Veterans Day Tab 2014

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

HONORING ALL WHO SERVED

Whatcom Homefront provides care packages and letters for service people abroad. ................................. C3

A supplement of the Lynden Tribune & Ferndale Record

Jack Matheis recounts his time in World War II and his life now, as a Lynden pastor. .................................... C6

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

VETERANS DAY TAB

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014

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VETERANS DAY TAB

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

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Whatcom Homefront sends pieces of home to soldiers overseas Organization sends out five to six messages per year to each service person

By Brent Lindquist reporter@lyndentribune.com

WHATCOM — More than a decade ago, Whatcom Homefront began providing a little piece of home to men and women serving their country overseas.

“We send packages out, five to six times per year, to anyone who’s serving over in the conflicts,” Whatcom Homefront vice president Tammy Bengen said.

Bengen first became involved with Whatcom Homefront when her son, a serviceman in the Army, served in Afghanistan for 18 months.

“It’s a great organization and a great group of people,” she said.

In 2014, the nonprofit charitable organization is still going strong. Whatcom Homefront relies largely on families and friends to submit names of county soldiers to receive care packages and messages of support, across all branches of the United States armed forces.

Now Whatcom Homefront is reaching out and asking for the community to submit names of soldiers who may not be known to the organization yet.

“We just want to let people know that they can contact us with names of service personnel,” Bengen said. “We’re not for or against any wars or anything like that. We’re just supporting the individual. We just do these little care pack-

Whatcom Homefront specializes in sending packages and letters to servicemen and servicewomen serving overseas. The organization sends out five to six packages to each recipient annually. (Courtesy photo/Whatcom Homefront) ages throughout the year.”

Some packages coincide with holidays, but others are sent just to help and encourage service men and women overseas.

Bengen said the names submitted don’t even necessarily need to be those of Whatcom County service people.

“We’ve gotten names for individu-

als who have no family or friends who send them anything,” she said. “We’ve kind of adopted them, even if they have no relation to Whatcom County. We just want them to know that they’re thought about.”

The information needed includes the name of the service person, his or her military address and a local contact so Whatcom Homefront can check on the service person’s status periodically.

Support and donations can be mailed to Whatcom Homefront, P.O. Box 32328, Bellingham, WA 98228. Forms are also available at WhatcomHomefront. org.

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

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VETERANS DAY TAB

Local Veterans Day events coming up Annual Lynden veterans’ dinner event Nov. 13 LYNDEN ­— The 16th annual Veterans Day Dinner and Program will be on Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Lynden Community Center, 401 Grover St., The Lynden Lions Club is the sponsor.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The meal is free as a gift to veterans, $6 for everyone else.

If you are planning to attend, an RSVP is a must. Call no later than Nov. 10 to Barbara or Gordon Sund at 922-0864.

For other information about this event, call Galen Laird at 354-1187.

Lynden Veterans Day service at 11 a.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 11

Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts will be involved again this year in the local VFW-sponsored service at 11 a.m. on Veterans Day Nov. 11 in the Lynden Community Center. (File photo/Lynden Tribune)

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LYNDEN ­ — A Veterans Day program will be conducted by local VFW Post 9301 and its Ladies Auxiliary at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the Lynden Community Center, 401 Grover St. This year marks the 50th anniversary of United States’ involvement in Vietnam.

The speaker this year will be VFW Post Commander Thomas Darling, a two-tour Vietnam veteran. He will be assisted in the program by Cub and Boy Scout troops, a Lynden Middle School ensemble providing music and the VFW 9301 honor guard.

The public is cordially invited to this event.

VETERANS DAY TAB

Bellingham Christian School to honor veterans at Friday event BELLINGHAM — ­ Bellingham Christian School, 1600 E. Sunset Dr., will host a program to honor veterans at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, to which the public is invited.

After a musical performance, there will be a forum with three World War II veterans and one concentration camp survivor. They will tell their stories and take questions.

Chaplain Barry Crane, a retired captain in the U.S. Navy, is one of those involved.

“Our country is forever indebted to our veterans for their quiet courage and exemplary service in freedom’s defense.

We at Bellingham Christian School honor these heroes for their valor, their loyalty and their dedication,” states a flier.

“We encourage veterans to wear their uniforms, medals, hats, etc., with pride on this day.”

Every veteran in attendance will go home with a homemade cookie package.

For more information, call 7337303.

SSC to stay on regular schedule on holiday WHATCOM — All Sanitary Service Company garbage collection routes will be on the regular schedule for Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Customers whose regular collection day is Tuesday should set out containers the night before for pick-up as usual. In fact, collection times on holidays can be earlier than normal due to lighter traffic on area roads.

Larsen to talk on veterans’ issues in Bellingham BELLINGHAM — Rep. Rick Larsen, Congressman for the 2nd District, is holding roundtable discussions with veterans throughout his district this week, and a session will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, in the American Legion Post 7, 1688 W. Bakerview Rd. All veterans are welcome to come to learn about Larsen’s work for veterans in Congress and services for veterans available through his Everett and Bellingham offices. Larsen also wants to hear people’s thoughts and concerns about veterans’ issues.

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

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Still on active duty

In the wind and rain of last week, there were plenty of fallen leaves along Front Street for resident Al Mulder to rake up for the city sweeper. A U.S. Army veteran, Mulder, age 86, received training in tank warfare at Fort Knox in Kentucky in the early 1950s, but then was switched to a desk job that was easier once officers found he had graduated from a Michigan business college. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

Ferndale High School hosting Veterans Day event Nov. 7 FERNDALE — Ferndale High School will host two Veterans Day assemblies along with a veteran meet-and-greet event on Friday, Nov. 7.

The events, all hosted by the FHS leadership class within the Performing Arts Center auditorium, kick off with the

meet-and-greet at 8 a.m.

The two assemblies will then be held at 9 and 10:15 a.m.

Ferndale High School is located at 5830 Golden Eagle Dr. Veterans are welcome to attend, have breakfast and share their stories with students at the meet-and-greet before the assemblies. Veterans and the community are both invited to attend either or both assemblies. The veterans present will also be recognized and honored.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

VETERANS DAY TAB

Jack Matheis, Purple Heart World War II vet, stays mentally, physically active Retired Lynden pastor is also an avid reader, writer and painter

By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

LYNDEN ­ — In his tidy Heather Square apartment, Jack Matheis has a cane available for his half-mile of outdoor walking each day. But he gets around indoors just fine, he still drives a car and he even preaches occasionally at the Wiser Lake Chapel.

After all, to many he is better known as Rev. Matheis, pastor and teacher.

What may not be so well known about Matheis, age 90, is that he is a Purple Heart veteran of World War II, wounded in his left leg as the navigator on a B-24 bombing mission over Austria in 1944.

“I got flak in my leg and that’s why I use a cane,” he said during a visit last week. “As long as I reach out and hold on to something, I’m okay.”

And it’s not just now that he’s felt the effects of his war injury. “I always have had pain in my leg. After a while, you sort of ignore it,” he said.

Active still at 90 That could be taken as somewhat of the motto for Matheis, who does not let age or limp or even family loss keep him from being as active and productive as possible, both mentally and physically, each day that he has.

“I’ve always believed that the Lord puts us here for a reason, and we are called to use our gifts to the fullest, and whether we are older makes no difference. We are here to use the gifts God gave us. Otherwise, why be here?” he said.

Matheis served as pastor of the Everson Christian Reformed Church from 1955 to 1960, then was in Hull, Iowa, and Edmonton, Alberta, before teaching 10 years at Lynden Christian High School and finishing up his career at Bellevue Christian School.

He knew his wife, Jean, from their growing-up years in the same Cleveland, Ohio-area church, and they had 67 years together until her death in May 2013.

Life brought other griefs. A young son of the couple was killed when struck by a

vehicle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and son Rick died of cancer locally in 2007 at age 55.

“You can always deal with all you have in some way,” he continues. “If the Lord keeps you going, he keeps you going for a purpose. And you better figure it out and get with the program.”

The program for Matheis is largely about reading, writing and painting.

He reads voluminously — six books at the same time right now, in religion and fiction. He is writing his second fiction book, based on actual experiences he had in World War II. And he paints, mostly scenics, one of which won a Best of Lot and $12 for him in the 2014 Northwest Washington Fair. That was a mountain lodge scene; his next painting project may feature the Lynden City Park.

B-24 navigator Back in home-state Ohio, Matheis was just a teen when he signed up for military duty. He got shuttled back and forth across the country — he can list at least seven different locations where he got his Army Air Force training, from signal corps to radio and eventually flight navigation. His 10-man crew for the B-24 Liberator bomber assembled and did their practice flying at Mountain Home, Idaho.

The navigator job is extremely important since “he tells the pilot where to go,” Matheis said.

The crew arrived in Italy in early 1944 and Matheis estimates he flew on about 20 B-24 bombing missions from Allied bases near Cerignola north into German-held territory without complications.

The fateful flight for him was to bomb a tank-making plant of the Nazis in Austria, which involved flying a fairly long distance across the Adriatic Sea and Yugoslavia to reach the target.

Matheis estimates that at least 80 planes of the 15th Air Force were in the sky on this mission — they would come up from different bases in western Italy and circle over the Adriatic until coming together in formation, he said.

On this mission his plane happened to be the very lead one, so it would be the first to encounter the Nazis’ anti-aircraft fire that reached even to the 30,000-foot flying elevation. For protection against temperatures as cold as minus-70 deSee Matheis on C8

Jack Matheis holds World War II service medals won, including the Purple Cross for being wounded in combat and the Distinguished Flying Cross. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

VETERANS DAY TAB

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

THANK A VETERAN TODAY Veterans Day is a time of tribute, remembrance, patriotism and gratitude.

We are proud to offer this special section to honor those men & women who have served our country!

Please Remember to say “Thank You” to a veteran.

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VETERANS DAY TAB

Matheis: 'As long as the plane could fly, you kept flying' Continued from C6

Jack Matheis has most of his children and grandchildren in Whatcom County, although two daughters are in Chicago. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

grees, the fliers wore three or four layers of insulated clothing.

Matheis said that the shot that tore into his left leg above the knee — “it felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat” — would have been fatal to his head if it had been just six inches different. As it was, he retained consciousness through it all and, of course, the plane stayed on course.

“If somebody got shot in the plane, that didn’t stop a mission. As long as the plane could fly, you kept flying on target and dropped the bombs,” he said.

With the payload dropped, the bombardier was now the one available to “patch me up as best he could,” dealing with plenty of blood, he said. No one else on the crew was injured.

The gunfire, in addition to hitting Matheis, had also knocked out one of the B-24’s four engines and its hydraulic braking system. That meant that, after limping back to Italy, the plane would have a rough landing.

As soon as the plane touched the ground, the pilot shut off its engines.

The big craft rolled to the very end of the runway and did a U-turn that later

VETERANS DAY TAB even the pilot could not take credit for.

Matheis thinks it, and his very survival, were “divine intervention.”

More wartime reflections He spent about a month in a field hospital in Italy, where he was given his awards for bravery, before being shipped back to the United States for proper treatment, first in a hospital in Cleveland and then one in Louisville.

The biggest chunks of the flak were removed from his leg, but he presumes he still carries around some metal bits in his body as souvenirs. “I’ve got some pretty big scars on my leg too,” he said.

He was released from the Army in late 1945, with just over three years in.

He was just 19 at the time of his injury.

“When I think of it now, the responsibilities that they put on us, a young crew — it was unbelievable,” Matheis said.

Although the B-24 runs that he was on were at a high altitude, others in World War II were done at a very low altitude to try to get under the aim of the enemy’s guns. “Some of those planes came back with corn stalks in their bomb bays — that’s how low they flew,” he said.

A rich life He and Jean were writing while he was in military training and then on duty overseas. They became engaged while he was in the Cleveland hospital.

They were married and had three children by the time Jack made it through Calvin College and then Calvin Theological Seminary to be a minister in the Christian Reformed Church.

In time it was to be seven: Tim, now in Bellingham; Jimmy (deceased); Sandy Sinclair, now in Chicago; Rick (deceased); Nancy, living nearby in Lynden; Barb Van Howe, in Chicago; and Dan, a Lynden cabinet maker.

Matheis taught Reformed doctrine, church history and Christian life to his high school students.

He has always had a reading list to

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

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go through. He just finished “Winter Palace” by T. Davis Bunn, which delivers good insights into the Russian Revolution and the new Russia, he noted.

These are the six books Matheis is reading right now: “The Jesus I Never Knew” and “Rumors of Another World,”

by Philip Yancey; “Conversion: The Spiritual Journey of a 20th Century Pilgrim,” Malcolm Muggeridge; “In the Land of Blue Burqas,” Kate McCord; “Against the Night: Living in the New Dark Ages,” Charles Colson; and “Bonhoeffer,” by Eric Metaxas.

For his writing today, Jack composes a chapter and then submits it to daughter Nancy for editing. “I’m not the expert. I’m just the storyteller.”

His first book, “The Princess and the Prince,” is about “a young man who wants to find out what the Lord wants for his life,” Matheis summarized.

The second, titled “The Searchers,” is about five chapters done. It tells of a man and a woman who met briefly during wartime, then are parted by diverse circumstances but continue to search diligently to refind each other.

Matheis has discovered the challenge — “walking on ice, you might say” — of fictionalizing people and situations that could be deciphered by those who know some of the real-life connections, he said.

His painting interest and skill Matheis attributes especially to his maternal grandfather, who was a professional artist and illustrated magazines in the Netherlands.

He himself has painted a pre-Revolutionary barn in Pennsylvania, a Whatcom Falls Park trail, an Olympic Peninsula beach, and a rocky outcropping south of Larrabee State Park.

Although he watches little TV, Matheis will profess a personal interest in at least one famous person. As a boy he saw Bobby Feller, the Hall of Fame pitcher of three no-hitters, play for the Cleveland Indians. And he was able to go with a grandson to the Feller birthplace museum in Iowa.

Jack Matheis continues to be an active painter, and this is his studio for his current project. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

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VETERANS DAY TAB

Election could hand McCain Armed Services gavel Levin is leaving; McCain has been in post before WASHINGTON — It may not be on the ballot, but this midterm election will decide who leads one of Congress’s most important military committees.

If the polling holds, the Senate will be welcoming John McCain as the new Armed Services chairman come January, along with the experience and political fireworks he is likely to bring to the dais.

The powerful committee births U.S. military laws and defense budgets on Capitol Hill and is set for new leadership with the retirement of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

The party that takes control of the chamber in the midterm election will also hand the Armed Services gavel to their most senior member on the committee, either McCain or Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed.

“The most likely outcome is a small Republican majority” in the Senate following the election, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which tracks elections for the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

McCain, who has chaired the com-

mittee in the past, may be the most recognizable face on Capitol Hill following a run for the presidency in 2008.

On the Hill, McCain is known for digging into the details of military policy and being a fierce opponent of waste, which could take center stage for Armed Services if he runs the agenda. He has worked to reform military acquisition programs while lobbing criticisms of programs like the F-35 fighter jet and the Navy’s littoral combat ships.

McCain was among a group of senators who are fighting this year to save the A-10 Thunderbolt, popularly known as the Warthog, which is popular among infantry troops but is on the Air Force chopping block as the service scrapes to save money.

“He is one of those guys who digs down deep into the weeds on policy,” said Joshua Huder, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute.

His positions, along with those of his colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are often among the Senate’s most hawkish. He was among the first to call for airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, and he has been pushing the Obama administration to step up operations in Syria to unseat President Bashar al-Assad as

part of the offensive.

McCain has been willing to reach across the aisle, however, which is a rare quality on the Hill these days. He partnered with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to pass a $16.3 billion overhaul of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs.

Huder said McCain shares a lot of political views with outgoing armed services chairman Levin, who built a reputation as a thoughtful foreign policy thinker running a bipartisan committee. In a recent speaking engagement, Levin said he considered himself an “owl” on defense issues, as opposed to a hawk or a dove.

“Thank You” To all who have so bravely served and are serving our country.

But their political styles differ dramatically.

While Levin is often measured in his public responses, the Arizona senator may be best known for his barbed political attacks and short temper with rivals. In October for example, he called the Pentagon’s top spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, an “idiot” for his handling of Iraq war questions.

“Here’s the bottom line on McCain: He’s unpredictable,” said Gordon Adams, a professor of foreign policy at American University in Washington, D.C.

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VETERANS DAY TAB

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | Ferndale Record

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