Oregon Veterans News Magazine Issue 4 by Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs

OREGON VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2018 | oregondva.com

CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WWI OREGONS FIRST-EVER TRIBAL VETERAN SERVICE OFFICE COMING SOON

MEET THE HELLO GIRLS OF WWII

‘I Watched the Flag Go Up’

ROBIN BARRETT SPENT 20TH BIRTHDAY STORMING THE BLACK SANDS OF IWO JIMA

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VETERAN BENEFIT

DIRECTOR Kelly Fitzpatrick

Willing and Able: Celebrating Our Oregon Veterans

t is an exciting time for veteran services in Oregon. As the new director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, I am fortunate to have joined a community whose members are as committed as I am to obtaining the very best outcomes for our veterans. Part of this work is telling the amazing stories of our Oregon veterans. Through stories we share our life lessons and perspective. They give context for where we’ve been and how we live today. Though I am new to ODVA, I am a “soldier for life.” I often say that the military is in my DNA. I’m retired Army and was raised in a military family. My father earned a Purple Heart as a Marine during the Korean War; he later enlisted in the Air Force and spent much of his career on the security team for Air Force One under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. My mother was a “Wonder Woman” military spouse who frequently functioned as a sole parent to three young kids when my father was on military travel. It was during my years at the Pentagon that I was first introduced to the impact of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on military service members and their family members. Each month a number of disabled veterans and their family members were invited to the Pentagon to be honored. I also saw military personnel who were willing and able to remain on active duty despite having been severely injured by IEDs and other impacts of war. That education continued during my most recent position, as the veterans and military caseworker for Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office. My two and a half years there opened a window to me

on the world of veterans’ issues here in Oregon. It gave me perspectives I would not have had otherwise and a deep respect for the entire community of veterans who are tasked with navigating the complicated, often challenging and ever-changing waters of veteran services. It also taught me the importance of partnership. No one agency, not the VA or ODVA, or anyone else, is able to fully meet the many, varied needs that exist in our veteran population — not on our own. It takes the many, working together as one, to improve outcomes for our veterans. In this issue of Oregon Veterans News Magazine, you will hear the story of Robin Barrett, a WWII veteran who spent his 20th birthday storming the black sands of Iwo Jima and whose life reads like a scene straight out of the movie Forrest Gump, whose character was involved in some of our country’s most notable events. As veterans, we all have a story. My hope is you will read this issue and recognize you are part of the world’s most elite cohort — a proud United States veteran — whose experiences and life are to be honored and celebrated. And if ever a veteran is in need, ODVA and the amazing statewide community partners are here to assist. They have demonstrated, time and time again, their willingness to sacrifice whatever it takes to ensure every single veteran receives the very best in care, benefits and opportunity our state can provide. It is my privilege and honor to work with them every day.

As veterans, we all have a story.

Published November 2018

OREGON VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

Oregon Veterans News Magazine is a free publication by the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Each issue contains current information impacting veterans in Oregon including federal VA topics and state, regional and local happenings.

ODVA reaches more than 25,000 veterans and their families through this print and electronic publication. We welcome story ideas and tips about veteran concerns, issues and programs that are important, informative and/or a great tidbit of news that other veterans would enjoy reading about. To inquire or submit a piece for consideration, please use the contact information below. Submissions for the next issue must be received by May 3, 2019.

26 Contents IN THE COMMUNITY

Oregon Veterans News Magazine 700 Summer St. NE, Salem, OR, 97301 503-373-2389 | www.oregon.gov/odva odvainformation@odva.state.or.us Executive Editor: Tyler Francke Production Editor: Kathie Dalton Copy Editor: Sarah Dressler

ON THE COVER

Marine Veteran Robin Barrett served his country during World War II. He is now an honored resident of the Veterans’ Home in Lebanon. Photo by Kathie Dalton.

Group builds free fishing boat for veterans on East Lake

Charity pairs rescue dogs with traumatized soldiers, finding healing for both

Veteran-owned winery gives back to their community

FEATURES 12

The incredible story of Marine Veteran Robin Barrett, who survived five beach stormings during World War II, including Iwo Jima.

There was “a lot of excitement” at the Oregon Lottery when Measure 96 passed by a huge margin in November 2016. Find out why.

12 22

THE BATTLE CONTINUES

GUEST CONTRIBUTION 16

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, a look back at Oregon stories from WWI.

AS YOU WERE 20

A Deeper Look: New veteran grant programs are making an impact across the state

Federal and state veteran benefit updates for 2018

R&R

Meet the “Hello Girls,” the allfemale U.S. Army Telephone Corps during World War I.

BRIEFINGS

Veteran news headlines from across the state and nation

Portland Navy veteran finds healing from war demons on the river, dog at his side and fishing rod in hand

BENEFITS CORNER

Link Up Vets preaches the values of ‘recreational therapy’ for veterans and their families Volunteer, See, Connect, Relax: A brief sampling of things to do for Oregon veterans and their families

BOOTS ON THE GROUND 30

Oregon makes headway in negotiating cooperative agreement for state’s first-ever tribal veteran service office

Dreams Come

band of brothers builds fishing boat that will be free for other veterans to use on east lake

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

21-foot, aluminum fishing boat docked at the East Lake Resort is ready for any veteran to take out on the water. The Bend chapter of the veterans group Oregon Band of Brothers raised about $15,000 in material and cash donations over the past few months to build the boat from scratch. The boat, which can seat nine people and has room for one wheelchair, is free for veterans. It also will be available for first responders to use personally or in an emergency. “All you have to do is call up the resort,” said Mike Cleavenger, a member of the Bend chapter of Oregon Band of Brothers and chairman of the boat project. The inaugural fishing trips happened over

Memorial Day weekend. Cleavenger said it was fitting, although no one planned to kick off the boat trips on the holiday weekend, when veterans who died while serving in the armed forces are remembered. It started over the weekend because that is when the resort opens for the season, he said. “It was a nice coincidence,” Cleavenger said. “We just plan to let people go fishing.” The local Band of Brothers chapter sees the boat as a nice gesture for fellow veterans, but also an accessible way for elderly veterans to enjoy the outdoors. One local veteran will have an especially meaningful boat trip this summer because he has a terminal illness, Cleavenger said.

By Kyle Spurr, Bend Bulletin Reprinted with permission.

True

IN THE Community

There’s a feeling there. Unless you are a veteran, it would be hard to explain. Richard Harley, Oregon Band of Brothers

Right: Bruce Bronson, co-owner of the East Lake Resort and an Air Force veteran, pilots the fishing boat built by the Bend chapter of the Oregon Band of Brothers. (Bend Bulletin photo by Kyle Spurr) Above: Local veterans take a fishing boat out for a test run on East Lake this summer. Use of the boat at the resort is free for veterans. (Bend Bulletin photo by Kyle Spurr)

“This veteran has been fishing on this lake for 50 years,” he said. “It’s on his bucket list. He wants to go fishing one more time.” For other veterans, the boat will offer memorable outings with family and friends. Richard Harley, an Oregon Band of Brothers member in Bend and Navy veteran who served from 1951 to 1955, said he plans to invite his grandson, who runs a fly fishing club. Harley said the general public can rent the boat at the resort and a portion of the rental fees will go toward the Bend veterans group. For each trip, everything is supplied, including life jackets and fishing poles, he added. Being out on the lake with fellow veterans is a similar feeling to the veteran group’s

casual meetings throughout the year, Harley said. “There’s a feeling there,” Harley said. “Unless you are a veteran, it would be hard to explain.” Ray Hartzell, secretary for the Bend chapter and an Air Force veteran who served from 1965 to 1969, is looking forward to taking his daughter on the boat when she visits from Virginia this summer. Hartzell is putting in his request now since spots on the boat are going to fill up fast, he said. “There are only so many days in the summer to fish,” he said. Bend chapter members of Oregon Band of Brothers put more than 600 hours into the boat effort, either by working on it themselves

or by soliciting funds and services. The boat was built entirely with donated material. For example, the decking inside was the former altar from Holy Communion Church in Bend, said Cleavenger, who belongs to the church. It also was built specifically for a smaller lake, such as East Lake, with a speed limit of 10 mph. The boat comfortably cruises along the water at 8 to 9 mph without rocking, and is dog- and child-friendly, Cleavenger said. “This is going to be a fly fisher’s dream,” he said. The boat will stay at East Lake Resort and will be tied this summer to a wheelchairaccessible dock. “It’s going to be right here,” Cleavenger said. “Just being enjoyed.” OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

Together They Stand K9s For Warriors, a Florida-based charity, has been pairing rescue dogs with traumatized soldiers from across the country since 2011. To date, the program has rescued over 850 dogs and 440 veterans, with an astounding 99 percent success rate.

ames Rutland is a 12-year Army veteran who served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2004, followed by two more tours in South Korea. He left the military in 2014, suffering from multiple medical conditions related to his service, including mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), sleep apnea, and hearing loss, to name a few. Most importantly, he suffered from depression and often thought about suicide. Thinking he could do it alone, Rutland tried healing from the trauma on his own. That wasn’t working. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got,” says Rutland. In 2016, Rutland finally rounded the bend of recovery when he was paired with his service dog, Dunkin. “I started focusing on “we” instead of “me,” says Rutland. He has a semi-colon tattoo on his right wrist, a known symbol of taking a pause when thinking about suicide. Unlike a “period” which ends a sentence, the semicolon creates a pause, for the reader, then continues the story. Rutland wears it proudly. “It’s a great conversation starter,” Rutland says. He goes on to explain that breathing, family, friends, and the program that gave him Dunkin are what keeps him going.

The Program K9s For Warriors is a BBB accredited charity organization located in Ponte Vedra, Florida, that has been pairing rescue dogs with traumatized soldiers since 2011. The dogs are trained to be service dogs, specifically performing tasks to quiet the symptoms of war trauma disabilities in soldiers. “The skillsets our dogs learn help these 8

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

warriors with anxiety, isolation, depression, and nightmares,” says Shari Duval, the founder of K9s For Warriors. “So, the warriors can function again in public.” Specifically, the dogs are trained to deal with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or military sexual trauma (MST), as a result of military service on or after 9/11. Duval started the program after watching her son Brett Simon suffer from PTSD after he returned from Iraq. Simon did two tours, developing PTSD during the first one. Watching her son suffer from the debilitating condition motivated Duval to research alternative treatments to the standard talk therapy and medication, neither of which worked for her son. “On average, soldiers take 14 meds a day to treat PTSD, TBI, or MST,” says Duval. If treatment is not working, she says veterans are prescribed more and more drugs. “I even knew one soldier who was taking 44 meds per day.” After two years of researching alternative PTSD treatments, Duval came upon a program that paired service dogs to alleviate their PTSD symptoms in veterans. According to Simon, “Mom was the one that suggested I use a service dog to deal with my PTSD when nothing else worked.” Duval saw her son’s symptoms begin to improve. She then wanted to help other veterans do the same. Thus, the K9s For Warriors program was born. With her son’s background in training dogs, including 13 years as a canine police officer, Duval convinced Simon to start the nonprofit together. To date, the program has rescued more than 850 dogs and 440 military service members, with an astounding 99% program

success rate.

Study Affirms Results K9s For Warriors recently partnered with Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine on a pilot study testing the effectiveness of service dogs as a complementary treatment for military members and veterans who suffer from PTSD. Dr. Maggie O’Haire, assistant professor of human-animal interaction, along with Kerri E. Rodriguez, research assistant, conducted the study and published the findings earlier this year. The study had a total of 141 participants from the K9s For Warriors’ program or individuals on the program’s waiting list. Half of the program’s participants had service dogs; the other half did not. The study found that PTSD symptoms were significantly lower in veterans with service dogs, demonstrating that service dogs are associated with lower PTSD symptoms among war veterans. “The initial findings showed lower depression, lower PTSD symptoms, lower levels of anxiety, and lower absenteeism from work due to health issues,” says Dr. O’Haire. Each morning, she measured levels of cortisol — a stress hormone, in each participant; an increase of the hormone in the morning is indicative of a healthy level or curve. We tend to see a rise in cortisol immediately after waking up. “We call it the morning rise,” says Dr. O’Haire. Dr. Anantha Shekhar, Director of Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and professor at Indiana University School of Medicine was the lead researcher on the grant at the university. “Service dogs are a great

By Scott Smith, ConsumersAdvocate.org Reprinted with permission.

in the community

Army veteran James Rutland, with his service dog, Dunkin.

resource for veterans to modulate their own reactions and to cope better with symptoms of PTSD,” says Dr. Shekhar. Dr. Timothy Hsiao, a Yale graduate, as well as the Program Director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) awarded the NCATS award to Dr. O’Haire as a KL2 Scholar under the CTSA Career Development Award. “This is an innovative approach to a serious medical issue,” said Dr. Hsiao. “This study highlights the unique skills that the CTSA Program Hubs and their KL2 Scholars bring to address difficult conditions like PTSD.” Other key findings included a significant reduction in suicidal thoughts, required medication (not suggested by K9s For Warriors), night terrors, and an increase of three to four more hours of sleep per night. That is, in part, due to the fact that the

service dogs are trained to wake up the warriors when experiencing night terrors. Purdue University is currently studying this behavior and although it hasn’t been substantiated scientifically, it has been reported by K9s For Warriors anecdotally. Dr. O’Haire has been granted additional funding from NIH to perform a large-scale study on the efficacy of service dogs as a complementary treatment of PTSD symptoms in military members and veterans. The study is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

Standing Together There are good things in K9s For Warriors’ future. As previously stated, Dr. O’Haire is partnering again with K9s For Warriors on a more extensive study funded by NIH. The findings will be published in 2019. The VA is also running a Congressionally-

mandated PTSD service dog study that will be completed in 2019. A total of 180 veterans have received either a service dog or an emotional support dog as part of the study. According to a VA spokesperson, after peer reviews, the VA will submit the study and results to the National Academy of Sciences for review, as required by the authorizing legislation (Section 1077 of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act). On the legislative side, Simon is working to secure public access identification from Service Dog Credentials, so K9s For Warriors’ service dogs will be recognized by airlines, hotels, and restaurants, bypassing the need for the warriors to provide paperwork or visit the disability office. The future for K9s For Warriors looks promising as Duval and Simon continue to fight to save lives, both of soldiers and their canine warriors. Because together, they stand. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

Undaunted Dauntless Wine Co., a Growing Company owned by three local veterans, routinely gives back to other veterans in the community Above: Dauntless co-founder Ben Martin served in the Marine Corps for five years before starting a wine company with two fellow veterans. 10

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

hen Ben Martin joined the U.S. Marine Corps just a week before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, he had no idea what to expect. He didn’t know he would be part of the invasion on Iraq in 2003, and he didn’t know he would be serving alongside two men who would later become his good friends and business partners. After getting out of the Marine Corps in 2006, Martin, who grew up in Forest Grove and graduated from Forest Grove High School, tried out several career paths before deciding to go back to school. After arguing the same point as another student in his philosophy class at Portland Community College, the two struck up a conversation. His classmate Paul Warmbier and Martin had both served in the Marine Corps at the same time, both stationed in Twentynine Palms, Calif., just east of Los Angeles, but they hadn’t met before. Warmbier introduced Martin to a friend of his, Ryan Mills, who was also stationed in Twentynine Palms at the same time. The three became good friends, and one day in 2014, after drinking a few glasses of wine, Mills and Warmbier listened to Martin’s business pitch. They decided right there and then they would open up a veteran-owned winery, Dauntless Wine Co. in Gaston. Four years later, while Dauntless is still a work in progress, the company is quickly earning recognition from all over the country. The winery was one of this year’s FedEx small business grant recipients. The company was awarded $7,500 in grant money as well as $1,000 in FedEx print and office services.

Story by Olivia Singer. Photos by Christopher Oertell. Forest Grove News-Times. Reprinted with permission.

IN THE Community

Ben Martin, Dauntless Wine Co.

Our mission besides helping veterans is to make great wine and tell a story with it at the same time.

Each of Dauntless Wine Co.’s labels contain a symbolic war image and writing on the back telling the story of the art. The images include the Battle of Trenton, Rosie the Riveter, a trebuchet, a howitzer and “no man’s land.”

Dauntless was chosen as a finalist for the grant not only for its viable business plan, but also for using their business to impact their community in a positive manner, said Andrew Fromm, a media consultant with FedEx. “While these entrepreneurs are a driving force in the success of our economy, they’re also giving back to their local communities and we’re proud to fuel their contributions,” said Tracy Brightman, senior vice president of Human Resources and Communications for FedEx. After finalists were selected, it was then contingent on which 10 companies got the greatest number of votes online, and in the end, Dauntless was one of them. Although Dauntless is still a small business, the three veteran owners made sure giving back to other veterans would always be part of the plan. Dauntless donates 100 percent of its year-end profits to veteran charity groups. “We have been giving back to the Farmer Veteran Coalition because they helped us in our first year,” Martin said. “We also donate wine to veteran charity auctions. By sending our wine to these galas, it can then raise more money than we could afford to send.”

The Dauntless owners also work with Folds of Honor, Pets for Vets, Bunker Labs and hope to soon work with the local Returning Veterans Project, Martin said. While Dauntless doesn’t yet have its own winery space or vineyard, the owners are working actively to pursue this goal. They currently rent space and equipment from Adea Wine Co. in Gaston to make their wine, while they get their feet underneath them. When Dauntless is using the tasting room at Adea, there are military hats hung on the walls and on the bar, as well as a large American flag. Once the wine company has its own space, it will include much more symbolic military decor, Martin said, to share stories of history with guests. “Our mission besides helping veterans is to make great wine and tell a story with it at the same time,” Martin said. “There are a lot of interesting things that come out of the military that we take for granted.” Each of Dauntless’ wines has a label with symbolic war art and includes a message on the back sharing the history of the image. The images include the Battle of Trenton, a trebuchet, a howitzer, Rosie the Riveter and no man’s land, as a commemoration of opening

their business on the centennial of World War I. When Martin found out Dauntless was a winner of the FedEx grant from 7,800 entries, he was shocked. He applied on a whim, he said, after a friend told him about it. “I mean, I wanted to be optimistic the whole time, but still when you get told that, it’s still a great feeling,” he said. “The money is great, but all of the extended relationships that are forming because of that are probably more valuable than the money itself.” Since winning the money, Martin said he has been contacted by several people wanting to help the business grow further, including a restaurant in Chicago that wants to sell bottles of Dauntless’ wine on their shelves. “A lot of people have just been supportive across the board,” Martin said. “It’s way more than we anticipated happening.” While Martin and his two partners had no idea what they were getting themselves into initially, they knew one thing for sure: They were fearless and determined, or in a word, dauntless. “I didn’t plan to be at this point,” Martin said. “We have a very supportive group behind us. It’s been quite an incredible process.” OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

This lesser-known photo of the flag raising at Iwo Jima actually depicts the first event. The more recognizable flag raising, which won AP photographer Joe Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize, was staged several hours later.

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

By Mark Baker, The Register-Guard. Reprinted with permission. With Kathie Dalton, Oregon Veteran News Magazine

featureD veteraN

‘I Watched the Flag Go Up’ Marine veteran Robin Barrett survived the sands of Iwo Jima and helped his country secure victory in World War II. ‘The Almighty was watching out for me,’ he says, ‘because I was too dumb to watch out for myself.’

obin Barrett jumped out of the plane on the first flight he ever took. He was 17, on his indoctrination flight as a freshly enlisted Marine and wasn’t really supposed to jump. “It was a test to see if we would jump,” Barrett explained. “Two big Marines were waiting to catch us before we went out of the plane. But we hit an air pocket and out I went.” Barrett made his first landing and walked away, as if he had done it a hundred times before. Born in Pasadena, Calif., Barrett was no stranger to hard work. At the age of eight he was working at his father’s avocado farm. He soon decided “stoop labor” wasn’t for him and got a job as a “printer’s devil” for 10 cents per hours at a local print shop. He did whatever was needed and learned the business from the ground up. He considered himself lucky to have a job during the Depression. On a Sunday morning in 1941, Robin Barrett was taking a bath and heard the news that would change his life forever. Pearl Harbor had been bombed. One year later, having received permission from his mother because he was only 17, Barrett dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Marines. He wanted to fly, but at his age and without a diploma, his second — and only — choice was parachutist. After boot camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Barrett was sent with the Fighting Fifth to conduct cleanup at Guadalcanal. His first impression of the island was that it was once a lush jungle that had been all shot up and was no longer lush. But it was still a jungle. The next stop was Kolombangara Island and the first firefight for the division. “You couldn’t see through the jungle. We learned to duck and run fast,” he said. “I am lucky to still be alive.”

The next hop through the Solomon Islands was Vella Lavella, where they were met by the Seabees and spent 14 days mopping up. It was a quick hitting campaign, from one Mahogany tree (30-40 foot in diameter) to the next. They were there for about two months. In October of 1943, “Operation Bliss” was designed as a decoy to the upcoming raid on Bougainville. The strategy was to land at Choiseul and force the attention of the Japanese on that island. Because of the dense jungle, the Marines — 658 of them — were unable to parachute in and instead made an amphibious landing. Tokyo Rose announced that 20,000 Marines had landed on the island. “It was just our battalion heading there and we landed on the beach about 2 a.m.,” remembers Barrett. “We were met by an Australian Navy lieutenant who was a missionary and had trained about 90 natives. They were deadly with a rifle — never missed. They were our sole salvation. “We found the maps for the minefields at Bougainville and got on the radio to pass on the information. They didn’t lose one craft because we knew where all the mines were. We laid our charges and set the place off. We did away with everything so they couldn’t come back to it.” But, the Japanese had tracked their radio transmission and were hot on their trail as they left the island, wading out to the awaiting PT boats, one of which was PT-59, captained by then-Lt. Robert F. Kennedy. The First Marine Parachute Regiment was shipped back to the United States on January 2, 1944, and disbanded. Barret was then assigned to the newly formed Fifth Marine Division. MacArthur and his boys jumped in New Guinea, and it was decided that any future jumps were to be done by the Army. The parachute troops were sent back to Camp Pendleton in San Diego. “That’s where we put the whole show together. I was in an OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

Featured Veteran

81-millimeter mortar outfit. Eight of us were parachute troops.” From Camp Pendleton they went to Hilo, Hawaii, for further training at Parker Ranch, where the landscape was volcanic and had lush jungles, similar to where they were headed. “We loaded up at Hilo one more time, ran circles in the Pacific Ocean for 55 straight days. On day 40-something, we pulled into Guam. We regrouped with a whole bunch of other people and left for Iwo Jima,” Barrett says. “We knew whatever it was we were going to do, the 19th of February was when we were going to do it.” When dawn broke that morning, there were 700 craft in the water. “You could have stepped from one to another and never gotten wet,” he recalls. “I’ve never seen that many.” Iwo Jima, mostly flat and featureless except for Mount Suribachi, translates to “Sulphur Island” in English. The odor of sulphur triggers unpleasant memories to this day, Barrett says. “There was no beach there, it was all black, volcanic sand,” Barrett says. “And it was very scary. That island was as bare as a church collection plate on a Saturday night. No place to go, no place to hide. “It wasn’t easy building a foxhole, because as soon as you dug it up, it caved in on you.” The boats hit the beach, the ramps dropped down and immediately, Barrett was in the thick of it. “All I could see was smoke and black volcanic sand. It was like entering The Fury of Pure Hell, nowhere to hide,” Barrett later recalled. “Then, I had a little talk with the man upstairs and said, ‘If you get me out of this damn foolishness, I’ll be there when you call one day.’” Not only would Barrett survive the ordeal, he would also experience history. “I watched the flag go up on the mountain,” Barrett remembers. “I lay in a shell crater and watched the flag go up. It was my 20th birthday. It was a party to remember.” The “flag” was the U.S. flag some of Barrett’s fellow Marines placed atop the island’s highest point, 554-foot Mount Suribachi, four days later. Barrett and the others were there not for just one flag raising, but two. Joe Rosenthal’s image of five Marines and one Navy combat corpsman that earned the photographer a Pulitzer Prize, was actually the second flag raising. James Forrestal, then secretary of the Navy, had landed on the beach that morning and wanted the initial flag placed atop Mount 14

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

Continued from previous page

A photo of Marine veteran Robin Barrett’s mortar platoon, taken on Iwo Jima. Barrett is in the back row, fourth from the left.

Suribachi as a souvenir. A second, larger U.S. flag replaced it later that day, and Rosenthal captured the moment. But the flag raising that Barrett remembers best is the first one, which he and everyone else saw that morning, the one that had their fellow Marines down below cheering and ships honking. “I just happened to be at the right place at the right time,” Barrett says. Strategically located less than 700 miles from Tokyo, Iwo Jima would be the site of one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the war in the Pacific. The 5th Division would fight on Iwo Jima from 19 February until 26 March where they would sustain 2,482 killed in action, 19 missing in action, and 6,218 wounded in action. This was the highest casualty rate among the three Marine divisions involved in the invasion. “Many of my friends didn’t come home. 68 mortar platoon guys landed, 28 days later, three of us were uninjured and alive,” he says. “You have to have a faith. It was hot. Sulphur beds stunk. You couldn’t sleep because you had to keep moving.” Then there was the smell of hundreds of dead Japanese troops, “just stacked on the ground, just like cord wood,” he remembers. “Probably nothing worse than the smell of dead bodies.” The 5th Division began loading onto ships on 26 March, finally leaving Iwo Jima on 27

March 1945 sailing for Hawaii. When the war was over, and he had been part of the Allied occupation of Japan, stationed near Nagasaki after the dropping of two atomic bombs forced the Japanese surrender, Barrett went back to his life in southern California. Barrett returned to California where he and his wife, Marvel, raised four children, and he resumed his work as a printer. Barrett went on to work with the military for another 20 years through the DAV and VFW before deciding being a father figure should be his primary role. He worked as a scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts and coached Little League baseball for years. Barrett eventually fulfilled his promise to the Almighty, becoming an Episcopal minister at St. Barnabas Church in Klamath Falls. He recently lost his wife of 66 years. Nowadays, Barrett can often be found where he now resides at the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon with a ready smile, a wink, and his ever-present orange Gatorade. He has undoubtedly had a very full life, but there is still one more thing on his list — to parachute with his two youngest children. “Five beachheads and never got a scratch,” Barrett recalls of his time in World War II. “The Almightly was watching out for me, because I was too dumb to watch out for myself. I’ve had a wonderful life. An absolutely wonderful life.”

By Tyler Francke, Oregon Veterans News Magazine

featureD Service provider

Working for Veterans Veteran says ‘there was a lot of excitement’ at oregon lottery when measure 96 passed

n a political era defined by polarization and divisiveness, Oregon voters went to the polls in November 2016 and spoke with an overwhelmingly clear and unified voice on at least one issue: We support our veterans. Measure 96, a proposal to devote 1.5 percent of Lottery revenues to fund veteran services, was passed by a historic margin, with 84 percent in favor. As with any beneficiary of lottery funds, the allocation of the this new funding is determined through the legislative budget process each biennium. What is certain is that the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has a new active and eager partner in serving the state’s some 300,000 veterans and their families. “There is definitely an atmosphere at the Lottery, of people enjoying the work that they do, and enjoying giving back to their community,” said Jason Virnig, area field service supervisor for gaming operations at the Oregon Lottery. Virnig is a Marine veteran, and he says there are many other veterans who work at Lottery, several of whom he reports to. “You can definitely tell that they’re veterans,” he said. “Just in terms of their attitude, and the way they approach things is pretty systematic. “They’re definitely solution-oriented,” he added with a laugh. Virnig joined the Marine Corps in 1999, pretty much right out of high school. He went in to avionics and was stationed on the West Coast, where he worked as an electronic countermasures technician on F-18s. Like most every service member at the time, Virnig vividly remembers the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. “I never watched the news in the morning. But that morning, for whatever reason, I got up and I turned the TV on,” he recalled. “I saw the plane hit, and I was just, like, ‘OK. I’ve got to go.” He reported to base, just as a lock-down was going into effect. He remembers a day filled with chaotic activity. “Nobody really knew what was going on. I think a lot of us were just thinking, ‘We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going somewhere.’”

Marine veteran Jason Virnig, a field service supervisor for Oregon Lottery, says there was ‘a lot of excitement’ among his coworkers when Measure 96 passed. ‘We love our jobs, we love being able to help people in the communities where we live,’ he says. ‘But to be able to now do that for veterans, as well? That’s awesome.’

Virnig served for five years in countermasures, and as a range coach and block official, before leaving the military in 2004. He applied to the Oregon Lottery as part of a training exercise through the state employment department when he transitioned. “That was one thing they had you do: just find a job — any job — and apply for it,” he recalled. “So I found a job that said ‘electrical technician,’ and I said, ‘I’ll try that one.’” Turned out, it was the Oregon Lottery, and they hired him. He’s been there ever since. When Measure 96 was voted in, it was a “big deal” at the Lottery, Virnig said, especially for him and his fellow veterans. “I think there was a lot of excitement about getting that measure passed,” he said. Virnig, who has been an officer at the American Legion Capital Post 9 for over a decade, said the measure’s passage was particularly meaningful for him because he has seen the need that’s out there.

“At Legion, we get a lot of phone calls for temporary support. You know, ‘Something’s happened, and I’m not able to pay my rent.’ Or, ‘I’m a veteran, and I’m living in a tent with my two kids. Is there any way we could get some groceries?’ You get a lot of that.” The Legislature has directed the funds for this biennium to a variety of programs and community and partner grants that directly impact access to veteran services, education, medical transportation, and emergency needs. But, for veterans who work at the Lottery, like Virnig, the specifics don’t matter as much as the fact that they are now able to make a difference in veterans’ lives. “Most people here, we love our jobs, we love being able to help people in the communities where we live. But to be able to now do that for veterans, as well? That’s awesome.” OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

100 Years of Oregon Veterans

To explore the full exhibit by the Secretary of Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office, Oregon At War! World War I and the Oregon Experience, visit online at sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww1.

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Selections from ‘Oregon At War!’ a Historical Exhibit of the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office

Guest contribution

Oregon at War In 1914, a complex web of secret alliances, long-simmering grudges, widespread unrest and other unique circumstances finally collapsed in on itself, and the world descended into total war. Called the “war to end all wars,” World War I would feature fearsome new weapons and technology, ultimately claiming the lives of over 10 million people — about one-third of them civilians. Like all states and nations, Oregon would have a role to play. There are many stories from our state of courage and devotion that could be told. What follows are only a few.

A fallen hero

U.S. Army soldiers firing a 37 mm gun during the MeuseArgonne offensive in World War I.

Frank Cassius Burns was a teenager when he moved from Ohio to the rolling hills of north-central Oregon with his family. But he quickly made friends and became part of the close-knit community of Condon in Gilliam County. After attending college at Mt. Angel, Burns returned to Condon to work as a clerk, and later treasurer, for a small local company. Soon after the American declaration of war, Burns enlisted in the cavalry but was discharged because he was underweight. He returned to Condon resolved to gain the needed weight but once again was rejected. Undaunted, he kept trying and eventually was accepted, this time into the draft. Burns volunteered for active service with the infantry and within six weeks was under fire in France. Taking advantage of his light weight, Burns served as a runner or message courier in an era when more technologically advanced battlefield communications were unreliable. He also volunteered to help with wounded soldiers. Burns’ last fight came on Aug. 29, when his battalion was engaged in support of a battle at Chateau Thierry. The front line troops were retreating through his battalion as the Germans were counter attacking. The commanding officer sent Burns and another soldier to capture a German machine gun that five men had been operating OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

100 Years of Oregon Veterans from behind a railroad fill. But shells were falling dangerously close. One struck a direct hit on the machine gun, killing three men and wounding Burns who was just 25 feet away. Although he remained conscious, the highly explosive shell shattered his hips. Aware of his mortal wounds, Burns confided to his friends: “I am not going to live.” After they tried to encourage him, he replied, “I know what I am talking about.” Burns died at a nearby dressing station early the next morning. In recognition of his bravery, Burns received the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously. He was eulogized by the Condon Globe newspaper as “Gilliam’s first sacrifice in war for liberty and freedom of the entire world.” The newspaper noted that his parents could at least have the consolation of knowing he was killed and not “taken to languish in a German prison camp.” It added the question: “Killed in action...what more glorious epitaph can any man have?”

Danger at sea In 1916 Ebert Philpott, a 21 year old from Bullards, just north of Bandon, traveled to the Portland recruiting station to enlist as an apprentice seaman in the Navy. Philpott trained for several months at the Naval Training Station on Goat Island in the San Francisco Bay. After a brief stint aboard the USS Alabama, he saw duty as a fireman second class on the minelayer USS Canonicus. The naval mine became a primary Allied weapon against the German submarines during World War I. The cylindrical mines measured approximately 36 inches wide and were packed with 300 pounds of explosives. Over a five month period in 1918, American and British minelayers planted over 70,000 mines in the North Sea in a line extending 250 miles from Scotland to Norway. While not completed before the end of the war, the North Sea mine barrage lowered the effectiveness of the German submarines. German submarines, or U-boats (short for undersea boat in German), caused great damage to merchant shipping during World War I. Before the start of war, experts thought submarines were poor weapons for naval blockades of enemy countries. Blockades often involved taking aboard the crew of a captured ship as prisoners. Also, sailors from the attacking ship often would man the enemy ship after it was captured. But submarines were incredibly cramped, having barely enough space to house a crew for its own operation. Thus, with no 18

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room for prisoners or additional crew to man captured vessels, they were deemed ineffective for blockades. The Canonicus, with Philpott aboard, laid 11,000 mines in the North Sea area during the effort. With the end of the war, the ship saw duty transporting soldiers back to the U.S. Hoping to return home as soon as possible, Philpott put in an application to be dismissed from the Navy in late 1918. But the Navy had other plans for him. The work of minesweepers continued long after the end of the war. They were needed to help clear mines from the harbors and coastal waters of Europe so that the nations of the continent could begin to rebuild their economies. Philpott would serve for two more years before his discharge in December 1920.

Pilot in the making The same day war was declared on April 6, 1917, Hugh Broomfield took the physical examination to enlist in the Army Reserve Corps. He entered the first officers’ training camp at the Presidio in San Francisco, California in May. After three months, he was asked to transfer to the aviation section of the Signal Reserve Corps. By the summer of 1918, Broomfield joined the 90th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Force, just before the St. Mihiel offensive in September. He controlled the field operations for the squadron. On the field from dawn until dark, he helped the squadron fly an unusually high number of missions. On Oct. 21, the corps commander sent a message to the squadron during an offensive at Verdun, one of the bloodiest battlefields of the war. He urgently needed a plane to penetrate the German lines and bring back information about the enemy’s ability to launch a counterattack. Lt. Broomfield and his observer immediately volunteered for the mission and, eager to go, left the squadron’s aerodrome at 10 a.m. They flew into a very dangerous sky. The low-lying clouds gave the advantage of surprise attack to the enemy planes and ground machine guns since Broomfield was forced to fly at very low altitude. Dodging enemy fire, the two lieutenants made it over the German lines and began observations. Meanwhile, back at squadron headquarters, flight commander Norris Pierson waited for the mission to return. They should have been back by noon. Pierson waited as the afternoon began. He called all of the balloon and ground units he could reach

by telephone. They reported an American plane had been seen falling at 11:15 a.m. behind the German lines. About two weeks later, the Allied offensive moved into the territory that had been held by the Germans. Pierson soon heard by telephone about a wrecked plane in the area Broomfield’s had been thought to fall. The next day, they found the plane and identified the bodies. Early the next year, the U.S. government posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Broomfield in recognition of his “extraordinary heroism in action on the day he met his death.”

Women in service Oregon women served as nurses for the Army and Navy, and for support organizations such as the Red Cross. Some worked in France and other war torn countries while others served at military camps in the U.S. Farmer William McKern and his wife, Edna, saw their 20-year-old daughter, Enid, off from home near Mt. Vernon to start her new life as a nurse. She heard about the government’s call for nurses and dreamed about foreign service. On a fall day in 1918, she began her preparation in the U.S. Student Nurse Reserve. The reserve assigned her to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Baker (now Baker City). Once in Baker, Enid began her studies and training. But within a few days, she was stricken with Spanish Influenza. The hospital informed Enid’s parents and her mother soon arrived from Mt. Vernon. Enid developed pneumonia and, after a total of nine days, she died. Her father arrived at the hospital just after she passed away. The family returned her body to Mt. Vernon where she received a military funeral. She was eulogized as a “big, strong, fine looking girl” who offered her life and died “while serving others that this world might be better.” Many Oregon women, such as Irish-born Stasia Walsh of Pendleton, did go on to see extensive service in France. She joined the Army Nurse Corps through the Red Cross in 1918. Already a nurse in civilian life, she quickly became a member of Base Hospital 46 and in March was assigned to service at Camp Lee, Virginia. By the Fourth of July, Stasia was shipping out with the hospital for duty in France. She served for the duration of the war, tending to the injured and sick soldiers coming in from the front. Her hospital service in France continued into June of 1919 as the country tried to recover from four years of total war.

Continued from previous page

Guest Contribution

According to the chairwoman of the American Women’s Hospitals organization, Dr. Esther Lovejoy, “Our Oregon medical women made exceptionally fine records in the American Women’s Hospitals overseas service. We have a state of less than a million people and while I cannot say exactly the number, I believe there is only one state with a larger number of medical women in our service than Oregon, according to population.” She especially cited two Oregon women, Dr. Mary MacLachlin and Dr. Mary Evans. They served in a hospital in Luzancy, in a devastated part of France, for almost a year. Because of their selfless service, they were decorated by the French government and “made citizens of that municipality [Luzancy].”

Other voices Many Oregon residents, such as those who were citizens of Canada or Great Britain, served in the British Expeditionary Force during World War I. Many answered the call to fight in 1914 and 1915. As with Oregonians serving in the U.S. forces, they risked their lives to serve their countries and protect democracy. However, many of them were exposed to the dangers and sacrifices of war for two or three years longer. One of them, Charles Franklin Buchanan of Portland, enlisted in the Canadian Army in April 1915 as part of the “Loyal Legion Seaforth Highlanders of Canada.” After a promotion to corporal he transferred to the “Duke of Connaught’s Own Battalion Canadian Infantry,” where he was promoted to sergeant-major. Eager to get to the front, Buchanan resigned his position and enlisted as a private to get into action quicker. By the beginning of 1916, he got his wish and spent nearly two years at the front. After a fierce 1917 battle in Flanders in which practically his entire company was either killed or wounded, he was once again promoted. By July of 1918 Buchanan earned the commission of lieutenant in the 1st Canadian Reserve. He suffered wounds in September 1918 and again in early October but returned from the hospital to the front quickly both times. On October 12 he was in the middle of a fight on the Sensee Canal in France. According to Canadian General Philpot, Buchanan “had destroyed a German machine gun nest and had killed several German officers and men single-handed and had dug in on the bank of the canal, awaiting the English artillery, when a sniper killed him.” Described by General Philpot as “a natural leader,” Buchanan was posthumously awarded

Oregon soldiers of Company H, 4th Infantry at Camp Cosgrove, Washington, during World War I.

the British Military Cross for his bravery. In his last letter to his parents “he expressed a longing again to visit his parents and other relatives in Oregon. His determination, however, was not to give up the fight until the power of the Hun was broken forever.”

The missing In the chaos and destruction of combat, many Oregonians simply were never seen again. The following is a story of one Oregon soldier missing in action (MIA). Silverton’s Delbert Reeves never graduated from high school. He finished the eighth grade and went to work, which was not uncommon in the years before World War I. His job at a local sawmill certainly didn’t require a high school diploma. But Reeves looked beyond his sawmill job and decided to enlist in the Oregon National Guard. On March 29, 1917, just days before America declared war, he went to nearby Woodburn and signed up. The U.S. Army called up much of the National Guard in the months after the declaration of war. In fact, Reeves was mustered into federal service two days before on April 4 and soon found himself in General Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force. In July 1917, before he left for France, he married Inez Williams in Grants Pass. In the following months, he worked hard and was promoted to corporal in November. By the next summer, Reeves was seeing

plenty of action at the front “somewhere in France.” At one point, he was separated from his “bunch after we had gone over the top.” He came upon 12 Germans and took them all prisoner, later recalling, “I sure had a devil of a time with them as they were scared to death and run around like a bunch of sheep.” Reeves also killed the enemy in his action at the front. In a letter home, Reeves displayed his battlefield bravado about killing the enemy: “Will you tell Dad Reeves and Dad Williams [father-in-law] that I got us a Dutchman [German] apiece as they wanted me to....” But along with the brave words, Reeves revealed the fear many men felt in his situation: “The battle field is sure some sight. A fellow feels funny the first time he goes over the top. It didn’t scare me after I got the signal to go over, but was kind of nervous the few minutes we were waiting before we got the signal to go. When a person gets the word to go over all the nervousness seems to leave and you want to get there so you can tie into a Dutchman.” In July 1918, Reeves was back at the front where he once again was separated from his squad in battle. This time he would not return. The Army officially listed him as missing in action and eventually he was presumed dead. According to one estimate, over 14,000 Americans were listed as missing in action. While high, the figure pales in comparison with the nearly 2 million considered missing for the war as a whole. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

100 Years of Oregon Veterans

The ‘Hello Girls’

Female Signal Corps telephone operators at a switchboard during World War I.

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By Mitchell Yockelson, MilitaryHistoryNow.com Reprinted with permission.

As You Were

How the U.s. army’s all-female telephone corps answered the call in wwi

omen now serve on the frontlines alongside men in the 21st Century U.S. military. Yet surprisingly, females also played a key role on the battlefields of the First World War nearly 100 years ago. They didn’t wear khaki uniforms, nor did they carry rifles, but during the 1918 American Meuse-Argonne offensive, which raged for the final 47 days of the conflict, a handful of women telephone operators from the United States quite literally held the war’s last campaign in the palms of their hands. They were known as the “Hello Girls” and this is their forgotten story. Ever since arriving in France in 1917, the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was plagued with communications problems. The military telephone system used by the U.S. contingent was provided by the French and staffed by local switchboard operators. Not surprisingly, the language barrier caused headaches. Unable to get timely and accurate battle reports, AEF commander General John J. Pershing urged Washington to recruit American telephone operators, particularly bilingual ones to route calls. And since stateside switchboards were run almost entirely by females; all of Blackjack’s phone jockeys would be women.

Answering the call Women from across the United States eagerly signed up for the newly established Female Telephone Operators Unit; few had the French language skills. The U.S. Division of Women’s War Work, Committee on Public Information, sought to find qualified candidates among those of French descent from Canada and Louisiana. More than 300 applied, only six met all the requirements. The U.S. Army Signal Corps had better luck and by the spring of 1918 it had received more than 7,600 applications. Eventually, nearly 500 were inducted. A full 223 volunteers were sent overseas, with the rest staying behind in reserve. To qualify as a telephone operator, applicants had to be fluent in French, know how to operate a switchboard and be in good physical condition. Before each candidate was approved, she was put through a rigorous psychological test to see if she could handle

the pressure of a job that might require answering and transmitting messages at a rapid pace. And since operators would be privy to classified information such as troop movements, each was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service to ensure loyalty. Once accepted into service, operators trained in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlantic City. They became affectionately known as “Hello Girls.”

Number, please When Pershing set up the First Army headquarters at the village of Souilly to direct the planned Meuse-Argonne offensive, he selected seven of the women to handle the lines of communication. Each was trained to follow their commander’s orders to the letter. Pershing’s calls always got priority – protocol demanded that the general’s line must be connected within a half-second, even if it meant abruptly cutting off other conversations in the process. The Hello Girls were in charge of two different switchboards: one for making local and long-distance logistical calls, and the other for messages between frontline units and the commanding officers who directed their movements. “Every order for an infantry advance, a barrage preparatory to the taking of a new objective, and, in fact, for every troop movement came over these ‘fighting lines,’ as we called them,” the chief operator recalled. “These wires connected the front up with the generals and made it possible for the latter to know exactly what was going on at any moment and to direct operations accordingly. It was at the operating board, then, that we seven girls were put when we went into the Argonne.” Mrs. Berthe M. Hunt of Berkeley, California, recalled of their arrival: “When we arrived on September 26th, we found ourselves in a French camp that had been used for over four years, including the period of the famous Verdun drive. The barracks were flimsy things that had been lined with old newspapers and maps to keep out the cold. The Y. W. C. A. helped us out by giving us a blanket each, a rug, oilcloth and other comforts. In fact, our sitting room (which we acquired later) was furnished with a piano and other things taken from Boche

dugouts in the vicinity.” Esther Fresnel, from New York, wrote her parents about her life in France. “We worked day and night, six hours at a stretch, and then ran home to snatch a few hours’ sleep, then [went] back to work.” Berthe Hunt remembered that it was “most thrilling to sit at that board and feel the importance of it.” Grace Banker, another New Yorker who served as the chief operator, hated being away from the switchboard. “Soon after 2 a.m., I was back in the office with the girls who had left on the earlier shift the night before,” Grace recalled. “No one could tell what might happen next; it was like an exciting game—and I couldn’t leave.” Banker would eventually be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her work in France. Often artillery barrages and thunderstorms made the phone lines inoperable, flaring the tempers of the devoted staff. Not even a fire in the switchboard office, could drive the operators from their posts. It took direct orders from army brass to make them evacuate the burning building. After an hour they returned to the smoky room and continued fielding calls.

Disconnected When the war ended, the Hello Girls were disbanded and shipped home — their contribution to the Allied war effort was quickly forgotten. Although Pershing considered them “real soldiers,” a moniker they earned through long hours of important work, none of the more than 200 American women who served overseas with the Female Telephone Operators Unit were considered military personnel and were thus denied benefits. It would take one Hello Girl, Merle EganAnderson of Helena, Montana, decades of lobbying before Congress finally bestowed veterans status onto the section in 1978. A Hello Girl uniform on exhibit at the U.S. Army Signal Museum in Ft. Gordon, Georgia may be the only lasting tribute to their service. Mitchell Yockelson is the author of the new book “Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing’s Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I.” He currently teaches at Norwich University. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

Healing Waters

Chad Brown, a U.S. Navy veteran, sits with his dog Axe on a “deployment” with Soul River Inc., Brown’s nonprofit that brings together underserved youth with veterans from around the military.

had Brown wears a lot of different hats. The 46-year-old Navy veteran is part entrepreneur, part environmental advocate, part designer, part nonprofit president and that same organization’s only paid employee. If it were up to him, though, he’d be happy to be known as just one thing: a fly fisherman. His shop in North Portland, a small affair called Soul River Inc. just off Interstate Avenue in the Kenton Neighborhood, is dotted with gear of his own design. An army green inflatable raft sits in one corner and meticulously crafted flies long to be casted from inside a glass case. The work Brown values most happens behind the retail space, however, in a cramped room taken up mostly by a conference table. The walls are covered with blown-up pictures of kids and teenagers, usually up to their waists in river water with a rod in hand, smiling as they cast their lines in the hopes of landing a sizable fish. This is where Brown runs the 501(c)(3) portion of Soul River Inc. This is where he introduces at-risk youth and other vets to the idea of conservation. This is where he’ll tell you about how a river saved his life.

Headwaters of trauma Brown had a knack for art and design from the time he was a youngster growing up near Austin, Texas, and his plan was to pursue 22

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it as a career. In 1990, he was enrolled at The Art Institute of Dallas, studying to become a commercial artist. When his money started to run short, he dropped out and joined the Navy. Brown would travel to 14 different countries as a member of a Joint Taskforce Expeditionary Unit, which often shadowed special operations teams around the world. He served in Operation Desert Storm, at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, at a NASA research station in Antarctica and in Mogadishu, Somalia, during a period of extreme violence. The movie “Black Hawk Down” takes place around the same time Brown was in the war-torn country’s capital city. The violence he saw wasn’t dissimilar to that portrayed in the film. “Desert Storm was a lot of hurry up and wait, but Somalia was a whole different ball game,” Brown said. “It was like the wild, wild west, fast and rapid. It was ugly. I was in the mix for a lot of the mess throughout the city.” He came out unscathed, physically at least, in 1994 and immediately threw himself back into school, finishing his undergraduate degree at an art school in Atlanta. Brown moved to New York to get his masters degree in photography, communications and design at the prestigious Pratt Institute. “The way I staged everything coming out of the military was just like boom, boom, boom, one after the other,” he said. “It was back to back for me and I didn’t really have time to think about what I went

By Kale Williams, The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reprinted with permission.

through.” Signs of mental health issues began to creep into his life toward the end of his time at Pratt. He sometimes got lost on his way home, a route he knew well. A couple times a month, he would find himself sobbing in the middle of the street for no particular reason. Each time, he shook it off and worked even harder. After finishing his graduate degree, he won a few awards and found success quickly, taking on lucrative contract design work and feeling his way around the advertising industry in New York. Eventually, he found himself pitching ideas to Russell Simmons, the hiphop mogul, and doing work for Phat Farm, Simmons’ fashion line. The pace of his life, again, increased. But despite his success, he knew something was off. “For a lot of vets, we find ways to cope with things. Whether it’s alcohol or drugs or cigarettes, but I think for me, the more I could step into that arena of a fast lifestyle, that was kind of my way of coping,” he said.

Rapids to stillwater In 2007, Brown knew he needed a change. He took a job in Portland as a senior art director at an ad agency. When it came to pace, though, Portland is no New York. The slower speed of the city gave him more time to think and the demons that haunted him from afar on the east coast drew closer. Depression set in, for real this time, and within six months of arriving in Oregon, Brown lost his job and began a period of onagain, off-again homelessness that would last for years. He knew he needed help and turned to Veterans Affairs, but the paperwork and numerous doctor visits proved difficult to navigate. He was put on heavy medications and enrolled in therapy, but Brown’s symptoms weren’t getting any better. “I was one of the many vets standing in line to give blood for $20 so I could keep gas in my tank,” he said. “I was in a place that I never in my life thought I would find myself.” In 2009, it became too much to bear. “I was found on the river about to take my own life,” Brown said. “I was angry, mad at the world, frustrated, strung out on so many different meds. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t smile. I felt like I was a walking zombie.” He spent a few days in a psych ward at the VA, and spent more time learning about his condition. Brown had post-traumatic stress

disorder. He would struggle over the next few years until a friend introduced him to fly fishing. Soon after, he would discover that the river itself would be his savior. He still can’t say exactly what it was about fishing on the Clackamas River that soothed him. Perhaps it was the consistent sounds of running water or maybe the repetitive action of casting a line. Whatever it was, fly fishing was the only thing that made him feel any better. He bartered with the doctors at the VA: if he spent more time fishing and continued to improve, they would decrease his meds. He was still looking for a larger sense of purpose, though.

Breakthrough It was 2012 when Brown got the idea for Soul River Inc. He knew the river had saved his life, but he wanted to help other people find their own version of fly fishing, that which could soothe the wounds left by trauma. “Your soul river is different than my soul river,” he said. “Your soul river may be hiking or skateboarding, but it’s the idea of being able to connect on a personal level that you can use as a coping mechanism to help you go through your process.” The next year, he finally got his paperwork from the VA diagnosing him as 50 percent mentally disabled. With that diagnosis came roughly six years of backpay and a chance for Brown to start over again. He paid off some debt he’d accumulated, and sunk the rest into Soul River Inc. Even though he’s been out of the military for more than 20 years, the imprint left on Brown by his service, and on Soul River Inc., is indelible. He organizes seven expeditions a year, which he calls “deployments,” to places in environmental peril, which he calls “hot zones.” The trips vary widely — some as close as Eastern Oregon, others as far away as the Arctic Circle — but the mission stays the same. Brown throws together small groups of underserved youth with veterans from all branches of the military for an immersion class in environmental stewardship, leadership and advocacy. Citlalli Briseño was 16 when she was volunteering for the city in her hometown of Vancouver. Someone mentioned that there was an opportunity to go camping with some kind of outdoor nonprofit and she jumped at the chance. That year, 2014, Briseño went with Brown

The Battle Continues

and a group of youngsters to stay on the land of the Quinault tribe in Washington. She was so taken with the experience, the next year she went with the group to the Arctic Circle. “I loved it,” she said. “Being out there in the middle of nowhere with the vets. It’s hard to explain, but they are natural leaders and it rubbed off on us.” Now, at the age of 19, Briseño is the youngest member of the Board of Directors for Soul River Inc., and has taken a keen interest in the environment. When she starts summer school this year, she plans to major in marine biology with a focus on the Arctic. By any measure, Soul River Inc. has been a success. Brown and other members of the organization see themselves as a family, many of them staying in contact whether they are planning a deployment or not. Still, Brown felt like he could do more.

Different kind of justice Taking kids who have traumatic backgrounds out into the wilderness presents its own special challenges, Brown said. “If John Doe, at 16 years old, had his brother get shot in the streets by the cops and two months later John Doe is wanting to come on a deployment, he’s bringing that into the wild. How do we deal with that?” It’s a vexing question with no easy answers. The issues of environmental justice and social justice are intertwined to the point that they can’t be addressed separately, Brown said, but to do so, people need to be able to talk to each other about things that are, in the best of times, contentious. On April 22, Brown will attempt to start that conversation. He’s partnered with Oregon Wild, a local conservation group, and the Portland EcoFilm Festival to present two films at the Hollywood Theater. The first, a short documentary about Brown’s most recent deployment to Alaska. The second, the premier of an environmentally-focused music video from Michael Crenshaw. For Brown, though, the most-important part of the evening will come after the films. He’s put together a diverse panel of speakers to talk to the audience about their own experiences in the environmental movement as members of minority communities. “You have a lot of people out there from diverse backgrounds that love the outdoors just as much as anyone else, that are highly skillful,” Brown said. “But you never hear their voice, you never see them.” On April 22, Earth Day, Brown hopes to change that. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

BRIEFINGS

Around the nation Adrian Cronauer, ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ D.J., dies at 79

July 19, 2018 — Adrian Cronauer, the disc jockey whose story provided the rough outline for the character played by Robin Williams in the 1987 movie “Good Morning, Vietnam,” died on Wednesday in Troutville, Va. He was 79. His death was announced by the Oakey’s funeral service. The notice did not give a cause. Cronauer was in the Air Force in 1965 when he was sent to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). His first job was as news director for Armed Forces Radio there, but when the morning host’s slot became vacant shortly after his arrival, he settled in behind the microphone. The show was called “Dawn Buster,” and he began it with the drawn-out greeting immortalized in the movie’s title. He had actually developed the sign-on thousands of miles away, while stationed on the island of Crete, where he had also had a radio show. Robert Wilkie sworn in as Trump’s Veterans Affairs secretary

July 30, 2018 — Robert Wilkie has been sworn in as the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Donald Trump said Monday during an Oval Office ceremony that Wilkie will work day and night “to protect those who protect us.” He also told Wilkie that hundreds of thousands of people are counting on him.

who fought alongside the U.S. on behalf of South Korea during the war. What is expected to be an exhaustive analysis and identification process will soon begin. Advocates start work on what — and where — the Global War on Terror Memorial will be

Sept. 24, 2018 — Michael Rodriguez doesn’t know what the national Global War on Terror memorial will look like, but he’s confident about where it should be.

The former Pentagon official was selected to replace Secretary David Shulkin, who was fired amid ethics charges and internal rebellion at the department over the role of private care for veterans.

“I believe it needs to be on the National Mall,” said Rodriguez, president of the memorial’s foundation. “In a lot of ways, this has already become a forgotten war. We need that national reminder.”

Wilkie was confirmed by an 86-9 vote in the Senate last week. He secured the backing of many Democrats after insisting he would not privatize the government’s second-largest department.

The Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation is about to launch a multi-month outreach project discussing the size, scope and meaning behind the planned tribute, authorized by Congress in 2017.

‘Our boys are coming home’; Pence welcomes Korean War dead

That will include surveys of troops, veterans, military family members and even individuals with no direct link to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to collect their thoughts on what the memorial should include. Foundation officials announced that Winstanley Architects & Planners will serve as the architect for project and will lead that effort.

Aug. 1, 2018 — In an emotional and solemn ceremony, the remains of dozens of presumed casualties from the Korean War were escorted by military honor guards onto U.S. soil, 65 years after an armistice ended the conflict and weeks after President Donald Trump received a commitment from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their return. The U.S. military believes the bones are those of U.S. servicemen and potentially servicemen from other United Nations member countries 24

U.S. troops stand in formation during a ceremony on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Aug 28, 2018. Officials working on the Global War on Terror Memorial are planning surveys of veterans and military families to determine what the site should look like.

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

Close to Home More than 80 Washington and Oregon Korean War vets receive medals

June 8, 2018 — It was a special day for Korean

War veterans living in Washington and Oregon. The Consul General of the Republic of Korea awarded more than 80 veterans with an Ambassador for Peace medal. The medal is a token of appreciation from the Korean government. “In this day in age where patriotism is kind of on the wane, it’s really great that these folks are recognized and it’s great to wave the red, white and blue because that’s what America is all about,” said Daryl Schreiner, Korean War veteran. Veterans Legacy program transforms former forest work camp

June 21, 2018 — Directors of a new veterans treatment program in Lane County are looking at early fall to open the doors. It’s the Veterans Legacy program near Alma, where the vision is taking shape in a pastoral scene in the coast range southwest of Eugene. It doesn’t look different from the outside, but the former inmate work camp is transforming into a place of new hope for Oregon veterans. You can’t see it well from the entrance, but change is coming to the former Lane County Sheriff ’s forest work camp as a new sign announces the future program at Camp Alma. “It feels like coming home, it really does,” says newly retired Captain Dan Buckwald from the Lane County Sheriff ’s Office. He’s returning to his roots, returning to the camp where he served for 13 years - this time to help veterans, especially those caught up in the criminal justice system.

By the University of Oregon. Reprinted with permission.

Benefits Corner

A deeper look

Making a Difference Two new statewide veteran grant programs were launched this year, with funding made possible by Measure 96. They were designed to expand services for veterans in education, health care, housing, transportation and other vital areas. We take a closer look at one of the impacts.

grant awarded to the University of Oregon’s Student Veterans Center by the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs will help the center expand its programs and resources. During the 2017 session, Oregon legislators unanimously passed Senate Bill 143, which allocated $1 million to expand campus veteran resource centers at Oregon community colleges and public universities. In addition, the Legislature allocated funds to hire a statewide campus veteran coordinator to provide training and technical assistance to campus veteran resource coordinators. Justine Carpenter, the UO’s director of multicultural and identity-based support services, was one of many public universities representative who testified in support of the bill. The Student Veterans Center provides support and services to more than 400 UO student veterans and family members eligible for military benefits, including the GI Bill. The $54,000 grant funds a half-time program coordinator, additional computers and technology, expanded student veteran engagement events and increased veteram welcome sessions — the center’s version of Week of Welcome — to include winter and spring terms. The grant also expands the Peer Advising Veterans Education program, which matches new veteran students on campus with experienced UO peers. “The overarching goal of the Student Veterans Center is to ensure we connect student veterans — many who are attending the UO directly after serving in the military — with support and resources that will help them be successful,” said Maria Kalnbach, coordinator

of nontraditional and veteran student engagement and success. “This grant is a good step in helping us build a robust program that attracts more veterans to the UO.” Trent Goodman served in the Marine Corps as a radio communications operator; he is currently a senior majoring in cinema studies. He made a point of making connections with fellow veterans when he first arrived at the UO from Illinois and soon found a home at the Student Veterans Center. “It’s a place to take a break, decompress, get advice, use a computer and help each other with homework,” Goodman said. Now serving as the PAVE coordinator, he and his fellow peer advisors are currently reaching out to, and serving as mentors for, 100 first-year student veterans on campus in Eugene and Portland. “We share advice about the UO or about anything we’re asked,” he said. “We pride ourselves on getting answers to the questions we don’t know the answer to immediately.” The UO PAVE program is one of 38 programs on campuses across the country and is supported by a national team. It was just starting when Goodman arrived. “PAVE has grown and become more professional at the UO, especially in connecting people to resources,” Goodman said. The Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs provides statewide veterans services, including training and certification of county veteran service officers and managing appellate federal benefit claims; programs for aging veterans, including two homes for veterans; and a home loan program that provides low-interest loans for Oregon veterans. Currently, Oregon is home to approximately 325,000 veterans. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

BEnefits Corner

2018 STATE AND FEDERAL BENEFIT UPDATES

The Clackamas County Veterans Village was completed and officially opened this year. The project is intended to provide decent, safe and sanitary housing to homeless veterans as they seek to become self-supportive through accessing training, counseling, employment, permanent housing and other services. The quarters are in the form of 30 innovative “sleeping pods,” which were designed by Portland State architecture students and constructed from recycled trusses previously used for a stage at the Pickathon Music Festival.

Free flu shots for enrolled veterans at Walgreens

Sept. 20, 2018 — Walgreens is providing no-cost flu shots to enrolled veterans of the VA health care system. The program runs from August 15, 2018 through March 31, 2019. Veterans may also receive a no-cost flu shot during any scheduled VA appointment or at a walk-in flu station. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkvg. Veterans Village housing project opens in Clackamas

Sept. 13, 2018 — A transitional shelter village of pods designed by Portland State University students opened September 13 for veterans in Clackamas County. The village will be staffed by volunteers from Do Good Multnomah and aims to house up to 30 veterans. Clackamas County has a goal of ending veterans’ homelessness by 2019. Learn more: https://www.clackamas.us/transitionalhousing. VA expands Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program (VR&E) to improve service

Aug. 30, 2018 — VA’s VR&E program is working to reduce the average counselor-to-caseload ratio through a hiring effort begun earlier this summer. For more information about VR&E, visit https://www.benefits. va.gov/vocrehab/. VA DoD Veteran Link now available to help veterans connect

Aug. 16, 2018 — VA DoD Veteran Link is a new social networking app 26

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

just for veterans and current service members. Users can search for other veterans and service members with similar military backgrounds or interests. They can also join or create groups to talk about specific topics. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkva or get started at https:// mobile.va.gov/app/va-dod-veteran-link. Military OneSource is now available to veterans and their families for a full year after separating from the military

Aug. 13, 2018 — DoD is extending eligibility for Military OneSource benefits from the current 180 days to 365 days after separation or retirement from military service to ensure all service members and families have access to comprehensive support as they transition to civilian life. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdM. Forever GI Bill expands VA educational benefits

Aug. 2, 2018 — Effective August 1, the VA implemented 15 more provisions of the Forever GI Bill, including expansion of benefits to post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients, expansion of the Yellow Ribbon Program, and increased eligibility for members of the National Guard and Reserve. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdH. Reservists and National Guard members can transfer their remaining REAP entitlement to the Post-9/11 GI Bill

Aug. 1, 2018 — The “Forever GI Bill” allows certain members of the National Guard and Reserve to transfer into the Post-9/11 GI Bill after

benefits Benefits corner Corner

they lost their educational benefits in 2015. The VA sent notification letters to eligible individuals. If you didn’t get a letter and think you may be eligible, find out how to apply and learn more here: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdf. Veterans owed refunds for over payments attributable to disability severance payments should file amended returns to claim tax refunds

July 12, 2018 — The IRS is advising certain veterans who received disability severance payments after Jan. 17, 1991, and included that payment as income, to file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to claim a credit or refund of the over payment attributable to the disability severance payment. Most veterans who received a onetime lump-sum disability severance payment when they separated from military service will receive a letter from the DoD explaining how to claim tax refunds they are entitled to. Veterans can claim the refund up to one year from the date of the letter from the DoD. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdy. Smartphone feature provides immediate access to Veterans Crisis Line

July 9, 2018 — Saying “Call the Veterans Crisis Line” to Siri on Apple’s iPhone or the Google Assistant on Android phones now automatically dials the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Callers can then Press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdK. Changes coming to Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA)

July 3, 2018 — As of August 1, 2018, the entitlement available under the DEA program will be reduced from 45 months to 36 months, but in October, the monthly allowance for eligible recipients will increase. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkdW. Grants awarded for veterans and war memorials

July 3, 2018 — Oregon Parks and Recreation Department awarded five grants totaling $150,000 for projects across the state that create or preserve memorials to veterans or wars. For more information on the Veteran and War Memorials grant program, visit https://go.usa.gov/xPkvb. VA now reminds veterans of their appointments by text

June 26, 2018 — VEText appointment reminders allow veterans to confirm or cancel their upcoming appointments by text message. The text messages do not currently replace the letters and automated phone calls veterans already receive. Learn more: https://go.usa. gov/xPkpV.

New Direct Express Debit Mastercard for VA Payments

May 11, 2018 — Veterans are now able to receive Beneficiary Travel and Compensated Work Therapy payments on a prepaid debit card. Visit the agent cashier at your local VA facility to sign up. Learn more: https://go.usa. gov/xPkpN. VA adds women-specific conditions to compensation rating criteria

May 14, 2018 — VA is updating its VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) to include gynecological conditions and disorders of the breast, and will be updating the remainder of the VASRD over the next several months. Learn more: https://go.usa. gov/xPkpX. VA’s Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) now open to all appeals

21. The campaign brings veteran disability enrollment claim events to tribal communities in 11 states including Oregon. To learn more, visit www.va.gov/TRIBALGOVERNMENT/ locations.asp. VA now offers adoption reimbursement

March 5, 2018 — Veterans with a serviceconnected disability that results in infertility may now have their adoption expenses reimbured by the VA. The application for reimbursement must be submitted no later than two years after the adoption is final or, in the case of adoption of a foreign child, no later than two years from the date a certificate of U.S. citizenship is issued. Application can be made online. Visit va.gov and use VA Form 10152. VA ID Card launched; sign up online

May 9, 2018 — All veterans with a pending disability compensation appeal can choose to participate in the new decision review process, RAMP. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xPkpB.

Feb. 2, 2018 — Veterans can now apply for the Veterans Identification Card (VIC) to use as proof of military service. To apply, visit vets. gov, sign in and establish an ID.me account. Then request to “Apply for the Veteran ID Card.”

Veterans benefits scam alert

VA launches welcome kit for all veterans

May 5, 2018 — Veterans are being targeted by scammers impersonating VA Office of General Counsel attorneys. For warning signs and steps to prevent being a victim of this scam, visit https://go.usa.gov/xPkVA. VA partners with Library of Congress to promote ‘Braille and Talking Book Program for Veterans’

April 5, 2018 — The Braille and Talking Book Program offers books in Braille or audio format either mailed to your door or downloadable digitally. Interested veterans may apply with this form: www.loc.gov/nls/ pdf/application.pdf. New web tool helps veterans track benefits appeals

March 21, 2018 — The VA and U.S. Digital Service launched an improved Appeals Status tool to help veterans track the progress of their benefits claims appeals. The tool is available at www.vets.gov/disability-benefits/claimsappeal. Veterans can now use My HealtheVet to access benefits tools on vets.gov

March 14, 2018 — Veterans can now visit vets. gov and sign in with their My HealtheVet credentials. From there, they can access all of the services that vets.gov provides. VA launches nationwide outreach campaign in tribal communities

March 8, 2018 — The VA kicked off a nationwide campaign, titled “Your Service. Our Mission: Bringing Benefits Home” March

Feb. 1, 2018 — To help answer the frequently asked question of “Where do I start?” the VA has released a new welcome kit to help veterans across the country find and access their earned benefits and services. You can find it online by visiting www.vets.gov/ welcome-to-va. New online tool provides customized instructions for discharge upgrade

Jan. 25, 2018 — The VA has partnered with the Department of Defense to launch an online tool providing customized steps tailored to individual veterans attempting to upgrade their discharge. Visit vets.gov/dischargeupgrade-instructions. VA releases directive regarding medical marijuana use

Jan. 9, 2018 — A new guidance released by the federal VA directs VA clinical staff and pharmacists to discuss how veterans’ use of medical marijuana could interact with other medications or aspects of their care. VA providers are still not permitted to refer veterans to state-approved medical marijuana programs. SORCC hires 250 new employees

Jan. 5, 2018 — Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinic in White City is hiring 250 new employees, including 100 focused on mental health care. The VA also plans to grow its mental health teams in Grants Pass and Klamath Falls. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

R&R

By Tyler Francke, Veterans News Magazine

Linking Up Vets to ‘Recreational Therapy’

ccording to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, recreational therapy can provide coping mechanisms related to stress and intense emotions by lowering levels of anxiety, providing social opportunities, and creating a sense of community. It is said that cohesion and engagement are important factors for healing and integrating among veterans. Some, like Link Up Vets president and founder Michael Aaron, have an acute understanding of this and strive to share the message with others. The mission statement of Link Up Vets recognizes the importance of outdoor activities. It reads in part, “Through the use of the outdoors and community outreach, we create stress-free environments to connect like-minded brothers and sisters in arms.” “To a good group of veterans, the outdoors is very important. It’s called recreational therapy,” said Aaron. Link Up Vets provides a variety of outdoor activities including shooting, hiking, hunting, fishing, golf and camping. They put on one or two events a month, including two different types of events: veteransonly events; and family events, where veterans can bring along their friends and family. Aaron explained that it is important for veterans to interact with each other and be able to enjoy themselves outdoors. Link Up Vets also tries to have a wide variety of activities in order to attract as many people as possible. “We have a climb of Mt. Bailey coming up next. We also have our annual golf tournament next month. In August or September we will be 28

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

going on two deep-sea fishing trips, an Alaskan fishing trip, and we will be going bungee jumping,” said Aaron. The golf tournament, so far one of the most popular events, will be the organization’s fourth. Last year there were 37 teams made up of four golfers each for a total of 148 people playing, as well as numerous businesses and sponsors taking part in other ways besides playing. The group also completed the Barrel to Keg Run, which was a 79-mile relay run from Philomath to Newport. Five veterans and two advocates completed the run, which took around 10 hours. In addition to the larger events, members of Link Up Vets will also take part in other smaller events outdoors. They will do yard work for disabled veterans, homeless veteran outreach, military fort and camp cleanups, and cemetery cleanups. Aaron explained that something special happens when veterans get together in the outdoors. “The world of outdoor adventure creates a bond that cannot be found anywhere else,” said Aaron. While the outdoors can be an escape for everyone, it is of particular importance for veterans. If you or someone you know is a veteran looking for activities or people to relate to, check out Link Up Vets. “Connecting with other veterans and the outdoors gives peace to those who may be dealing with chaos going on in their minds. It creates a sense of grounding, which is mindfully controlling what’s going on inside,” said Aaron. Check out linkupvets.org for more info and a list of events.

R&R

Willamette Master Chorus Will Present Veterans Concert in Salem

Volunteer

Lines for Life is always looking for committed volunteers of all ages. Bring your experience and interests to one of our program areas, and make a positive difference in someone’s life. Needed areas include the Suicide Prevention, Alcohol and Drug, and Military Helplines. For more information on volunteering or how you can make a difference, email info@ linesforlife.org or call 503.244.5211.

he Willamette Master Chorus will open its 34th concert season on Saturday, Nov. 10th and Sunday, Nov. 11th with its Veterans concert performance of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by renowned Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum for the Millennium celebrations in 2000, The Armed Man was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis. It is a powerful anti-war statement based on the Catholic Mass, which Jenkins combines with other poignant sources. The text incorporates words from other religious and historical sources, including the Islamic call to prayer, the Bible (e.g. the Psalms and Revelation), and the Mahabharata. Writers whose words appear in the work include Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Sankichi Toge, who survived the Hiroshima bombing. The Armed Man charts the growing menace of a descent into war, interspersed with moments of reflection; shows the horrors that war brings; and ends with the hope for peace in a new millennium. British humanitarian and author Terry Waite has

Hue 1968: A Turning Point in the American War in Vietnam Mark Bowden

The Black Hawk Down author tells what happens after Communist forces open the Tet Offensive and surprise everyone, everywhere. Played out over 24 days and ultimately costing 10,000 lives, the Battle of Hue was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. Hue 1968 is a gripping and moving account of this pivotal moment.

said: “Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace was one of the most moving performances I have ever attended. This powerful work should convince even the most hardened cynic that war is a futile and brutal exercise and we should do all in our power to promote peace.” Recorded during summer 2000, The Armed Man album was released in September 2001 and has since achieved double-gold award status in the UK and remains a constant bestseller on the official UK Classical Artist Chart. This Veterans concert will also honor the various branches of the US military and present patriotic music performed with the 2018-19 Willamette Master Chorus Honor Choir, which includes top-selected choir students from high schools in the SalemKeizer, Dallas, Silverton and Stayton areas. Concert times are 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 11, and will be held in the Hudson Hall auditorium of the Rogers Music Center, on the Willamette University campus at 900 State St., in Salem. Tickets are available online at www. willamettemasterchorus.org/concerts.php

The Jersey Brothers Sally Mott Freeman

This page-turner about three New Jersey sailors in World War II is, the publisher touts, “Unbroken” meets “Saving Private Ryan.” They are three brothers, all Navy men, who end up coincidentally and extraordinarily at the epicenter of three of the war’s most crucial moments. When the youngest, a commissioned officer in the Navy Supply Corps, is listed as as wounded and missing after a Japanese attack, it is up to his two brothers to rescue him.

Lines for Life www.linesforlife.org/volunteer

See Leave No Trace Bron Studios (2018) Bleecker Street Media

From filmmaker Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone) comes the story of an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, who lives in a public park outside Portland with his 13-year-old daughter. Leave No Trace tells the story of what happens when their isolated life is disrupted. Principal photography for the film was in Portland and in Eagle Fern Park in Clackamas County.

Connect Team Red White and Blue www.teamrwb.org

Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. The concept of enrichment consists of three core components— health, people, and purpose—that comprise a rich life. Find your local chapter by visiting www.teamrwb.org.

Relax Link Up Vets

linkupvets.org

Link Up Vets has been working since 2014 to fight for the future success and wellness of veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Through the use of service dog training, outdoor adventure and community outreach, they create stress-free environments to connect like-minded brothers and sisters in arms. Learn more online at linkupvets.org. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

boots on the ground

By Tyler Francke, Veterans News Magazine

Oregon tribal veterans from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde serve as color guard during the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Statewide Veterans’ Celebration in 2017. (Photo by John Schulte, © 2017 Reed Lane Photography)

Community Service T

he Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week that will enable the tribal government to establish the state’s first-ever tribal veteran service office. Once established, the tribal veteran service office will operate similar to a county veteran service office, providing direct services to tribal veterans under ODVA’s power of attorney. Like all county veteran service officers, the tribal veteran service officers will be trained and certified through ODVA. This is the first state-tribal partnership of this kind in Oregon’s history. “This is something we’ve been working toward for many years,” ODVA Deputy Director Mitch Sparks said. “The reason we have veteran service offices in each county is that we recognize each county has their 30

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

own unique challenges, resources and culture, and we believe veterans are best served in and through their own communities. The same is true, and even more so, for our tribal veterans. “We believe this new partnership will allow tribal veteran service officers in Warm Springs to provide the same level of service as any county veteran service officer, while advocating for their own people.” Terry Bentley, Pacific District tribal government specialist with the VA Office of Tribal Government Relations, said her agency was excited about the new partnership. “This MOU will enable veterans to receive increased access to services and benefits on the reservation by trusted tribal representatives who are more culturally sensitive,” she said. The announcement was also well-received by Oregon’s elected officials.

veteran service office Directory

ODVA Deputy Director Mitch Sparks meets with Warm Springs Tribal Council Chair Eugene Greene Jr. to finalize the memorandum of understanding earlier this year.

The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, local county veteran service officers (CVSOs) and national service organizations provide claims assistance to all veteran and familiy members. Veteran service officers are accredited by the federal VA and certified by the state of Oregon. The disability claim process begins the moment you file a claim. Service officers are also available to assist with other veteran benefits and resources. To schedule an appointment, please contact the office nearest you.

PORTLAND (ODVA)

503 373 2085

SALEM (ODVA)

After June 4, 2018: 503 399 9080

503 373 2085

BAKER

541 523 8223

BENTON

541 758 1595

CLACKAMAS

503 650 5631

CLATSOP

503 791 9983

COLUMBIA

503 366 6580

COOS

541 396 7590

CROOK

541 447 5304

CURRY

541 247 3205

DESCHUTES

541 385 3214

DOUGLAS

541 440 4219

GILLIAM

541 384 6712

GRANT

541 620 8057

HARNEY

541 573 1342

HOOD RIVER

541 386 1080

MORROW

541 922 6420

MULTNOMAH

503 988 8387

POLK

503 623 9188

SHERMAN

541 565 3408

TILLAMOOK

503 842 4358

UMATILLA

541 667 3125

UNION

541 962 8802

WALLOWA

541 426 0539

WASCO

541 506 2502

WASHINGTON

503 846 3060

WHEELER

541 763 3032

YAMHILL

503 434 7503

AMERICAN LEGION

503 412 4706

DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS

JACKSON

503 412 4750

JEFFERSON

MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART

541 774 8214

“As the daughter of a veteran, I know first-hand how critical the needs are for our service men and women, and their families,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said. “I am absolutely thrilled about this new partnership that ensures the veterans of the Warm Springs Tribe will be able to access the vital services and benefits they’ve earned.” “The memorandum of understanding represents a major accomplishment for veterans everywhere,” said Rep. Paul Evans, chair of the House Interim Committee on Veterans and Emergency Preparedness. “This approach will be the first of what I hope will be many such partnerships empowering tribal veteran service officers and yielding tremendous benefit to Native American military families and veterans.” ODVA will work closely with the Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to develop and implement this new office. An anticipated opening date has not yet been set.

MARION

503 412 4777

541 475 5228

503 412 4770

JOSEPHINE

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BLACK VETERANS OF AMERICA

541 474 5454

KLAMATH

541 883 4274

LAKE

541 947 6043

LANE

503 412 4159

PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA

541 682 4191

504 412 4762

LINCOLN

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS

541 574 6955

LINN

541 967 3882

MALHEUR

541 889 6649

503 412 4757

VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA

541 604 0963

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

700 SUMMER STREET NE SALEM, OR 97301-1285

THANK YOU

Oregonians voted to have Lottery dollars support Veteran Services. In fact, $18.7 million in Lottery funds are helping to provide more direct and critical services like healthcare, job placement and education to veterans right in their local communities.

Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.

VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE

PRSRT STD U S Po s t a g e PA I D Pe r m i t N o . 2 2 Salem, OR

Oregon Veterans News Magazine Issue 4

Articles inside

Community Service

R&R

Benefits Corner

Making a Difference

Briefings

Healing Waters

The "Hello Girls"

Oregon at War

Working for Veterans

"I Watched the Flag Go Up"

Undaunted

Together They Stand

Dreams Come True

Willing and Able: Celebrating Our Oregon Veterans