too far in supportchanges that have come to Forks ing the opposition. and the West End due to Time has brought “The the deep cut in logging Final Forest” acclaim as jobs and acreage due a realistic portrayal of ‘The Final tured to the spotted owl a critical era for the p a c s a h controversy. ’ t West End commus Fore nt e m o m r “Forks has bela nities. a particu historically come a commuIn the introducin time, a t debate. nity that bridges tion to an updated n a t r o p two Americas. The im edition of “The Fih ic tr ie D m a li Forks of 1990 is as nal Forest,” published – Wil ‘Gone With the Wind’ in November by the as the antebellum South, University of Washington replaced by a 21st-century Press, the author writes: “As time went on, however, the book’s bal- Forks that is representative of a retail ance that some initially judged as a li- and information workforce in a nation ability began to be seen as an asset. ‘The obsessed with entertainment and escape.

Final Forest’ has captured a particular Just 16 percent of the male workforce was moment in time, a historically important still working in the woods in 2009. The debate. I began to hear nice things from last great trees have been saved by the environmental old-growth campaign, both loggers and tree-huggers.”

Global interest in Forks and the West but at the cost of a resource-based End due to the setting of the “Twilight” culture that was hard, dangerous and books and films in the region also communal.”

By Chris Cook

S

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Coming Back: Story and photos by Jerry Kraft

For

young military personnel serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, or anywhere in the world, the day of their impending discharge often seems like the ultimate destination.

Everything after that day, their future lives as veterans, is often barely formed and not particularly well-planned. The sometimes difficult transition from military to civilian life, recovery from wounds both physical and psychological, decisions on employment and living situations as well as restoring relationships with family and friends, all are components of life after the military. It’s all part of the work that has to take place after service to the country, after that day they come home.

For Kris Nichols, an Iraq War veteran in Port Angeles, that day is unforgettable.

“I came home on Christmas Eve 2007. I was so excited.

It meant not missing another Christmas, another holiday with my family. It was also a little terrifying because you’re transitioning from being thousands and thousands of miles away in a really foreign place to this whole different life.”

Jessica Nichols is from the Olympic Peninsula, so when her husband, Kris, returned from Iraq, they wanted to make their home in Port Angeles.

Since his discharge he has been busily engaged in coordinating his benefits and medical treatment and finding a civilian job. Kris is very proud of his military service.

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Above: This plaque in the home of Kris and Jessica Nichols exemplifies what most veterans see as the primary goal of their post-military life. Many local services, agencies and schools are trying to ease the transition to civilian life.

Young veterans return to the peninsula

He also found that his experience in Iraq left him with a different awareness of the most ordinary things.

“I think the most unexpected difference after coming home was driving. When you’re over there, you’re always conscious of IEDs, not letting other cars get close to you, driving in the middle of the road, never on the side. It was hard to readjust to staying in my lane and I was constantly aware of looking in the mirror, making sure cars weren’t coming up too close behind me. When I had my little daughter in the car, I was especially careful.”

Nichols grew up in a small town in Texas, close to Fort Worth. “I’m a country boy,” he says, “Hazel was the kind of town where everybody knows everybody. I met my wife, Jessica, in Texas but she’s from up here so when I got out we thought it would be a good idea to move up here.”

After boot camp, Nichols was sent to Advanced Individual Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas to train as an aircraft mechanic, specializing in hydraulic and pneumatic systems on helicopters. After 12 weeks of school, he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, for the next four years. Then he was sent to Iraq, where he served for 15 months.

“I first arrived in Iraq at midnight and it was still really hot. When I got my orders for Iraq, I was excited and a little apprehensive. I wasn’t scared because I knew where I was going when I signed up, but when you’re standing there looking at orders that have your name beside the name Iraq, it was something different. We actually first flew into Kuwait, then loaded our bags onto pallets and got on Chinooks and Blackhawks

for Iraq. It felt weird. I definitely knew I wasn’t home.”

Now that Nichols is home again he’s trying to find a job where he can use his mechanical skills and he’s also trying to negotiate his veteran’s benefits. “I have a 70-percent disability from PTSD, a Level II Traumatic Brain Injury, shoulder and wrist issues, some hearing loss and a back injury.”

Like many veterans, he is trying to manage his VA benefits and also move his family into a new life. For all that, he does not regret his military experience.

“I would say the best part of my military experience was just the opportunity to go to war for my country. It’s a good feeling to be able to say you went to war for your country. It’s amazing. It has made me more aware of life and all that surrounds me.”

Justin Olbu is another young man who went to war for his country. Growing up on Camano Island, Olbu went into the Marine Corps right after high school. Following boot camp in San Diego, he was stationed in Spain as part of a Quick React Force for the Mediterranean, then to Camp Lejeune, N.C., for three years with an infantry unit and then to Iraq and Afghanistan. He returned from Afghanistan last October after two years in the Middle East.

Stationed in the Helman River Valley, he saw first-hand combat on a nearly daily basis.

“A usual day was quite complex,” he says. “Usually it would be 100 to 110 degrees and in the wet areas even hotter, sometimes up to 120 degrees or so. Often we would be going through the fields or swamps. You don’t take the beaten path, so we’d often be going through ditches and such. There’s no sewage system in that area, so anything that hits the ground ends up in the ditches. You constantly have to be aware of malaria and we take medications for that.”

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

In addition to the difficult terrain, there also is the enemy. “There wasn’t a week that went by when we didn’t have some sort of contact on our patrols,” Olbu said. “It’s guerrilla warfare so if you get hit, there’s often 400 meters of open territory between you and whoever you’re engaging. Usually a firefight would only last five or 10 minutes, but sometimes they would go on for some time. Once the fire breaks off, you could try to track the enemy, call for fire or have them bring in the helicopters or drones to help search.” Olbu is 24 years old.

Olbu also has a list of disabilities from his service and he continues to work with the Veterans Administration for his treatment and benefits.

When Olbu was discharged, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

“I knew that if the Marine Corps wouldn’t meet the terms of my re-enlistment that I wanted to spend a little time with my family and then go to college. I’m enrolled at Peninsula College studying engineering. I’ve found a lot of support from the college. I think this has to be one of the best schools for veterans to go to in terms of getting the direction and support to get your education after your military service.”

Jerimiah Meyer, himself an eight-year Navy veteran, is a critical part of that support. In his position as veterans navigator he is involved in helping new veterans get their benefits and understand what their options are in civilian life. He is a part of VET Corps (Veterans Engaged

Jerimiah Meyer is a Navy veteran who is engaged with VET Corps, a government initiative to help returning service members in their transition to civilian life, higher education and new jobs. Peninsula College has been a leader in offering and helping veterans to further their educations by coordinating their veterans’ benefits and academic programs.

for Tomorrow), a program passed by Congress in 2009 specifically to help veterans reintegrate into society after military service.

“I work with Peninsula College, with WorkSource, with the county and with various other agencies, as well as with the VA to help these men and women to move forward. I think for a lot of veterans it’s more difficult to just decide what they want to do than it is to find an actual job.”

He does acknowledge that it is a tough job market and that makes education an attractive option. “Peninsula College offers a 50-percent tuition waiver for honorably discharged veterans, which the various GI Bills easily

cover. Many are also entitled to a living stipend and a book stipend. We can also help them translate their military job training into a civilian context. Often it’s just a difference in terminology. There are a lot of people on the peninsula trying to help vets get into good jobs and good situations.”

One of those people is Trish Plute, the veterans coordinator for Peninsula College. She is charged with ensuring that veterans are enrolling in the classes they need and that they’re getting their benefits. She has seen the number of veterans enrolled double in the past two years.

With more and more young people returning from the military to a tough economy, the needs of veterans and their families are the responsibility of all of us, all the fellow Americans whom they have served. These young people have performed their duty to their country, often at great personal cost, and we have a moral responsibility to do all that we can to repay them and ensure that their civilian lives after military service are healthy, productive and happy.

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GOOD Gardening

Story by Beverly Hoffman Photos by David Godfrey

Dried Hydrangeas as an

Art Form

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P

erhaps you are like me and have read the same Sequim Gazette want ad for about 20 years: “Wanted — dry hydrangea blooms. Call Su.” Maybe you, too, were curious about what this person wanted to do with dried blossoms.

Had you called Su Howat to come to your garden, you would have met a woman who engages with life — both with nature and with people. As a young girl who summered on Cape Cod Bay, she fell in love with nature, observing the tides and their power to cleanse as well as compromise the beach, listening to the halyards clanking on nearby sailboats, standing on a bluff and looking at a dead beached whale.

Her connection to nature continued to thrive in Sequim, moving from Mercer Island as a young single woman, to where she could observe the many moods of the Olympics and could walk on the spit, a

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

reminder of her early days near the water.

Her first job in Sequim was working with the original owners of Cedarbrook Herb Farm, Carmen and Don McReynolds. She did every job possible and she admits she had a steep learning curve. As Cedarbrook, the oldest herb farm in Washington, was passed on to their daughter Toni Anderson, Su continued to work there, where plans began to evolve about the possibility of growing lavender in this area. Toni, the owner, did much of the early research on varieties that might do well in our valley.

Su laughs at an early memory when she and friends considered growing lavender. One friend, Mary Lofstrom, thought it might be fun to grow, dry and sell lavender as a cottage business.

She whispered to the group, “But let’s not tell anyone else.” Someone must have whispered their secret, though, because now the valley morphs into a hue of purple in July and August.

While she worked at the herb farm, she married Jeff, a fine furniture craftsman, and together they had two daughters. With her passion for gardening awakened, she responded to an intuitive direction to move even deeper into nature. She donned gloves and a shovel and began growing flowers that could be dried and then hosted educational tours to show how her flowers, such as larkspur (Consolida

GOOD Gardening ajacis), statice (Limonium), cultivated baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata), and ornamental oregano, could be used.

As the lavender farming grew in popularity, Su realized she was drawn more to hydrangeas with their spherical blooms in various hues of blues and pinks she loved. She began to advertise for the coveted hydrangea blooms, which she transforms into bouquets, potpourri and wreaths.

She feels that as winter hovers, she can stave it off a bit by having fall’s nature in her home. Around her home, she has planted her favorite, Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Goliath,’ plus a few more she continues to test.

Su spends time in her garden and was one of the first students in the Master Gardeners program in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. She feels that people without a connection to the land are more prone to become ill because they don’t breathe in fresh air, don’t enjoy the flexibility of their bodies and feel a general disconnect with people and with the earth.

A sense of gratitude seems to be a part of having one’s hands in the soil.

She loves the way she can choose plants for her garden by their scent … lots of the scented

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Martha Washingtons geraniums (Pelargonium); by their names — she loves her ‘Granny’s Ringlets’ Cryptomeria; or because of the colors. She is a woman who explores all of her senses. In the fall, she loves to decorate her porch with lots of cornstalks and pumpkins, a garden vignette of its own.

Su’s connection to people runs as deeply as her connection to the land. She was the first manager for the Open Aire Market, which began in the mid1990s. She loved the interaction of farmers, craftsmen, gardeners, musicians and townspeople all attracted to a central location, sharing their stories, their produce, their art, their appreciation.

Now Su manages a second business, Hello, My Friend, (jshowat@olypen.com) where she visits and is a companion to physically active clients who have dementia. She received some of her training through Bridge Builders, a business of Mindi Blanchard’s that helps older clients maneuver financial and medical tasks. Su uses creative listening as a tool and sits while her clients weave their stories that are part past, part present, part imaginary.

Su and Jeff have created a place where artistry takes free rein and where they can both feel free to feel and touch and smell the earth and all that it gives.

Su Howat realized she was drawn to hydrangeas with their spherical blooms in various hues of blues and pinks she loved.

How to dry hydrangeas 1. Wait until the blooms are past their prime and have a slight leathery feel. To determine the ideal time to cut hydrangeas, look down from a bird’seye view on the flowering mophead. Look for the tight buds that have formed in the middle of the blooms. If they look as though they’re ready to fall off, the time is right, if it hasn’t rained.

2. Cut the stems to about 10 inches or to a pair of next year’s buds. Remove the leaves.

3. Hang several stems on a string, knotting one stem, then farther down, knotting another, etc., so that there is adequate air circulation.

4. Keep in a dark area where humidity fluctuates very little.

5. It takes about 10 days for the blossoms to dry.

Hydrangeas can overdry, so be cautious.

6. Blooms will last about a year.

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

The military and the Red Cross: Solferino to stand-downs

By Kelly McKillip

The

Red Cross has taken on many roles since its inception nearly 150 years ago but the mission to support and serve members of the armed forces remains as important today as it was at the start.

The story of the Red Cross begins in Solferino, Italy, in 1859. Swiss-born Henri Dunant had traveled to Northern Italy on business when he became witness to 300,000 soldiers fighting a horrific 15-hour battle. For several days after the surrender, the death toll continued to rise steadily on both sides until it reached almost 40,000. Delay in medical attention coupled with the lack of clean water, food, hygiene, simple first aid supplies, comfort care and compassionate support did as much harm as the weapons to the wounded combatants who initially survived the battle.

Moved by the plight of these individuals, Dunant did his best alongside the townspeople and religious to organize volunteers to administer the most basic of aid: fluids, nourishment, washing of bodies and wounds, comforting the dying and assisting with communication to families. Dunant subsequently wrote an eyewitness account entitled “A Memory of Solferino,” in which he graphically describes the carnage of that battle and its aftermath of intense human suffering.

Dunant’s purpose in penning the memoir was to attract supporters to form humanitarian societies that would render assistance in times of war. Initially interested in working toward the ideal of peace, Dunant soon became resigned to the fact that warring would not cease and with ongoing improvement in weapons of destruction, support

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

From left, are Red Cross workers Dick Holdren, Michelle Kelley, Bill Wheeler and Diane Holdren at the USCG Get to Know Us event.

Photo courtesy Diane Holdren

during battles would be increasingly needed. He called upon philanthropic individuals to act with the same bravery and commitment in a compassionate cause as he had witnessed in the military combatants that day at Solferino.

Spurred by Dunant’s moving account, the idea caught on like wildfire and the Red Cross was born.

Governments and military leaders were quick to recognize the practicality that aid from a neutral force would have in reducing the casualties in their troops.

By the summer of 1864, 15 European diplomats were sent to Switzerland to create an international policy for humanitarian treatment of the sick and wounded during war. The document they constructed became The Geneva Convention, which has been modified

Above: Upon his return from Iraq, Col. Rick Holdren gave this plaque to the SAF manager for the Olympic Peninsula Red Cross Chapter, Diane Holdren.

Photo courtesy Diane Holdren Right: Inspired by Henri Dunant’s work in Europe, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881.

over the years but remains true to its original intent. The now familiar Greek red cross on a white background, the reverse of the Swiss flag, became the symbol of neutrality to protect hospitals and trained noncombatants ready to render aid.

The American Red Cross Inspired by the International Red Cross movement, American Clara Barton and others founded the American Red Cross in 1881. The organization received its first congressional charter in 1900, then a second in 1905. The original purpose, which remains true today, was to give relief during wars and disasters as well as serve as the medium of communication between members of the armed forces and their families.

The Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) division of the American Red Cross today continues its mandate to serve all aspects of the military. For deployed members, the Red Cross operates alongside the troops to offer comfort and a line out, plus serves in military hospitals and clinics.

Stateside, the Red Cross aids at Veterans Administration hospitals and nursing homes to render consolation and companionship.

The Red Cross on the Olympic Peninsula Local chapters of the Red Cross, including the Olympic Peninsula Chapter, assist recruiters, reservists, members of the National Guard, veterans, retirees, families and nearby active members. The Red Cross encourages all armed forces personnel and families to attend their Get to Know Us Before You Need Us program.

Support begins the day a recruit signs on to any branch of the military. Red Cross ID

15

August. Her grandson Steven is in Iraq with the Corps of Engineers. Another grandson Patrick just returned from Afghanistan. Steven’s stepfather is working at the DMZ in South Korea.

USCG Capt. Bob Klapproth has been stationed all over the country, abroad and at sea and is a former commander of the USCG base in Port Angeles. Now serving in Seattle, Klapproth states that the military totally relies on the Red Cross for verification of family emergencies and they don’t make a move until the information is received.

Further support to families by the Red Cross includes emergency financial assistance, referral and advocacy in understanding rights and applying for humanitarian and hardship reassignments. The Red Cross offers family support groups, confidential counseling referrals and courses such as Coping with Deployment: Psychological First Aid for Military Families, which will soon be available through the local chapter.

tion to recover from a car accident upon his discharge from the military. His son also sustained injuries during his service that required a lengthy recovery time. According to Mitchell, often the most difficult part of helping vets is getting them to file for benefits. Many veterans also are entitled to one-time disaster cash assistance.

In addition to the DAV, the Peninsula Red Cross chapter works alongside other organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and Voices for Veterans. A welcoming home reception for those returning from active deployment was held at the chapter office in 2010 and may become an annual event.

On Oct. 7, 2010, the Red Cross was among the groups offering support during the Clallam County Veterans Stand-down sponsored by Voices for Veterans. Unknown numbers of vets are homeless or living in primitive conditions in the hills above Port Angeles and in the West End. Many have psychological or physical disabilities from their military experiences and find coping with day-to-day life impossible.

The stand-down, which took place at the fairgrounds, served 253 individuals by offering meals, medical and dental care, psychological support, clothes, supplies, haircuts and help with understanding and applying for services.

Supporting our veterans

Dunant’s legacy continues

Col. Rick Holdren and Bill Wheeler chat at the welcome home reception for members returning from active duty.

Photo courtesy Michelle Kelley

cards serve as the vital link to keep military members connected to their families especially in times of crisis or emergency. The local chapter recently expanded its work in Port Angeles to include recruits at the U.S. Coast Guard base. Its chapter offices are in Carlsborg and Port Townsend.

Calls from families of deployed members to the Red Cross may include news of a birth, death, illness or crisis of any kind. The caseworker quickly will verify the information through doctors, hospitals, funeral homes or other reliable, licensed sources. That confirmed data is transmitted to the member’s military commander who will relay the news and make an informed decision to grant leave or take other action. This free service is available 7/24/365.

In our area, the local chapter phone number (below) is the point of contact but soon there will be a single 1-800 number serving the entire country.

Local SAF coordinator and office manager Diane Holdren often answers the calls for assistance. Holdren has a special understanding of the importance of the Red Cross to our military personnel and their families. Her son Rick was in Desert Storm and just completed a second tour in

Aiding veterans is one of the important missions of the Red Cross. In response to a greater need, the military asked the federal government to expand Red Cross assistance to those who have served but often are forgotten. These stepped-up services include partnering with the Disabled American Veterans to provide transportation for vets to hospitals and clinics and assisting with the formidable paperwork required to apply for services.

Driving veterans to Seattle hospitals and helping with the paperwork that can take hours to complete are tasks taken on cheerfully by local volunteer Allan Mitchell.

Mitchell remembers all too well his two-year hospitaliza-

The staff of the Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the American Red Cross welcomes inquiries regarding their services to the military.

Back row from left, are Helen Lee, Sarim Ourn, Allan Mitchell and Diane Holdren. Front row, from left, are Sherry Nagel, Bill Holman and Executive Director Michelle Kelley.

Photo by Kelly McKillip

By the time Henri Dunant was co-recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, he was too feeble and without the means to make the journey to receive it. But his great idea continues stronger than ever in the U.S. today. The American Red Cross currently serves 1.4 million active duty members, 800,000 National Guard and Reservists, 24 million veterans and 3 million family members.

The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization funded by contributions. To contact the local chapter regarding services, volunteering or donations, call, write or e-mail.

American Red Cross/ Olympic Peninsula Chapter w www.peninsularedcross.org w www.redcross.org • Clallam County Office 15 151 Ruth’s Place Ste. 1-D Ca Carlsborg, WA 98324 P. P.O. Box 188, Carlsborg, WA 98324 36 360-457-7933 • Jefferson County Office 19 1925 Blaine St., Suite 106 Po Port Townsend, WA 98368 P. P.O. Box 1672, Port Townsend, WA 98368 36 360-385-2737

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LIVING ON TH THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

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The hash browns are a daily creation you won’t find anywhere else on the peninsula.

If you are a breakfast-anytime person, the menu selections of 11 breakfast specialties, six pancake/waffle combinations and a half-dozen omelets and scrambles to choose from will make you rise and shine all day. Or make a meal of the Sunshine’s softball-size cinnamon rolls, plump with pecans and raisins, then drenched in a caramel topping.

With more than 25 hot and cold sandwich varieties, including creative burgers, delicious sweet potato fries are a local favorite. Hot homemade soups like clam chowder, tomato pesto and pumpkin ginger are without a doubt going to warm and

Hours: Sunday-Monday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

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Closed Tuesdays 145 W. Washington St., Sequim 360-683-4282 Children under 10 eat free comfort you down to your toes. The Drakes are big fans of soup and have large recipe collection to choose from daily.

Sunshine blends, bottles and sells three of its own hand-crafted vinaigrettes — Ya Ya’s Raspberry Lavender is a Sequim favorite.

This casual, cozy cafe is a family affair.

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The Sunshine Cafe is a go-to place where Sequim residents are sure to bring their visiting family for a taste of Sequim’s sunshine.

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360.452.3322 Open Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 9:30 pm Sat. & Sun. 12 noon - 9:30 pm LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Left: With nearly 140 students in the program, Port Angeles High School has a vigorous and highly valued ROTC program. NJROTC is a collaboration between the school and the Department of the Navy.

Below: Cadets are very serious about their commitment to ROTC and to getting everything from the program that they can. More than just a class or an activity, it is a great maturing experience for young adults.

military formation Port

Angeles

High

School

Naval

Junior

ROTC

Story and photos by Jerry Kraft

It

is too easy to stereotype high school students as of ever going into the military, although for directionless, uninvolved youths more focused those who do there are advantages in their on their iPods and torn jeans, their piercings and enlistment. They begin their careers at a unkempt appearances than on working their way into the higher pay grade, and more importantly, they world of adulthood. One never would get that impression have a much better understanding of the perafter spending a while with the members of the Port An- sonal responsibility and dedication to duty geles High School Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training and higher authority that service requires.

Talking with the leaders, with the cadets and Corps or NJROTC for short. with the parents, a single objective Since its creation in 1996, hundreds of cadets emerges again and again. have added this program of classes and extracurricular activities to their academic schedule “The program is about leadership,” Campbell said. That also was and added a wealth of experience, knowledge the first answer I got from Tori and responsibility to their school years. Under the direction of Leo Campbell, a retired Marine Bock, a fourth-year cadet who is part of the award-winning color Corps major, and instructor Ken Laughman, a guard, drill team and the PT, or U.S. Navy retired chief petty officer, nearly 140 Physical Training team. All of the students are taking part in NJROTC. cadets are engaged in rigorous I was able to look in on a recent, three-day BOCK “mini boot camp” experience at the high school physical training as a part of the program, in addition to the classroom work and and talk with cadets, their parents and the leaders of the program. Watching their drills and formations, a variety of special teams and activities. exercise and training, I got not only a sense of the structure When I asked Bock what she liked most about ROTC, of the program, but also a real sense of the enthusiasm and and what she got from it, she said, “Everything. I love commitment of these young people to service, citizenship the class and the extra activities in the morning and after school. You’ve probably seen the color guard or the drill and the military life.

This is not a recruitment program, Campbell empha- team around town. I also really enjoy the physical training. sizes. Many of the students participate with no intention What ROTC has done for me is that it’s formed me into

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

a different person. It’s made me into a leader, more open and less afraid to talk to people. It’s made me unafraid to take charge. I know that this is one place where I can really shine, so I’m not afraid of anything I have to do. And I think ROTC has helped me become a person who can do all this, can do anything, really.”

Campbell also said that the creation of that “can do” attitude is central to the program’s goals. As a collaboration between Port Angeles High School and the U.S. Navy,

19

Left: The color guard has won many awards. This year the group is comprised of, from left, Tawny Burns, Tori Bock, David Springob and Kevin Catterson, not pictured. Here they are practicing for the awards ceremony at the end of their mini boot camp.

Below: Retired Major Leo Campbell and Chief Petty Officer Ken Laughman bring their years of experience and leadership to the cadets.

Junior ROTC holds regular classes during the school day work on competition teams for air rifle, drill team, physical and students can earn academic credit for their participa- fitness and such. Some will stay after school for two or three tion in four ways: as a regular elective, as science credit hours. If you go to our wall of plaques, you will see tons of for classes in naval science (which includes meteorology, awards that this unit has won and that’s because they want oceanography, etc.), as a vocational education credit and to strive and make themselves the best. I’ve learned that as a physical education credit. the harder you make it, the more kids will step “We are a certified curriculum,” Campbell up to the challenge. They don’t want anything said, “certified by the state and also nationally handed to them,” Campbell said. certified in the field of naval science.” He also That was apparent in the boot camp exeris very proud of the level of involvement the cises I watched. Campbell explained that the program has with the larger community through camp was a three-day process to challenge events such as “Clean Up the Town” and Special the endurance of the cadets by putting them Olympics, as well as Veterans Day events and through high-intensity physical fitness and involvement with the Port Angeles Senior Cenhigh-intensity drill. The day starts at 5 a.m. and ter. “They know that if they call on us, we’ll be N. CHILDERS goes nonstop until 10 p.m.; they sleep there,” Campbell said. in the gym and the next day again “We have 138 students in the program this begins at 5 a.m., culminating in year. The Navy likes to see at least 100 in a program, but an awards ceremony on the final day. “We our average keeps moving up each year. It’s definitely a have a lot of parents who come and support program both for boys and girls and we currently have just us,” Campbell said. about a 50-50 split. We also have a tendency, not always the One of those parents, Marcy Childers, case, but clearly a tendency, for girls to be in our leadership was filled with pride for her cadet daughter, roles,” Campbell said.

Nicole. “She’s a sophomore,” Childers said, “So “We have a ‘Distinguished Unit,’ which means that we this is her second year in the program. What I are among the top 10 nationally. In the past we’ve also been most love about it is the camaraderie, the sense recognized as the top unit in the Northwest Region and of family. They all support each other. I think one year we were recognized as the most improved unit my daughter gets a sense of leadership and in the nation.” He believes that much of the attraction for respect for the people above her, as well new cadets is a result of the success of the program and as the people below her in rank. Again, much of the success is due to the willingness of the youths it’s the family environment. to fully commit to the work and discipline.

Everybody watches out for “Some of these kids are here at 6:15 in the morning to everybody else. We’re very

20

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

proud of them.”

Campbell also talked about respect. “The respect is very important, both the respect they get from other students and other cadets and, even more, the respect they develop toward themselves, from everything they do. I’ve had teachers tell me they can always tell the students who are in ROTC by the way they open doors, say thank you, listen to others,” Campbell said.

“Many of my seniors are in real leadership roles, both in ROTC and in their other classes. I think they carry what they get from this program into the world and into their lives. In my classes I usually don’t have to tell students to police themselves, to sit up straight, to pay attention and not be talking. They’ve developed discipline and it’s the best kind of discipline, which is self-discipline.”

The cadets in the Port Angeles High School ROTC program are not teens playing soldier, they are young people learning that hard work, responsibility, dedication, honor, courage and service are the qualities that separate a child from an adult. Underlying all the other goals of the program, ROTC is about character building and it is both gratifying and maybe a little surprising to see how many of these ordinary teenagers are fully committed to being the best individual, the best citizen, the best leader that they can be.

Almost to a person, the cadets will tell you that the program is fun and challenging, but it may be some years later before they fully realize how that fun and activity, the drills and exercises, classes and teams gave them a real advantage in leading their own lives.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

L

ast Sunday I lay sprawled on the bed feeling like every last drop of life force had been drained from my body. Mentally, physically and spiritually depleted, I felt like I had the flu. For once, even my mind stopped.

What went wrong?

I try too hard. I push. I want to learn everything immediately and do it at an expert level — a constant life cram course.

Then it struck me that I was like my dad. It’s always a surprise to me when I recognize a trait as a variation on one of my parents’ habits.

Whenever he was prescribed physical therapy or pool exercises to deal with his body’s breakdowns, he would go at it hard and fast.

My mother and I would be swimming along enjoying ourselves and he would be doing the equivalent of pumping iron at warp speed with those Styrofoam dumbbells made for pools.

Slow down, I’d say. You’ll hurt yourself.

I think he was constitutionally incapable of that, however. He’d progress with his rehab program for a week or two, then something else would go wrong or his pain level increased and that would be that.

It’s a pedal-to-the-metal crash-andburn way of living. You go-go-go then collapse.

I’ve been working on a new exercise program while trying to learn everything there is to know about cameras, photography and the fine art business, and keeping up a busy social life, and thinking about selling the car and the house.

Maybe you can balance five or six plates at a time, but I had too much on each one of my plates and too many plates on my table.

And even worse, with all those plates I had spinning in the air, I’d neglected to feed myself spiritually.

Hence the crash and me lying on the bed like a dying fish gasping for air.

Having understood the problem, I resolved to fix it immediately!

When I searched my brain for activities that would nourish and restore me, however, I encountered emptiness. I’d tapped out the current vein but hadn’t located a new one yet. There was no new source of energy, nothing that I could grasp to propel me off the bed and into action.

I had to wait.

I had to rest.

Rest is boring and it isn’t on anybody’s “bucket” list either.

When I started kindergarten, the only complaint the teacher had was that I resisted lying down on my little

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

nap mat with the rest of the children. I wanted to keep playing.

I still meander around the house at night picking up stray copies of 2-month-old Seattle Times sections and reading them (in case I missed something vital), rather than just stopping and going to bed.

It’s a greed for life, I think, and maybe a fear of death.

“Get it while you can,” Janis Joplin sang and I keep trying.

Like any other kind of greed, my cram-it-in style actually sucks the life out of me and fails to nurture spiritual growth. Spiritual development is more like the maturing

Drawing From a Dry Well

By Karen Frank

of trees — a slow accumulation of new layers and the lengthening and deepening of roots.

I know this, but I don’t always do what I know. When I was a teenager, I scorned the people in my church because they didn’t act in accordance with their beliefs in their everyday life. Hypocrites, I judged.

As I grow older, I recognize how hard it is to do what we know is good for us and good for the world. It might be optimal if I stretched each morning, meditated twice a day, baked my own bread, took a brisk one-hour walk, called up family and friends weekly, petted each one of my cats

&

HEART Soul

(and played with them), le ar ned a new language (good for the brain), read spiritual books and literary fiction, wrote in my journal, reflected on my experience, stared out the window and slept for eight hours every night — but how do I fit that in without racing along never stopping to sink into any one thing because I have one eye on the clock and the other eye on all I have left on my to-do list (that’s when the third eye comes in handy).

I can’t. What I really need is to do what fills me — not follow some prescription for the “perfect” life.

So how do I find new water for my inner well, the kind of living water that satisfies a soul thirst?

On the wall of my office is a collage of words and pictures I cut out of magazines years ago to represent my spirituality symbolically. These are clues for my pathway. In one spot is simply the large word “Wait” while another piece of paper states “There are no simple answers.”

In the collage, there’s a duckling watching its own reflection, a snow leopard and a woman sitting in a tree staring at the waning moon. Each represents an answer to my dilemma or a pathway to new life. In the bottom left-hand corner is a toddler tangled in a fishing net and sometimes that’s me, too.

If you find yourself stuck or trying to get fresh water out of a dry and dusty well, making a dream collage or a collage representing your spiritual life helps. Just find a bunch of magazines and rip out words or pictures that attract your attention. Don’t think too much; trust your gut. When you’ve got a pile of pictures, use a mat board or stiff piece of paper to lay out an arrangement that seems meaningful to you and paste everything down. Then put your collage up in a place where you’ll see it every day, like a bathroom or hallway.

Deep underground the reservoir starts filling up again, sometimes slowly, sometimes with a torrent of new ideas or decisions. Don’t draw up all the water at once, dragging bucket after bucket to the surface and exhausting yourself.

Take your time.

Let yourself be.

Even though life ends, we can only live one minute of it at a time, use just a small portion of energy, a bit of courage. Listen for your inner voice and if it’s quiet in there right now, wait and have faith that the drought ends for us. We’ll turn around in surprise one day and see that the ever-flowing river is there.

23

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Big Money, Big Trouble Iraqi service changed his life Story and photos by Viviann Kuehl

S

ometimes veterans are not the only ones in the military; war makes its impact felt on all those who share the same experiences.

Bob Bissen went to Iraq to make money.

In 2004, after working six years driving trucks from Port Townsend, Bissen heard about a job where he could make $100,000 a year as a truck driver in Iraq and it sounded good.

He flew to Houston for orientation and training, his first trip away from the West Coast. He was happy to be one of the 400 chosen from 1,000 applicants.

“I passed with flying colors and on a jet we went,” he recalled. He landed in Kuwait, where he spent a week.

Although he knew he was in for a culture change, it was totally different.

“The fear factor was unreal,” said Bissen.

Making the trip of about 100 miles to enter Iraq and arrive at his base camp near the border was the scariest thing he’d ever done.

“It was a combat zone,” he recalled, “and the chances of life or death was about 50/50.”

He had not been trained for military combat yet he was supplying fuel to military bases in Iraq and facing combat conditions on every trip, made in a convoy of about 20 tanker trucks moving through the desert dust.

“There was not one day that we didn’t get shot at or see trucks that had been shot up,” said Bissen. “After awhile, we got used to seeing trucks upside down along the road, either wrecked or burning on fire.”

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

At the time, the news was full of reports of people getting shot or taken hostage for ransom or publicity. Footage of a carpenter getting his head sawed off was widely distributed.

“We didn’t want to get caught,” he said.

Bissen became a bobtail driver, assigned to take

This insignia was worn by drivers like Bissen in Iraq.

care of any problems the truckers might run into. His truck carried medical supplies, tools and food, and he was prepared to change tires, help those whose trucks were on fire or blown up.

At various times, he pulled people out of burning trucks, drove through a wall of fire, helped people who had been shot.

He wore 80 pounds of protective Kevlar gear to work each day.

“It was survival,” said Bissen. “I’d do whatever I could to save my partners and myself. I was always the last into the gate; I made sure my guys were safe.”

A routine developed. Coming back from work, Bissen and his co-workers would go rest in their rooms, eat, then in the evening they would talk about the day over smokes.

“Cigarettes were big over there,” recalled Bissen. That was how people worked out their emotional reactions, he explained.

Counselors weren’t readily available and they were poorly trained. One day a counselor came to talk to him.

His roommate accidentally ran over a little girl and killed her, and they were concerned about him. They wanted Bissen to let them know if the roommate needed help, but they ignored any impact on Bissen.

“It was the first time I saw PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) where I knew what it was,” said Bissen.

About eight months in, Bissen was hit in the forehead with shrapnel and experienced the sensations that others had felt as he helped them.

25

“I felt the adrenalin, the pain going through your body when I got hurt.”

Still, he kept working.

“What brought me home was on a certain night an IED went off between me and another truck in front of me. My ears were bleeding, and I couldn’t hear anything for a week. I’d taken my helmet off; I thought it was a safe area. The truck in front was blown away and my truck was peppered with shrapnel all over the front of it, and I said, ‘That’s it. I’m going home.’”

He had been working in Iraq, facing the same combat conditions as the military but without military training or a weapon, for just over a year. Most of the crew that he’d felt part of, and protective toward, was gone.

He had $80,000 in pay. Coming home, he lost his medical coverage.

On Thanksgiving Day, he got word that his best friend had been killed in a traffic accident in Kuwait. It was a hard blow.

Bissen finally went to a counselor, who told him he had PTSD. “He gave me a bunch of neat stuff to make me sleep,” said Bissen, “but methamphetamine was my drug of choice. It made me forget about all the bad things and my best friend. I felt important again. I got really into the meth world and I quit seeing my counselor. On meth, my problems were solved.”

Bissen began a round of court appearances and jail, with a domestic violence charge and a series of probation violations. He was in the county jail for 30 days when his youngest daughter was born. Being off drugs in jail, he began to realize he had problems and he had to do something.

ference. I don’t feel alone when I am in this room. I can talk about anything that happened here or there. I’m getting better about feeling safe.”

Kessler, a Vietnam veteran, knows about PTSD and its problems personally and professionally. He got sober in 1979 and became a drug and alcohol counselor two years later. He was five years sober when his PTSD issues started coming up. He dealt with them and became a veterans group facilitator.

When he retired as a Marine, he decided to start his own agency and found one in 1996 in Port Townsend that he has reshaped.

“I think one of the most important things for vets is being able to tell their story in a nonjudging place, in language we understand. It gives them some freedom in unloading some of that baggage we pick up,” said Kessler.

‘The truck in front was blown away and my truck was peppered with shrapnel, and I said, ‘That’s it. I’m going home.’

“It’s a big transition coming back to the U.S.,” said Bissen. “Over there you learn a different way of life. You are physically and mentally challenged every day to survive.

It was chaos and you were working together just to get through.”

His friends told him he seemed different and they didn’t like being around him, but he felt everyone else had changed.

Looking back, Bissen said, “Before Iraq, I was passive and easy-going. Someone could piss in my Wheaties and I’d eat them. Now if someone looked at my Wheaties, I’d rip their throat out. I think I scared people just by the way I treated them. I had no tolerance, no patience.”

Ford Kessler, owner of Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Port Townsend, works with Bob Bissen, who is recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq as a civilian fuel truck driver for the military.

26

“After 30 days I was not completely out of the fog, but I could make rational decisions,” said Bissen. “I had to buckle down. My daughter was born addicted to meth and the state took her. We had to fight really hard to get her back.”

Bissen went through the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for substance abuse treatment at Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Port Townsend, graduating from the program in eight weeks and continuing on in treatment for another year.

Safe Harbor owner Ford Kessler encouraged Bissen to join a veterans support group.

“I talked to Ford because I knew I had a different problem I needed to address,” said Bissen.

“My stories were different than other people’s but I didn’t think of myself as a vet. I was just a semi-truck driver doing a job, but the vets in the group asked me, ‘Were you in danger? Did you get shot at?

Were you doing a job? Were you in a military zone, doing what the military would do, without a gun?’ “ The y welcomed me as a vet. It made a tremendous dif-

Over the past eight to 10 years, Kessler has been using his experience to lead the special veterans support group. There have been as many as 19 participants and as few as three.

“It’s the one place that vets get to go and speak the same language. We understand each other,” said Kessler.

The group addresses an inability to communicate, antisocial behaviors, fear, relationship issues, substance abuse issues and problems with the judicial system. The goal is to be living life on life’s terms, to fit in society and become part of society, said Kessler.

“We don’t know the true cost of war because there are so many people out there that have committed suicide or had drug and alcohol deaths as a result of war, but they are not on the (Vietnam Memorial) wall, and nobody’s ever going to know the true reason they died,” said Kessler.

“It takes a lot of courage for veterans to ask for help.

It takes a lot of support and understanding to help these guys heal, but by no means does that mean they can have inappropriate behavior because they are vets. They are held to the same standards as the rest of society and maybe a little higher. PTSD is a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

“I’ve tried to get sober numerous times and this time it’s on my own free will,” said Bissen. “Getting into helping others helps me stay sober. It helps me move along in my life.”

Looking back at his stories of Iraq, drug use, treatment and the veterans support group, Bissen said the most important thing is, “People can change. I would want someone else to know there’s help out there.”

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America’s Maritime Coast Guard protects nation’s heartland,

by Ashley Miller

Two rescue swimmers are lowered from a helicopter during a practice mission.

Photo courtesy of the USCG

28 28

A

small fishing vessel capsizes in the Strait of Juan de Fuca during a storm. Three men are in the water fighting hypothermia. A rescue boat finds the fishermen and brings them to shore, back to their families.

A hiker is lost in the woods. Using thermal imaging and special night vision equipment, the bruised and battered outdoorsman is found and flown to the hospital in a bright orange helicopter.

A large oil tanker is leaking into the ocean. Valuable and sensitive maritime habitats and mammals are put in danger, some dying with each gallon of sticky, black liquid fouling the water.

A suspicious boat is reported just off the coast.

Upon closer investigation, the vessel is found to have nearly a ton of cocaine on board. The men and women involved are arrested and the drugs are intercepted before being introduced onto America’s streets.

All four of these scenarios are examples of what the brave men and women in the U.S. Coast Guard do every single day. When called upon, the Coast Guard defends the nation at home and abroad alongside the other armed forces. Using the land, sea and sky, the Coast Guard is “Semper Paratus” or “always ready.”

In a nutshell The U.S. Coast Guard is one of the five armed forces and the only military organization within the Department of Homeland Security. Protecting against hazards to people, maritime commerce and the environment, the Coast Guard defends sea borders and saves those in danger.

By law, the Coast Guard has 11 missions: ports, waterways and coastal security; drug interdiction; aids to navigation; search and rescue; living marine resources; marine safety; defense readiness; migrant interdiction; marine environment protection; ice operations; and other law enforcement.

The U.S. Coast Guard uses a variety of platforms to conduct its daily business. Cutters and small boats are used on the water and fixed and rotary wing aircraft — aka “helicopters” — are used.

The Coast Guard has more than 40,000 enlisted men and women. Nearly 87 percent of the active duty workforce are men, 13.1 percent are women.

Lt. Kelly Higgins is a pilot at the Port Angeles Air Station. She joined the Coast Guard nine years ago as a high school graduate in Portland, Ore. Higgins is one of only two female pilots stationed at the Port Angeles base. With her hair pulled back neatly into a bun and a blue baseball

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Coast Guard’s Quillayute River Station: Patroling and protecting the West End’s Pacific Coast

By Chris Cook

Guardian

Far left: The Response Boat-Medium (RB-M) is an all-aluminum, 45-foot boat with twin diesel engines with water jet propulsion. This small boat is the primary non-heavy weather, multi-mission capable boat for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Middle: The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Blue Shark stands at attention during a commissioning ceremony. as Naval Intelligence and Photos courtesy of the USCG

ports & seas around the globe cap on her head, Higgins easily can be mistaken for “one of the guys.” It’s only upon closer observation one notices her feminine jaw line, delicate features and elegantly applied mascara.

Higgins’ confident stature and authoritative voice makes it clear that she doesn’t feel like the odd-woman-out.

“I’m very happy with my choice (to join the Coast Guard),” she said. “I love serving my country and, for me, this is the best place to be.”

Port Angeles history The Coast Guard’s presence in Port Angeles began 145 years ago on Aug. 1, 1862, with the arrival of the Shubrick, the first revenue cutter to be home-ported on the Olympic Peninsula.

The Air Station was commissioned June 1, 1935, becoming the first permanent Coast Guard Air Station on the Pacific Coast. Its location on Ediz Hook was chosen because of its strategic position for coastal defense of the Northwest.

During World War II, the air station expanded to include a gunnery school, training aerial gunners and local defense forces. A short runway was added to train Navy pilots for carrier landing and the station began hosting independent units such

Air Sea Rescue System Above: Scott Bigelow, for the Northwest Sea AMT I; Justin Brown, AMT II; Lt. Kelly Higgins; and Lt. Winston Frontier.

By the end of 1944, the Wood, left to right, pose for a photograph in front of one of air station had 29 aircraft three helicopters at the U.S. assigned and officially Coast Guard Port Angeles base. became Coast Guard Photo by Ashley Miller Group Port Angeles.

Two years later, the first helicopter arrived.

The last fixed wing aircraft, The Grumman HU-16E Albatross, or the “Goat,” was retired in 1973. Since then, the air station has been home to helicopters only.

Just this year, Group Port Angeles dissolved and became Air Station Port Angeles/Sector Field Office, complete with 126 active duty personnel, four reservists and nine civilian employees.

The small boat station supports the air station as a training platform to better prepare for real life emergencies.

Lt. Winston Wood, a pilot, has served in the Coast Guard for more than 20 years and in the Army before that. He describes the Port Angeles base as one of the most highly sought after locations.

Continued on Page 30

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

The

Coast Guard’s Quillayute River Station is located in LaPush on the Quileute Indian Reservation.

The primary missions for its crew are search and rescue and law enforcement. Station Quillayute River’s area of responsibility stretches north to Cape Avala and south to the Queets River, and west 50 nautical miles offshore.

A Coast Guard report describes the Quillayute River Station: “The jagged rock frame and unpredictable surf zone make the (Quillayute River) inlet a challenge to navigate.

Subsequently the station’s boat crews are trained to conduct rescues in rough weather using two 47-foot motor lifeboats, which are capable of operating in 50-knot sustained winds, 30-foot seas and 20-foot surf. The station is able to respond to distress calls over marine band radio or telephone. The station personnel also are trained to assist the local police department, fire department and park service with emergency flood response when the numerous rivers inland of the station rise above normal levels. The station also performs approximately 100 safety boardings a year on various commercial and recreational boats in its area of responsibility.”

The crew of approximately 30 personnel consists of boatswains mates, machinery technicians, food service specialists, seamen and firemen.

The station was established at LaPush in 1929 and was moved from a historical station building near First Beach at LaPush in 1980 to its current modern facility near the Quillayute River.

Station facilities include barracks, gym, operations and administrative buildings, all constructed on tribal land under a 50-year lease.

Top: The Coast Guard’s Station Quillayute River crew poses along the Quillayute River.

The station’s covered mooring is pictured to the right and the Quileute Marina to the left.

Photo by Cheryl Barth

29

T pilots practice flying helicopters at the Two U.S. Coast Guard Port Angeles Air Station.

PPhoto courtesy of the USCG

“A small town with bigger cities close by,” Wood said.

“It’s absolutely beautiful here and my top choice of where to be.”

Becoming a ‘Coastie’ The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the smallest of the five federal service academies, offers a prestigious higher education experience, with emphasis on leadership, integrity, physical fitness and professional development. The ultimate goal is to prepare young women and men for careers as commissioned officers in the U.S. Coast Guard, well-known for

Get to know your the

its humanitarian missions. About 300 high school graduates enroll in the academy annually, leaving four years later with a Bachelor of Science degree and commission as an ensign — an officer in the Coast Guard of t lowest rank. the Following graduation, newly commissioned ensigns report for duty aboard cutters and at sector offices such as Port Angeles in p ports nationwide. Graduates of the academy are obligated to serve five years in the U.S. Coast Guard, though many choose to stay and make a rewarding, lifelong career of their maritime military service.

Careers for Coast Guard officers include aviation, engineering, afloat operations, marine environmental safety and environmental protection, law enforcement, homeland security, finance, intergovernmental operations, personnel and training, port operations and waterways management, intelligence and communications.

Justin Brown, an Aviation Maintenance Technician II stationed in Port Angeles, describes being a pilot in the Coast Guard as “the best job I’ve ever had. I recommend the Coast Guard to anybody looking for a worthwhile, fun and stable career.”

In an average day, the U.S. Coast Guard …

• Saves 13 lives.

• Responds to 64 search and rescue cases.

• Rescues 77 percent of mariners in imminent danger.

• Keeps 959 pounds of cocaine off the streets.

• Saves $260,000 in property.

• Interdicts 10 undocumented migrants trying to enter the U.S. • Services 49 buoys and fixes 21 discrepancies, such as buoys moved by a hurricane.

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• Screens 679 commercial vessels and 170,000 crew and passengers.

• Issues 200 credentials to merchant mariners.

• Inspects 70 containers.

• Inspects 33 vessels for compliance with air emissions standards.

• Performs 30 safety and environment examinations of foreign vessels entering U.S. ports.

• Boards 15 fishing boats to ensure compliance with fisheries laws.

• Investigates 12 marine accidents.

• Responds to and investigates 10 pollution incidents.

• Does security boarding of five high-interest vessels.

• Escorts four high-value U.S. Navy vessels transiting U.S. waterways.

• Identifies one individual with terrorism associations.

• Has six patrol boats and 400 personnel protecting Iraq’s offshore oil infrastructure, training Iraqi naval forces and keeping sea lanes secure in the Arabian Gulf.

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Above: Ray Hammar fashioned this garden gate at Sequim’s Vision Landscape Nursery from a variety of recycled metals.

Below: Hammar fulfilled homeowner Gunvor Hildal’s request to make a garden gate that reflects sun, water and light.

Middle: Sparks fly as Ray Hammar fashions objets d’art from recycled materials.

Far right: Ray Hammar’s kinetic sculpture twirls in the breeze at the Sequim home of Liz Tomisato and Bob Klapproth.

Story and photos

by Kelly McKillip

Blue Collar Artwork Profile of metal sculptor Ray Hammar

M

etal sculptor Ray Hammar doesn’t view the world in the same way as most people. In his artistic vision, a discarded crescent wrench takes on new life as a one-of-a-kind latch, rock screens morph into decorative panels and cone liners are reborn as bells.

Retired clutch plates are things of beauty, old pipes become arbors for new vines and fiberoptic crystals are reborn as jewels in a garden gate.

Hammar designs and fabricates beautiful and functional art and architectural pieces from recycled metal, plastic and glass. Although he has been creating unique art pieces in his Sequim studio for little more than a year, his entire life is a study in rugged individualism.

Hammar grew up in Parma, Idaho, on a dairy farm that was 100-percent self-sustaining. Nothing, he says, was ever purchased from the outside and by age 18, he was ready to leave and make his way in the world. Over the course of the next few years, he began three different businesses: roofing, demolition and exercise consulting. He put himself through college, studied exercise physiology and obtained a degree in counseling.

A setback with a silver lining At age 34, he closed the companies, moved to southern Utah and began a landscaping business near Zion National Park. Hammar eventually moved to Port Townsend, returning occasionally to Utah to complete projects.

32

Throughout those years, many of his efforts and resources had been donated to his favorite charity of animal rescue and welfare.

During the demolition phase for one of the charitable projects, Hammar contracted and became very ill with valley fever. Although the fungal lung disease is common in the Southwest, his condition initially was misdiagnosed and proper treatment delayed. It took a year to recover from the illness, which exhausted his physical strength and all of his resources. To someone who had been independent and fit, the silver lining in the 12-month ordeal was not immediately obvious. When he recovered his health, he took various manual labor jobs and spent a year working in the shipyards in Portland, Ore. Eventually Hammar returned to Port Townsend.

Although he didn’t realize it yet, he was embarking on a new path and some of the generosity he had extended to others over the years would return to him. A friend allowed him to use the welding equipment in the back room of his business to create gates and other useful objects. Another friend recommended he use steel for his creations. Unable to afford the expensive material, he began gleaning discarded machinery from local farms. As his projects were expanding, a man he barely knew in Port Townsend named Dan, who had been known to commit other good deeds, surreptitiously bought Hammar a welder of his own.

The gift allowed Hammar to resume his old habit of

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

donating his efforts to charities and good causes, such as the trellis in the small Port Townsend Master Gardener Park dedicated to Mary Robson.

Hammar also had a fortuitous meeting with metal artist Gray Lucier at Waste Not Want Not in Port Angeles.

Lucier became a mentor and friend, introducing Hammar to the conclave of Port Angeles artists at his Second Saturday Art Walk parties. The overture opened the world of art to Hammar; catapulting his life into a new endeavor he named Blue Collar Artwork.

Artful recycling Hammar still finds the medium for his art from scrap yards and farms but those finite resources are actively sought by other metal artists as well. Proactively he took up traveling around the Northwest to meet with CEOs of industry to discuss mutually beneficial ways they could discard their retired machinery.

Stacked neatly in his studio are rusted grates and wheels, cables, industrial cut-outs, water pipes, rings, nuts and bolts, railroad tracks, marine chains, ball hitches, ball bearings and plastic from surfboards.

Wielding his welder, he turns what-nots into objets d’art such as the 8-foot kinetic sculpture purchased by Liz Tomisato and Bob Klapproth. The piece twirls as it catches a breeze in the landscaping of their Sequim home, echoing the flowing motion of the dry river bed they created.

Tomisato liked Hammar’s sculpture so much that she bought a smaller version for a friend.

Hammar takes great pleasure in colHammar also enjoys doing the opposite of what’s usual and customary, laborating with fellow artists who are not afraid to share ideas. He creates bird such as the mailbox he created for Lorrie baths in concert with popular Sequim Campbell’s Port Angeles home. He placed metal artist Dana Hyde. In Port Angeles, the design elements on the top of the rehe crafts decorative panels with Lucier ceptacle rather than below. Hammar also and Bill Calhoun. Many sculptures have created two metal patio panels that serve been designed and produced in partneras outdoor walls in Campbell’s garden. ship with Maggie Moret, who also has She is delighted with the pieces and hopes inspired Hammar to expand his charito have more soon. table works in the cause to fight cancer.

Collaborating with clients on custom Moret’s 10-year-old son Elliot Hill also projects is a favored aspect of his business has worked with the two adults to create because he believes that everyone is an some nice pieces of his own. artist and children are artistic geniuses.

Hammar began to study the methHe estimates the finished pieces are about ods of admired metal artists who were 80 percent his design concept. Clients like successful and realized that in addition to be involved and usually love the piece to creativity, collaboration and charity, a they help create.

Such was the custom gate by Hammar A simple metal ring takes good business sense and a quicker pace on a new personality under that graces Gunvor Hildal’s Port Angeles the practiced hammer of Ray are essential to his vision of creating amazing pieces in a higher realm. garden. Hildal says that Hammar is an in- Hammar.

Does life imitate art or art reflect life? spiration and fulfilled her request to make a gate that reflected sun, water and light while echoing the At Blue Collar Artwork, perhaps both apply.

Hammar invites artists of all ages to his Sequim studio design elements of the fence her husband had built.

For indoor environments, Hammar builds balcony and to work with him and create beautiful sculptures of their stairway railings, tables and dragons to sit upon them. Ever own.

Visit Hammar’s gallery at www.bluecollarartwork. practical, he creates wall sculptures that double as pull-out ladders. He generally prefers the natural aged patina of com. Contact him by e-mail at ray1368@email.com or at 360-821-1927. metal but occasionally will paint a piece if required.

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37

Veterans Are Unique V

eterans, no matter which branch of the military Following basic training, many continue on to schools they served in or where they were stationed, share that train them in whatever specialty that will be their a common bond. The adage “it takes one to know primary job while serving in the military. There are literone” definitely applies to military veterans. This is one of ally hundreds of specialties, some more technical than the reasons I have the job I do. As the veterans employment others, that are an important part of a large and powerful representative, one of the prerequisites for my job is that I machine that is the United States military. From linguistics myself must be a veteran. to computer technology; from administrative to medical; Designated as a Disabled Veterans Outreach Program dental to accounting; electronics to mechanics; policemen (DVOP) specialist with WorkSource, (formerly known as to firemen; cooks to feed the body and chaplains to feed the state “Unemployment” Office), I the soul. Almost any job in civilian work with veterans to help them in life has a military counterpart, but their transition from the military to not all military jobs have a civilian the civilian workforce. WorkSource counterpart. is not the “unemployment” office Not all people in the military go any more. As our name implies, we into a technical field requiring classare a work source. Our job is to help room training. Some go directly to people find work and prepare them their first duty station where they to get a job. This can be anything receive on-the-job training in milifrom job referrals to helping with tary tactics and equipment. Things resumes to actual retraining. I spethat were taught in basic training cialize in veterans, all veterans. are fine-tuned. Working as a team Returning veterans in particular and watching out for each other to may experience difficulties unique provide strength and heightened seto them. In order to comprehend curity is emphasized over and over. these difficulties, it’s necessary to Employers recognize the value give a brief overview. military service brings to the workEach and every person who has By Mike McEvoy, DVOP Veterans Services place. Veterans bring experience, been in the military has had experi- WorkSource Clallam & Jefferson County skills and leadership abilities that ences that they will remember for strengthen the workforce. Responlife. Every veteran has, at the least, gone through basic sibility, professionalism, a can-do attitude are a few. They training. This basic training, also known as “boot camp,” can remain calm under fire and stay calm, cool and colprovides physical training and instills a sense of honor lected under stressful situations. and integrity. Each recruit is trained beginning with the Federal tax benefits are available to employers that hire basics: when to get up and when to go to bed; what to wear veterans. Some of these are quite substantial. Employers and how to wear it; how to care for clothes and equipment hiring veterans can ask WorkSource for assistance in and how to maintain cleanliness of body and surround- obtaining these credits. These benefits also are explained ings. Daily life is highly structured. Following orders and and claimed on IRS Form 5884. a sense of discipline are paramount.

So why would a military veteran have trouble getting

38

a job? It’s obvious they are well-trained, well-disciplined, responsible and loyal. They can be counted on to make it to work on time and can think on their feet to accomplish a task. There are even advantages that entice employers to hire veterans, so why?

Why does every employment office in the country have a veterans representative?

All veterans have at least two things in common. Other than the fact that each swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, each left a way of life they were used to for a life of structure and discipline. They left their comfort zone; to leave a way of life for something unknown takes courage in itself and the adjustment they had to make was difficult at best.

Someone who never has been in the military never can fully understand what it’s like. They can watch movies, read books, listen to lectures, talk to veterans and try to imagine themselves in their place, but they never will quite get it. As one veteran friend of mine said, “They (non-military citizens) have to understand that they will never understand.”

Another thing every veteran shares in common is readjusting back into civilian life. Their experiences may have reshaped their outlook and they may find themselves lost. They have gone from a fully structured life where they know what to do, when to do it and how it needs to be done, to one without the structure they were accustomed to. For many, they go from a position of leadership and responsibility to one of anonymity where they have to redefine themselves, their thinking and where they have to reshape their future.

Coming back home is a happy and joyous occasion. In preparation, most leaving the service undergo TAP (Transition Assistance Program) classes that help them to adjust to civilian life. In addition to the normal physicals and administrative procedures necessary, attendees of the TAP classes hear a barrage of speakers that tell them about the services available for veterans, ranging from the

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

educational benefits of the GI Bill to employment services and services available to their families.

Do they listen?

Many don’t. They’re tired and for the most part only are interested in going home. Combat veterans in particular find it difficult. I can remember the difficulty I had when returning home from Vietnam. Like many others, I came home to a broken marriage and had to get to know family and friends again. At the time I thought “Gee, they’ve changed.” They hadn’t changed, I had. I saw everything and everyone differently. I also didn’t have a lot of marketable skills related to my primary job.

I had spent four years and two tours to Vietnam Mike McEvoy talks as a “yellow shirt” or flight deck director on an about employment aircraft carrier. opportunities with U.S. Marine Corps veteran When I returned, the attitudes of people in the Sandra Guoan of Neah civilian world were um ... let’s just say less than welBay. McEvoy helped her coming. Nor were there the supportive systems in get an apprenticeship place that there are now. My job, directing aircraft in construction with the Laborers’ International on the flight deck, a demanding and important Union of North America. job, translated in the civilian world as qualified Submitted photo That’s where I come in. I into be a “tug driver” or a tow tractor driver. I will terview veterans and help them never forget it. I didn’t have the help of a veterans become job ready in the civilian representative at the employment office nor were there programs like the Transition Assistance Program to world. I spent 20 years in the military and I know where help ease me back. I was lucky, I had an understanding they’re coming from. The interview is thorough but not invasive. I don’t pry into someone’s personal life; there are and supportive family.

The attitudes of people today are much different, thank other professionals that are qualified for that. I can, howgoodness. Also there are many, many more supportive ever, recognize when a veteran needs assistance outside services available for not only the veteran, but also the my area of expertise. I also know that it’s necessary to meet their basic needs before trying to put them to work. My family of the veteran.

I ended up going back into the service and retiring after job of translating a veteran’s military skills and expertise serving 20 years. This time when I got out there were classes into what’s called “civilianeze” and then building a resume and professionals to tell me all the available resources and from that is all for naught if a veteran has no place to live, how to access them. But did I fully listen and take notes? needs counseling or doesn’t know where his or her next

the long run. They have spent their money and now they’re broke — don’t have a job and are essentially homeless. They didn’t listen in the TAP classes and now they are lost.

It is imperative for that veteran to keep busy. There are ever-increasing programs available to help that person.

As the veteran employment representative, and myself a veteran, I know that every person in the military does more than whatever job they are designated for. They’re called “collateral duties” and they do translate to a civilian job. During the interview, I speak in depth with the veterans and if necessary, key on what collateral duties they performed that would help them on the job.

I think the saying goes “Idle hands are the devil’s tools” or something like that, and one wrong turn could ruin a

If you see a veteran who is just sitting around, realize he or she may be lost. Send them my way. — Mike McEvoy No! Like so many others, all I could think of was going home and living a non-military life. This time though, I was a little savvier; with the help of the VA I returned to college and began the career I have now.

For the combat veteran, perhaps one of the biggest problems is deceleration. In a war zone you push the limit on everything. Readjustment as a civilian can be more difficult than when they had to adjust to military life. You’ve got to get a job. Unless you had a specialty where you could slide right in to a civilian counterpart, you may have to start at the bottom again. Some were in charge of men and machines worth millions of dollars and starting again at the bottom can be a blow to the ego.

Unlike the military, the “real world” doesn’t feed you, clothe you, house you or tell you when or where to work. In uniform you always had a paycheck, no matter what. When you get out, you’ve got to get a job.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

meal is coming from.

What about the kid who never had a job before entering the military? He graduated from school and went right in; suppose that same person wasn’t trained in a trade that is useful in the civilian world — think about it. (I’ve run into this from time to time in my work.) Let’s say he and others like him trained as a sniper or were in the infantry.

They were trained in the ways of war and now they are returning home and getting out.

They’re sitting in the TAP class and what is being said goes through one ear and out the other. Their minds are elsewhere. They have money saved up, friends, family and perhaps a girl or boyfriend waiting for them, and Whoopee! I can’t wait! When they get out everything is great! Family, friends and all are happy to see them. A good time is had by all! Then reality sets in. They’ve left the nest. There is no living with Mom and Dad again, not in

veteran’s future. It is extremely important veterans get to someone who can get them going. They need someone who speaks their language, someone who understands. Any veterans service organization can help. Send them to me.

Please, if you see a veteran, especially a recently released veteran who is just sitting around, realize he or she may be lost. Send them my way. They may not be looking for employment but I can speak with them and point them in the right direction.

For whatever reasons, they took the oath. They walked the talk. They laid their lives on the line and now we need to be there for them.

Oh yes, and don’t forget to thank them. Those two words “Thank You” are some of the most powerful words in any language.

Reach Mike McEvoy at 457-2129 in Port Angeles or 379-5020 in Port Townsend.

39

‘Sounds good to me’

By Elizabeth Kelly

Alda Siebrands in the Army during Officer Training Course, May 1976 Right: Alda Siebrands receives graduation certificate from Defense Intelligence Agency school, May 2000

From Iowa to Antarctica, as an officer and a lady

L

On “the ice” with Polar Star, December 1989

4400 40

ooking back over her multi-faceted and adventure-filled military career, retired Commander Alda Siebrands said it was a long process where every occasion that came to her opened a window to new experiences. She noted that, during her 24½ years of active service in the U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard, she was able to witness an evolution in opportunities for women in the military.

Born in northwestern Iowa on a farm near George, Siebrands said that one of the first windows to open onto the wide world outside Iowa was a required college course in anthropology.

“I found it fascinating,” she said. Completing her educational degree from University of Iowa in 1972, Siebrands said there were few to no jobs for teachers. But her anthropology classes had whetted an appetite for seeing new places and she submitted an application to the Peace Corps.

After a lengthy process of paperwork, Siebrands was accepted by the Peace Corps and spent two years in a teacher-training program in Costa Rica. “That started the ball rolling on a world of adventure,” she said. “I felt comfortable there and with the motorcycle they let me use, I went all over the country.” She also traveled to many small one- and two-room schoolhouses near the border of Panama by boat or by horse-

back. “I think everyone should have the experience of living abroad,” she said. It opens peoples’ minds and takes away the fear some people have of travel, she added.

After completing her contract with the Peace Corps, Siebrands had what she called, “an international living experience.” Traveling with a backpack, she toured extensively throughout Mexico, Central and South America. “I had the language and felt comfortable with the culture,” she said. She was in the midst of turmoil and strife much of the time as this was during the years that Salvador Allende was assassinated in Chile and serious unrest was taking place in Argentina, she said.

Returning to Iowa in 1975, she wondered, “What do you do, as a woman, after those kinds of experiences?” She had talked with the missionary her home church supported while in Ecuador, who said her daughter had joined the Air Force, and that gave her an idea of what to do next. Although she had no exposure to the military at that time, Siebrands went to the Army recruiting office in Des Moines and took tests to be an Army medic. During those years, there were limitations as to how many women the medical corps could use. They needed strong corpsmen, she said. “What could a lot of ‘weak’

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

women possibly do?” she laughed.

Siebrands said that was her first real experience of being looked at in a different category as a woman. “When they called to say I was accepted into a ‘delayed enlistment program,’ meaning I would have nine months before actually being sworn in, I liked the idea,” she said. “They suggested I try to become an officer by way of a direct commission. Those days, no women were going through ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) or the academies,” she said, and the only way to join as an officer was by a direct commission. “So I applied.”

Knowing that she had nine months before her Army career started, Siebrands decided to do something she had always wanted to do — drive to Alaska in her Volkswagen van that she had purchased in Costa Rica. She was in Port Angeles getting ready to catch the ferry to Victoria when she called the Army to see how things were progressing and learned that she had been accepted as a candidate for officer. “I was sworn into the Women’s Army Corp (WACS) in Omaha, Neb., as a second lieutenant,” she said.

There were representatives from different branches of the Army there, but aviation wasn’t available to women then, she said. “The Communications Corps seemed like the best way to go, so I chose that. But they also told me there were some slots for paratroopers,” she continued.

Siebrands said the timing was right. Always willing and ready when an opportunity arose, she said she thought to herself, ‘Sounds good to me!’ She went directly to Fort Benning, Ga., and trained to be a paratrooper.

“When I had my choice of bases to be assigned to, I chose Fort Bragg, N.C., because I’d never been to North Carolina,” Siebrands said. That turned out to be beneficial of course, because “Fort Bragg happens to be home to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division,” she said. “I remember sitting in a helicopter as a paratrooper, looking at the back of the pilots’ heads thinking, ‘I need to look into this.’” The seed to become a pilot had been planted.

Commander Alda Siebrands, USCG

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Right: At home in Port Angeles, Alda Siebrands shows artifacts collected around the world.

Photo by Elizabeth Kelly

In 1977, aviation opened up to women and in 1978 Siebrands attended a nine-month flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala., northeast of Mobile. After her training, she had some options, one of which was to deploy to Korea. She served one year in Korea and was able to fly several times into the potentially volatile DMZ (demilitarized zone) that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.

By the time Siebrands returned to Fort Rucker as a helicopter flight instructor, she was a captain and honing her expertise as a pilot. “When you teach something, you really get to know it,” she said. She was approaching the end of her obligation to the Army when they said she was needed in Nicaragua during its revolution. The idea didn’t sit right with her and she decided that the time to leave the Army had come.

For a year, 1982-1983, Siebrands flew for Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) in the Gulf of Mexico flying people to and from the oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana, but “I was just basically a bus driver,” she said. The time seemed right to travel around the world. She was able to work occasionally during her round-the-world trip doing small jobs in various countries with the Army Individual Ready Reserve program, but travel was the goal, and she literally saw the world: China, Thailand, Nepal, Burma, Japan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia. When she came back to the U.S. she took an Army reserve job in St. Louis, Mo., and was ready for the next opportunity to come up in her life. It came by way of a casual remark from a friend, who said, “If I had it to do over again, I’d have joined the Coast Guard.” Probably thinking that sounded good to her, Siebrands joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1984 and stayed on for another 18 years.

By then women had equal opportunities in the military and were getting the same pay for the same job in the same time frame, she said. As a Coast Guard helicopter pilot, Siebrands was able to complete three tours of duty in Antarctica, flying polar operations with Operation Deep Freeze in 1989 and 1990. “I had the perfect job,” she said, flying scientists to the dry valleys to study geology or to the Emperor penguin rookeries, or helping other USCG personnel working on the icebreaker ships at McMurdo Research Station. “It was a great experience,” she said.

Under the supervision of the National Science Foundation, all the work that takes place on the Antarctic continent (known as “the ice” to those working there) is in support of the scientists who go there to research a variety

of projects. One of the Coast Guard cutters Polar Star or Polar Sea makes a yearly tour to Antarctica to break up the sea ice so the once-a-year supply ship, the MV Green Wave, can dock long enough to be off-loaded of food, fuel and other essentials. The ship is reloaded with trash and waste that has been contained for a year on the continent and returns to the U.S. — all accomplished in a two-week period.

In 1994, while she was stationed in Port Angeles, Siebrands accomplished a daring and dangerous rescue for which she received a USCG medal for exceptional heroism. She was piloting a helicopter on a routine fisheries patrol when a 9-1-1 call came in informing her that two people were in trouble in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. “It came to my mind immediately that we had no rescue swimmer on board,” Siebrands remembered, and that would mean that she, as the pilot in the left seat, would have to go in the water, if necessary.

And necessary it was. They had managed to save one of the men but the second man was unable to get himself into the basket to be hoisted up. So Siebrands jumped from the helicopter into the water and managed to get both him and herself back up and inside the cabin of the chopper.

The USCG made a detailed and descriptive video of the rescue and anyone interested can view it by typing “Alda Siebrands” into a search engine and clicking “Helicopter Pilot Risks Life — Coast Guard Heroes.” The opening scene of Port Angeles harbor with the Olympic Mountains in the background immediately captures your attention.

Siebrands retired from the Coast Guard in 2003 and has lived in Port Angeles since, enjoying landscaping and birdwatching. After all her world travels, she said Antarctica was her favorite place in the world. There will be more travels in the future, she said. With an attitude of saying “yes” to life, Alda Siebrands is an extraordinary woman with a zest for life who always will be a citizen of the planet.

41

By Chris Cook

Matt Breed began demolition and remodeling work on Sarge’s Place in the days after the sale of the building was completed in mid-November.

by

next summer, veterans will have a new home away from home in Forks at Sarge’s Place.

Cheri Fleck, president of the North Olympic Regional Veterans Housing Network, announced on Nov. 17 that funds for buying the building and land that will house the veterans center are in place. The nonprofit organization now owns the building.

Fleck said in an e-mail announcing the completion of the purchase of the Peterson Building in Forks: “It is with great happiness that I write this e-mail to you. Wow … it seems unbelievable … three years ago this seemed like such a dream to help veterans on the peninsula. And here we are, on Nov. 17, 2010, with a signed purchase and sale agreement for the building which will serve as Sarge’s Place.

What a wonderful day it is.”

A groundbreaking ceremony to officially kick off the refurbishing of the two-story building was Dec. 4 at the

42

property located at 250 Ash Ave. Volunteers are lining up to begin work on renovating the building, creating apartments for families of veterans on the second floor and rooms for single veterans on the ground floor.

The inspiration for Sarge’s Place came from a program that aids men upon release from a corrections facility.

“In 2007, the Shelter Provider Network put on a presentation of a housing project for men exiting prison,” Fleck said. “The owner discussed the case management and support she was providing to the men and how well they were doing with their housing. A couple of us leaned into each other and said, ‘We could do a supported housing project for vets that’s peninsula-wide.’ We knew there was a large population of homeless veterans due to Voices for Veterans stand-downs (resource events for homeless veterans) that were occurring in Forks and Port Angeles. It seemed a logical project to pursue,” Fleck explained.

“We formed a meeting the next week which included veterans, social service agencies, veterans organizations, city, county and state entities as well as service organizations. The birth of Sarge’s Place had begun. We are so grateful for the collaborative effort of this project, but the Sarge’s Place advisory board has had a core group of about eight people that have consistently worked on this project and attended monthly meetings for nearly three years.

It is that dedication that has helped to move this project forward from vision to reality.”

Fleck said 12 transitional beds will be available for single veterans in the downstairs portion of the building, eight

for men and four for women. The sleeping quarters will be separate, but the kitchen and living space will be communal. There will be three two-bedroom apartments upstairs for veterans and their families. A veteran will serve as the live-in caretaker and be responsible for management of the building when Sarge’s Place manager and Iraq veteran Matt Breed is off-property.

The seed money for the project came from First Federal.

“They heard about our meetings and they donated $50,000 as our seed money. Nothing could have been done without this money. It was the spark that allowed us to garner further monies from other entities,” Fleck said.

The name “Sarge’s Place” captures the spirit of the veterans project. Cheri Fleck’s husband, Rod Fleck, an Air Force veteran and the attorney/planner for the city of Forks, came up with it. “It fit perfectly. We just were incredibly lucky that Matt Breed was a sergeant when he was in the service. We ended up with a sarge by accident, but it seems like a beautiful coincidence.”

Funding also came from the Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund, which has helped to employ Breed, who is the case manager for the project. Some $6,500 came from the Albert Haller Foundation in Sequim to aid in buying kitchen equipment.

“The biggest piece of the pie was $487,000 from Sen. Patty Murray for the purchase and remodeling of the existing two-story building in Forks,” Fleck said. “We also are grateful to the Band of Brothers Motorcycle Club, Roughnecks Motorcycle Club, Sue Zalokar and others who have specifically fundraised for this project,” she added.

“West End Outreach Services (WEOS), a division of Forks Community Hospital, has allowed me to work on the development of this project over the last three years,”

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

she said. “WEOS has worked for years aiding the homelesss and has supported this project since its inception. And I certainly would be remiss not to note the individuals andd families that have donated their time, energy and goods too Sarge’s Place as well. We have a team of volunteers waitingg g, in the wings to aid us with demolition, painting, gardening, etc. We are still seeking funding for new furnishings for thee m project. We will need couches, chairs, large dining room set, washers and dryers, kitchen dishes, etc.,” she said. n A main goal of the project is to support veterans in need of housing, plus provide a boost in bettering theirr lives and more. d “Sarge’s Place will provide any person that served within the military with assistance, encouragement andd needed support services to foster lasting stability whilee assisting veterans in reaching personal goals to help breakk the cycle of homelessness,” Fleck said. “To this end, we willll provide structure in a respectful, clean and sober environ-ment with warm and dry transitional housing (for up too s, two years), veteran resources, mental health referrals, medical and dental referrals, employment services, AA// NA and life skills groups.

“Any veteran, or relative of a veteran, will be able too come into Sarge’s Place and get assistance for veteran-related issues, even if they are not living within the house.

We want this to be a welcome building for anyone that has served or has had a loved one serving or has served in the past.”

Matt Breed served as an Army sergeant in Iraq. Today he is the manager of Sarge’s Place in Forks. Here he stands alongside a demolition derby car used last summer to publicize the veterans’ home and resource center at the annual Forks Old-Fashioned Fourth of July celebration.

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From left, are Jim Graham and Tom McKeown from the Mt. Olympus Detachment of the Marine Corps League and Jim Dickson at the check-in table.

Brad Collins leads the crew from the Serenity House of Clallam County in serving lunch.

Volunteers stand up for veterans

By Patricia Morrison Coate

“We had invested a lot of time and effort and a fair amount of money,” Braasch said. “We really didn’t know For combat soldiers, these words are second only to “You’re who would show up, if anybody. It wasn’t like we could put going home” in their power to evoke sighs of relief. an ad in the paper (to reach homeless vets). I believe about “In a combat situation, a stand-down is to pull back 100 vets came and not all were homeless.” from the conflict area to rest and recuperate, get mediBraasch emphasized that the vast majority of veterans cal attention, get food and prepare to go back out again,” returning from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and explained John Braasch, president of Voices for Veterans, Afghanistan rejoined society and went about rebuilding an all-volunteer, nonprofit support organization on the their lives. But others left the service with post-traumatic Olympic Peninsula. stress disorder (PTSD) and a distaste for anything that Six years ago, Braasch, a Vietnam veteran, said he and smacks of the government. other vets helping in the annual head count of the homeless “A vet comes home and he’s not the same and home’s in Clallam County “saw a surprisingly substantial number not the same. Or he comes back and he has no place to go of people identifying themselves as veterans. We thought and no networks. It’s not as he imagined it to be,” said Brawe might be able to take a small portion of the homeless asch. “PTSD led to a lot of self-medicating (with drugs and population and make a little difference.” alcohol) and for those reasons, people separated from the The volunteers rallied, securing support and services normal avenues of community. Some went to the woods for a stand-down from private and public organizations so they wouldn’t be messed with by anybody.” in the areas of employment, education, health care, Voices for Veterans volunteers understand in offering mental health, housing, legal issues and their services they need to tread gently. veterans benefits. Vets also were offered “At the stand-down, we don’t reTo donate clothing, personal clothing, camping gear, dental exams quire that they register — we do have hygiene items and outdoor and haircuts. The idea was, with hands a check-in sheet and ask they try to get gear or to volunteer provider outstretched, to offer veterans a onehelp from three service providers, to services, write to Voices for day opportunity to meet some of their sit down and get legitimate help from Veterans, P.O. Box 2810, Port needs without governmental strings Angeles, WA 98362; visit somebody,” Braasch said. “We welattached. The first stand-down was in www.voicesforveterans.org or come them and thank them for their e-mail voicesforveterans@ October 2004 at the Clallam County service. It’s really kind of emotional for yahoo.com.

Fairgrounds in Port Angeles. a lot of vets to be treated like a guest in

“Company, stand down!”

44

our living room — to hear, ‘We love you and you are happy and safe here.’”

During the stand-downs, which have expanded to include Forks on the first Thursday in May and Port Townsend on the last Monday in July, vets receive a hot breakfast and lunch. They can choose their own clothing or have a personal shopper select what they need. Braasch said volunteers do keep track of the people who receive outdoor gear because they feel an obligation to the donors that it goes to those who need it the most. About 40 people volunteer to put on each stand-down and Voices for Veterans has a core group of 15.

Veterans are encouraged to have a health check-up provided by Dr. Ed Hopfner and his wife, Phyllis, of Port Angeles. Braasch credits their stand-down participation with saving lives by diagnosing cases of diabetes and coronary disease. In the Port Angeles stand-down in October, Voices for Veterans provided 107 medical services ranging from vaccines to blood sugar checks to consults for fungal rashes, migraines, cataracts, chronic pain and malignant hypertension. About two dozen vets received services for bad and/or abscessed teeth and others received vouchers for eyeglasses.

“It’s been a tough inroad for guys way back in the West End but slowly they’re starting to come out. Some we’ll never get to,” Braasch said, noting, however, that one year a vet will come alone and the next will bring a buddy or two. “We try a little outreach but we’re aware not to get too close.”

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

County veterans It seems the grapevine representatives is working. In 2010, among pause for a meal at the Port Angeles the three sites, 385 veterans stand-down. In attended, of whom 102 were center is Delmar homeless, including six Sayer from Jefferson County and at right women. Significantly, 110 is Scott Buck from veterans attended the standClallam County. down in Forks, a half-dozen Submitted photos more than the much larger Port Townsend.

Of the Port Angeles event, one Serenity House volunteer wrote, “I hope to immediately rehouse an 80-year-old veteran who is sleeping in his car. This was very memorable; I am amazed at the generosity of the merchants, the volunteers and the service providers. This year was better than last. It just keeps getting better.”

Braasch said often veterans who come for their first stand-down are “star-struck that somebody would take the time and effort to help them.” One told him it was the first time he’d felt welcome and comfortable since he left Vietnam. “Their reaction is, ‘You’ve done this for me?

Nobody’s been this kind and patient since I got out.’ If we weren’t there for them, they wouldn’t be getting help and those guys know the stand-downs are for them. And we know by the grace of God or a stroke of fate, it could be us.”

Individuals are moved as well: A DAV volunteer wrote, “One gentleman came to get … burial benefits for his

veteran daughter. I held his hand because he was crying when I made the suggestion of helping to get awards that his daughter earned (Bronze Star) but never received.”

Voices for Veterans, started with a handful of veterans in Clallam County with empathy and an action plan for

their own, was the first such group nationwide and now is a model program at the federal level.

“It’s really fulfilling and satisfying,” Braasch said. “If we don’t see someone a second year, we say it’s a success story.”

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45

From a Story and photos

by Elizabeth Kelly

W

orking quietly behind the scenes over the years, the Clallam County Veterans Association has been the glue that holds together 13 service groups in support of local veterans. The county owns the Veterans Center building at 216 Francis St. in Port Angeles, but CCVA can recommend changes and repairs, said association vice president, Marty Arnold.

“We have been in this building since the early 1930s and it is home to the only central meeting place for large groups,” he added. Besides housing the CCVA office and records, the building has formal and informal rooms used for ceremonies, awards programs, dances and dinners.

“We fed between 350 and 400 people here on Veterans Day this year,” Arnold said. He explained that the money for the dinner came out of the general CCVA budget.

Dale Koelling, secretary of CCVA, said that the county veterans program serves its homeless, lowincome and disabled veterans and their families through a program mandated by RCW (Revised Code of Washington – Department of Veterans’ Affairs) 7304-080, which is funded by Clallam County taxpayers.

“If a veteran has economic needs and meets the criteria, he brings it up to CCVA,” Koelling said.

Veteran status requires 180 days of continuous active duty (or 90 days for Guard/Reserve activated for Operation Desert Shield/Storm) and discharge of service must be under honorable conditions.

“What you want when you walk in the door (of CCVA) is your DD-214 (separation papers),” Arnold said. “Everything is computerized now and the form DD-214 information is put into the computer and tells us everything we need to know.”

The Department of Defense form DD-214 is the formal Report of Separation from military service and contains information normally needed to verify military service for benefits, retirement, employment and membership in veterans organizations.

Benefits for veterans include pensions, home loans,

46

nation

and health heal he alth al lth th care car are and a d vary an v ry on va on eligibility. e iggib el ibilililit ity. it y. y. education and “Benefits GII Bi Billlll was ts have have cha ha cchanged hang ha ngged e since sin ince c the ce the h G B was fi firrst rst Koel ellliling lingg ssaid, aid, ai aid d, ““and and th an and he mi mil ililita taryy pays tary ppay ayss into ay into to enacted,” Ko Koelling the military pro rogr gram a .” It It takes take ta kees an expert eexp xper xp e t too sort er sor ortt out out the benefitss program. cate ca ted te d regulations, regu re gula gu lati la tion o s, he on he added. add ad dded. ded.. the complicated out veterans vete ve tera rans ns at at Pe Peni nins nsula la College Colllllleg Co egee is eg Helpingg out Peninsula Meyyer er,, a Washington Wash a hin ingt gton on n state ssta tate ta t eemp te mpplo loye y e who ye who Jeremiah Meyer, employee veete tera rans ra ns n avviggat a or or” to sort sor ortt through thro th roug uggh works as a ““veterans navigator” tio iona nall benefits b neefi be fits ts offered. off ffer e ed. d They T ey have Th hav h ve a the educational mee eets ts once oonc ncee a month nc mont mo nth nt h at the th the he college, coll olllege leg , ArAAr group that meets “Me Meye yerr nold said. “Meyer e m in points them rect re ctio ion n the right direction and helpss with ments, job placements, VA loans, housing and jobs. bs.”

One of the main tasks sks of A is to the CCVA he county monitor the veteran relief elief funds. ty receives funds “The county through taxes axes that are dedicated for veterf,” Arnold ans’ relief,” explained. “When a vet fills outt an application for assistance d, utilities, (rent, food, prescripmedical/prescriptions) the county ounty does ch and submits the paperthe research work to thee CCVA,” he said, “and there aperwork,” he said. The funds is a lot of paperwork, leased by the CCVA. are then released ity for assistance includes being a vetEligibility pletion of first enlistment or medically eran; completion discharged d under honorable conditions; having ident of Washington for 12 consecubeen a resident tive monthss prior to application and low income.

Dale Koelling, left, and Marty Arnold, right, pose with Marine Corps plaques at the Veterans Center.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Above, left: Grand Army of the Republic bulletin board listing meeting dates at the Veterans Center in Port Angeles. Above, right: Veterans Center, 216 Francis St., Port Angeles. Below, right: Symbolic table remembering Prisoners of War and Missing In Action veterans.

Each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

“This year to date we have provided 157 veterans in the county with assistance amounting to nearly $80,000,” Arnold said. “The money is issued to the landlord or power company or hospital or vouchers are given to local grocery stores,” he added. “The veteran doesn’t receive any money directly.” Each check requires three signatures, Arnold further explained.

“One of our biggest problems,” Arnold said, “is that people don’t know what we do here. We really need help pointing out what is available to veterans,” he said. CCVA puts out a newsletter every month announcing events coming up and meeting times and dates. “Anyone can attend the meetings,” he said, adding that representatives from the city of Port Angeles, as well as from the county administrator and commissioners’ offices often attend.

“We are a great work source, too,” Arnold said. “We work with unemployed veterans and the state employments agency to keep a handle on jobs available in the county.”

Koelling said that the CCVA also coordinates Voices for Veterans, a nonprofit corporation of Washington state dedicated to assisting the homeless veterans on the North Olympic Peninsula by way of a “stand-down” — an opportunity for needy veterans to “come and get assistance,” he said. Taken from a military R & R (rest and recuperation) term, standing down is a rest from all military activity to

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

be refitted, rejuvenated and retrained for the next active duty. Stand-downs were held at the Clallam County fairgrounds, in Port Townsend at the Elks Lodge and in Forks at the Forks Elk Lodge in 2010.

“We assist homeless or needy veterans with legal, medical, food, clothing, housing, even baby clothing and pet food,” Arnold said. There are up to 250 needy veterans in Clallam County, he said. “We can even get a guy a haircut.

Sometimes all someone needs is a new haircut to have a totally different attitude,” Arnold said.

Stand-downs are publicized for two weeks in advance by putting up fliers and announcing at meetings and in the monthly newsletter. Voices for Veterans coordinates the yearly stand-downs with 20 different organizations on the peninsula.

The CCVA is dedicated to the Clallam Country veterans and their families. Their brochures states, in part: “…

We honor your sacrifice and your dedication. We thank the fallen for giving the last full measure of devotion to their nation. To these families and the living, we pledge to ensure your access to that which is granted by a grateful nation.”

“We (CCVA) work with Toys for Tots; organize Veterans Day ceremonies; maintain the flags; provide honor guards, bagpipers, “Taps” buglers and rifle salutes for funerals or other occasions, working with the funeral home and the families; coordinate parades; support Boys & Girls

Clubs and baseball teams; and we support the NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps whose mission is “… to instill in students the values of citizenship and service to the United States, personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment”) at the high schools, providing scholarships for college,” Arnold elaborated. “We really want the residents of the county to know and appreciate the work being done by the veterans associations,” he said.

In one corner of the main meeting hall at the Veterans Center is a small table with a symbolic setting for one in honor of the POW/MIA (Prisoners of War and Missing in Action). The glass is upside down, symbolizing that the absent one cannot toast with the group; the small table symbolizes the frailty of one prisoner against his oppressors; a slice of lemon on the bread plate reminds everyone of the bitter fate of the prisoner; and salt on the bread plate is symbolic of the family’s tears as they wait. Everything on the table represents an aspect of those who cannot be with them. They are reminders that all who served with them and called them comrades, who depended on their might and aid, have not forsaken them.

Koelling was in the U.S. Army from 1969-1975, serving in Vietnam in 1971-1972. He was a captain and an infantry platoon commander.

Arnold served in the U.S. Navy from 1960-1980 as a chief petty officer, also in Vietnam. He worked on destroyers and geographical survey ships.

47

Quilcene VFW STORY AND PHOTOS BY VIVIANN KUEHL

The

Veterans of Foreign Wars keep serving long after their wars are over.

Quilcene’s VFW Post 3213 was founded in January 1945. Since then, more than 300 veterans have come through the post, one of seven on the Olympic Peninsula, said post Quartermaster Bob Prill.

“After the Second World War, the guys came back and got together,” said Prill. “Each one was just a little segment of the whole organization.”

Some of the 44 members of the founding group were in World War II and one was a prisoner of war in Germany.

Army or Navy servicemen ranging in age from 18-63, most had served in France, a few had been in Belgium, Italy, Germany, England or Ireland, several were in the Pacific, and other individuals had served in India, Siberia and Burma. A couple had served in Alaska, then considered foreign because it was not a state at the time.

Some came from local established families; two were born in Quilcene, two in Leland and one on the Duckabush. Seventeen were born elsewhere in the Northwest, and others came from across the country, from Maine to California, from Nebraska to Arkansas. A couple were foreign born, in Norway and Canada.

They were farmers, soldiers, sailors, truck drivers. A few were career Army men. Also included were just one logger, a fire warden, a pipe fitter, an engineer, a carpenter,

48

a real estate/insurance man, a student, a road foreman and a painter.

This diverse group was united by their war experiences and willingness to serve. At home they served their community as part of the organization.

“The charter mandate is to help veterans and their spouses, and just to do community work,” explained Prill, the post’s financial officer.

As the group formed, and as it grew, they enjoyed each other’s company as they helped individuals and held fundraising activities.

A traditional fundraiser since before the local post was chartered, the VFW has been selling red poppies every year as a reminder of the sacrifice made by troops everywhere, inspired by the red poppies growing on the graves of World War I troops buried on Flanders Field, masses of red among the rows of white crosses.

The poppies are made by disabled vets, who are paid for their work. At the last Quilcene Fair, selling poppies netted the post $85.50, said Prill.

Quilcene VFW Post 3213 display at the Quilcene Historical Museum

Along with annual dues (now $20) or the lifetime membership fee (scaled according to age) the fundraisers kept the group solvent for doing their good deeds.

Land was donated to the VFW and they decided to build a meeting place. “It took a long time to acquire the money to make the building,” noted Prill. They kept at it and in 1965 the post had its own building, built by members and the auxiliary. The dedication ceremony and celebration included legendary politician Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson along with VFW officials.

Quartermaster Bob Prill checks the finances of Quilcene VFW Post 3213

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

As the years rolled on, the older members died and as activity slowed, the building was rented out to become the Loggers Landing restaurant and lounge. In 2008, the VFW sold the building to the restaurant owner and became the richest post in the state, said current post Commander Orville Fisk.

Fisk joined the post in 1970, after moving to Quilcene, and for the past seven or eight years has been commander.

“I like it,” said Fisk, who enjoys meetings at the district level. “It’s something to keep up with.

If you don’t keep busy doing things, they plant you. You have to stay active.”

Even with a small active membership, the post has been busy.

“We don’t just sit around and drink beer,” said Prill.

“We do take care of widows and vets and anybody else who needs it,” said Fisk.

The VFW pays for ongoing home care for a veteran. They recently replaced a water tank for one veteran’s widow and reroofed a house for another.

The VFW supports the Voice of Democracy essay contest for youth and the post provides two annual $1,000 scholarships for Quilcene High graduates and is aiming to increase it to three.

They also bought a $4,000 bass saxophone for

the school band.

The VFW financially helps to support South Jefferson Little League and the Bikes for Reading program in partnership with the Masons.

Ongoing outreach supports the local food bank throughout the year.

“There’s a lot of people going to the food bank now. They have 1,700 people a month,” said Fisk.

“That’s why we kicked in $500 for Thanksgiving and we’ll do another $500 at Christmas. We told her if that wasn’t enough, we’d take care of it.”

The VFW also helps with $500 toward a veteran’s final expenses for burial or cremation.

The post meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Quilcene Community Center.

Fisk, a Navy veteran of the Korean War, was stationed in the Marshall Islands during Cold War nuclear weapons testing in 1954. He remembers a bomb exploding that was supposed to be 10 megaton, but turned out to be 35 megatons. It was the largest bomb ever set off by the U.S., he noted. The blast obliterated the 12-mile island and made a crater a mile deep.

Test equipment melted 15 miles away.

On the deck of his ship 29 miles away, the light was so bright he could see his own skeleton and it felt like a blow torch, recalled Fisk.

“It was quite an experience,” said Fisk.

“They’re really beautiful as they go off.

You can’t look at it right way, then after a minute you can use heavy welding glasses, then three or four minutes later you can look at it with your eyes.”

Fisk’s back was damaged when the troops were ordered to sit on the deck, with backs turned, during the explosion. He recalled “a thing rolling right over the top of us, palm trees and sand and stuff falling on the deck.

We thought the ship was on fire, but it was igniting any dust that had been left anywhere.” Dust that hadn’t been cleaned was on fire.

“We saw the sound wave coming in the air, kind of a gray dreary thing going along.

“When that thing hit us, it blew us alongside the ship, when it hit the ship, it danced along too,” said Fisk. “We ran as fast as we could, 15 knots, not very fast but as fast as we could go, to Eniwetok (Atoll),” said Fisk.

“I have cancer from it. They cut it off my face and back several times.”

VFW Commander Orville Fisk in 2010 and as a sailor in the early 1950s.

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Events CALENDAR EC Feb. 5

Jan. 13

• Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra concert — 10 a.m. dress rehearsal, 7:30 p.m. concert, Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles. 360-457-5579.

• Stand-up Comedy Night. 8 p.m. Key City Public Theatre, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. $15 general admission, VIP tickets include two free drinks and priority seating for $25. www.keycity publictheatre.org.

Jan. 15 • The Colin Ross Trio, with guitaristvocalist Mig O’Hara, original music, jazz standards and blues classics — 4 p.m. at the Bay Club. Sponsored by Port Ludlow Arts Council, 360-437-2208, plvc.org.

Jan. 29 Dec. 31 • First Night celebration, sponsored by Jefferson County Historical Society, 360385-1003, jchsmuseum.org.

• New Year’s Eve cruise views wildlife at Protection Island. Sponsored by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, 360385-5582, 800-566-3932, ptmsc.org.

Jan. 1 • Port Townsend Shorts — 7:30 p.m. at Pope Marine Building on Water Street, Key City Public Theatre presents dramatic readings of literary works in conjunction with Port Townsend’s monthly Gallery Walk. Free admission; www. keycitypublictheatre.org.

Jan. 14 • Second Saturday Art Walk — 11 a.m. at the kiosk on Railroad Avenue and Laurel Street, Port Angeles, the second Saturday of every month. Guided tour discusses the techniques and artistry of the various pieces. Some of the artists with work on display will be available to answer questions about their work as the tour progresses through downtown.

360-457-9614 or www.portangeles downtown.com.

• Port Angeles Symphony’s Young Artist Competition — 9:30 a.m. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 N. Lopez Ave., Port Angeles. 360-457-5579.

• Snowgrass ninth annual bluegrass concert — 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles. A bluegrass gala, midwinter evening of American string band music to benefit the Port Angeles First Step Family Support Center programs.

Tickets $10 for adults; $7 for seniors and youth. 360-457-8355 or www.firststep family.org.

Jan. 7 • First Friday Art Walk — 5-8 p.m. in downtown Sequim. Fun and free selfguided tour of local art galleries, artists’ studios, the Museum and Arts Center and alternative art venues on the first Friday of every month from 5-8 p.m., 360-460-3023 or www.sequimartwalk. com.

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Feb. 10 • Award-winning playwright Lee Blessing kicks off the 15th annual Playwrights’ Festival with a reading of his one-man play “Chesapeake.” 7 p.m. Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave., Port Townsend. www. keycitypublictheatre.org.

Feb. 11-27 • The 15th annual Playwrights’ Festival — Productions and staged readings of new works by local and regional playwrights.

Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. For specific play performances, dates and tickets, see www.keycitypublictheatre.org or call 360-379-0195.

Jan. 14-15 • Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra Concert No. 2 — 7 p.m. Jan. 14, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 N. Lopez Ave., Port Angeles; 7 p.m. Jan. 15, Sequim Worship Center, 640 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.

360-457-5579.

• Port Townsend Shorts — 7:30 p.m. at Pope Marine Building on Water Street, Key City Public Theatre presents dramatic readings of literary works in conjunction with Port Townsend’s monthly Gallery Walk. Free admission; www. keycitypublictheatre.org.

Feb. 19-21 Feb. 4-20 • “Nunsense.” 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays Feb. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, Wednesdays Feb. 9, 16; 2 p.m. Sundays Feb. 6, 13, 20; Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays.

Presented by Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave, Sequim. 360-683-7326 or http://olympic-theatre.tripod.com.

• Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby — Sponsored by Gardiner Salmon Derby Association. http://gardinersalmon derby.org.

LIVING LIVINGON ONTHE THEPENINSULA PENINSULA || WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

Events CALENDAR EC Feb. 26 • Port Angeles Symphony’s Applause Auction. Live and silent auctions, dinner. Reservations required. 360-4575579, portangelessymphony.org or pasymphony@olypen.com.

• Port Townsend Community Orchestra Winter Concert — pre-concert chat, 6:45 p.m., concert 7:30 p.m. at Chimacum High School auditorium, porttownsend orchestra.org.

• Barston String Quartet performs with Seattle Symphony musicians — 8 p.m., Port Ludlow Bay Club. Sponsored by Port Ludlow Arts Council, 360-437-2208, plvc.org.

Feb. 26-27 • KONP Home Show — 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Port Angeles High School, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles. 360-457-1450, office@ konp.com or www.konp.com.

March 7-8 • “Here, There & Everywhere — 7 p.m.

Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. Monologues by contemporary women playwrights from around the world. $15 suggested donation, March 7 program benefits American Association of University Women’s scholarship foundation. 360-379-0195 or keycitypublictheatre.org.

February TBA • 20th annual Shipwrights’ Regatta — Sponsored by Wooden Boat Foundation, 360-385-3628, woodenboat.org.

March 5 • Port Townsend Shorts — 7:30 p.m. at Pope Marine Building on Water Street, Key City Public Theatre presents dramatic readings of literary works in conjunction with Port Townsend’s monthly Gallery Walk. Free admission; www.key citypublictheatre.org or 360-379-5089.

March 12 • Port Angeles Symphony concert — 10 a.m. dress rehearsal, 7:30 p.m. concert, Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles. 360457-5579, pasymphony@olypen.com, or olypen.com/pasymphony.

• “Second Coming of Joan of Arc.” 3 p.m.

Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave., Port Townsend. keycitypublictheatre.org.

March 12-13 • North Peninsula Building, Remodeling and Energy Expo — 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at Sequim High School, Sequim, sponsored by the North Peninsula Building Association, Port Angeles.

March 18-20 • Victorian Heritage Days, sponsored by the Victorian Society in America – Northwest Chapter, www.victorian festival.org.

March 19 • Sequim Technology and Media Fair, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Sequim High School. www.sequim-techfair.com, 425-6109058, or sequimtechfair@gmail.com.

March TBA • 29th annual Fort Worden Kitemakers Conference at Fort Worden State Park, kitemakers.org.

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THE Living END

Tom

Brokaw has pointed out that the war was not an issue in the recent political campaigns. The United States is now in its ninth year of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the longest wars in American history. Brokaw says the reason war is not an issue may be that most people are focusing on their economic security. Unless they or a family member is in the armed forces, not much is being asked of the general populace in the war effort. Brokaw states that the all-volunteer force comprises less than 1 percent of the American population.

I am asking you to think about that. Already more than 30,000 service personnel are returning with physical and mental health issues. They have been away from their families and that has caused more stress for both.

The economy has changed and some can’t find jobs. All the folks and programs that you have read about in this magazine are working hard to help the military families, veterans and their families and our communities remain healthy and productive.

On the Olympic Peninsula we talk about small-town values — well, here is a big one. Take care of each other — these families, active duty and vets, need you! The active duty and guardsmen need your validation that their fighting was appreciated. Their families need you to show their service member respect so they can be proud and bear the burden of their absence more easily. The veterans need your help to get jobs, have a home, get medical assistance.

Some of you know that I write a monthly column in the Sequim Gazette outlining events, programs, service organizations and other items that you can help or participate in to show appreciation or help for these veterans and their families. Please check it out the second Wednesday of the month to see where the need is locally.

Our elected representatives listen to numbers — that

52

is why the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, thanking veterans for their service, remembering the Disabled American Veterans and Military Officers As- ones who have not come back, helping the ones who were sociation of America have a voice at the table. They have injured, giving of yourself in some way to show that their the numbers to make Congress sit up and listen. Please sacrifices are appreciated and respected. consider joining one of these service organizations so you The NJROTC program at Port Angeles High School make your voice heard. is 140 cadets strong under the leadership of retired U.S. Locally the Clallam County Veterans Association Marine Corps Major Leo Campbell. These young people works with all the service groups on the peninsula to plan are the next generation of warriors and leaders. They are events such as the Veterans Day ceremony, learning leadership, teamwork, a sense of see where the needs are and work programs responsibility to their country and commuto help. From the articles in this magazine nity, and the opportunities the military ofyou can tell individuals, as well as groups, fers. They perform community service and are making a difference — donating money work hard to raise money so the drill teams or items for the stand-downs or the Washcan compete — and win many awards! They ington State Veterans Home and volunteertoo need your encouragement and support. ing their time and talent. Anything you do, They too need to feel part of the community. including saying thank you to a vet, helps!

The Military Officers Association, Marine House Veterans Affairs Committee Corps League and many service organizaChairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., reminds us tions give time and money in support of this to separate the warrior and the war. Even program. Please support the cadets’ efforts if you do not agree with the wars, please when they conduct fundraisers. remember the lessons of Vietnam and how By Lorri Gilchrist, retired The active duty Coast Guardsmen and U.S. Navy Commander our troops were treated. Filner says half of women are there for us in emergencies. We the homeless around the United States are can show our appreciation by saying thank Vietnam veterans — 200,000. At the Port Angeles October you when we see them around town. The service clubs Stand Down there were 56 homeless veterans. He points in the area try to help by providing savings bonds for the out that there have been more suicides by Vietnam veter- Sailor of the Quarter program, calling cards so they can ans than died in the original war — more than 58,000. keep in touch with families, etc. Please make them feel they Here on the peninsula there are many people working are a part of our community while they are here. to make sure the war and its impacts on real people, our Please open your hearts to include the service people friends and neighbors, are not ignored, forgotten or put last and veterans and their families. We can be the community on the list. We realize these veterans have put their lives that these people need to keep them healthy and producon the line for our way of life and there are things we can tive. do to show our appreciation and support.

Thank you for reading this issue and for your support I am sure many of you reading this have done some- of the programs highlighted. There is much more work thing to help. Thank you! I am asking you to continue ahead of us.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010

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&

NOW Then FHS 1927 - present

The

landmark brick-walled Forks High School opened in 1925 as Quillayute Union High School. The students of several smaller schools were brought together in the new district high school, thus the “Union” name.

By 2008, Forks High School’s brick front ntt was was a known kkno noown throughthr h ou ughghgh out the country and much of the world as tthe setting he sset e tiingg for et for o llarge arge ar ge seellllin ng sections of author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling “Twilight” saga book series.

In the summer of 2010, all but the front entrance section of the building was demolished to make way for a new addition to Forks High School. Fundraising is under way to create a gateway to the new school entrance using the facade off the building.

The red, wigwam-looking structure too the right is the Quillayute Valley School ol District’s woody biomass boiler building ngg under construction.

1927 photo (top) Quillayute Union High School “Pride of the Forest” yearbook.

2008 (middle) and 2010 (right) photos by Chris Cook, Forks Forum.

Snow covered streets of Port Townend

It’s

hard to identify the exact location of this winter street scene, but it looks like the uptown residential district of Port Townsend and there was a big snow around 1917, so those are two guesses. The Uptown District still has some tree-lined streets that become awfully quiet when covered by a blanket of snow, butt today’s picture stands in bu star st arkk contrast to yesteryear’s. ar stark Instead of the lone horseInst In st drawn draaw dr aw sleigh, cars and trucks line ne the street testifying to a distinct d lack of off-street parking par in Victorian neighborhoods. bo To Today’s photo by Fred Obee.

Yesteryear’s Ye from the collection of o the Jefferson County Historical H Society

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | WINTER | DECEMBER 2010