Whidbey Crosswind The Puget Sound Veterans’ Monthly | September 2017
Living history Fort Casey becomes an animated museum z pg. 6
A supplement to the Whidbey News-Times
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VQ-1 reunites after 16 years
‘World Watchers’ recall international incident in China By DANIEL WARN
dwarn@whidbeynewsgroup.com
The VQ-1 “World Watchers” from the early 2000s era gathered for their first reunion in 16 years at Flyers restaurant in Oak Harbor July 28. Friends and coworkers reunited for the first time in more than a decade for a weekend of festivities. Some drove from as far as California to make the event. At Flyers, they shared drinks, strained to recognize old faces and shared their spy stories. The idea that VQ-1 is actually a spy squadron has become a bit of a joke among the retirees, a joke that harkened back ABC News’s coverage of VQ-1’s most infamous snafu. The entire reunion cracked up when they recalled how ABC reported that a “spy plane” made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island “after colliding with an intercepting Chinese fighter jet.” In response, China held all 24 members of the VQ-1 detachment crew for 11 days of interrogation following the April 1, 2001 incident. The incident made international news, spawned a “yellow SEE VQ-1, PAGE 3
Photo by Daniel Warn/Whibdey News Times
In front, VQ-1 reunion attendees Chrysies Stokke, left, Greg Demiro, center, and Cogdill James reminisce about old times over a beer at Flyers July 28.
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VQ-1
CONTINUED FROM page 2 ribbon” campaign in Oak Harbor and ended with a large welcomehome event at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The concept of a spy plane is laughable because the EP-3 is loud and sends forth great plumes of black smoke in its wake, according to Chrysies Stokke, a former electronic warfare operator with VQ-1. However, the EP-3 is a reconnaissance plane that is often tasked with the surveillance of other countries, Stokke said. It flies around nations of note and takes photos of military operations from the safety of international waters, which was what the aircraft was trying to do when it collided with the Chinese fighter jet, allegedly resulting in the death of its pilot. It turns out that Stokke has the distinction of being part of the crew that completed the mission in the EP-3 that was detained in China. After the surveillance mission was complete, she also helped map out battlefields in the Middle East. Ralph Tomlinson was an in-flight technician for VQ-1 and managed the electronic capabilities of EP-3s. He said his detachments with VQ-1 took him all over the world. ”’World Watchers’ was our motto,” Tomlinson said. “Essentially, as a reconnaissance squadron, that’s what we were tasked to do.”
Photo by Daniel Warn/Whidbey News-Times
A commemorative medallion, sporting the VQ-1 bat, along with its motto, “World Watchers.” Tomlinson said that VQ-1 is composed mainly of a dynamic partnership between aviators and the planes’ maintenance workers. “One cannot survive without the other, “ Tomlinson said. “My respect for maintainers has never wavered. I knew were my bread was buttered.”
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Not everyone at the reunion were aviators or maintainers. Stephanie Sydnor, for example, worked as an admin with VQ-1, serving as the quintessential “paper pusher,” she said. In her time with the squadron, Sydnor said, she made life-long
friends, but the experience was difficult to get used to. VQ-1 functioned on detachments instead of deployments, so there was always a “revolving door” of different people coming and going, she said. “It was like a melting pot,” Sydnor said. “You had a little bit of everybody and it changed out every so often so
you never got tired of people.” Like their detachments, the people at the VQ-1 reunion flitted around, changing tables, mixing in, recalling the times they came together for a shared purpose. And like their fabled “spy planes,” they were anything but quiet.
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VOL. 7, NO. 5 WHIDBEY CROSSWIND STAFF Executive Editor & Publisher............................KEVEN R. GRAVES Associate Publisher.................................... KIMBERLLY WINJUM Editor.............................................................JESSIE STENSLAND Reporters...............................................................DANIEL WARN Admin/Production Manager......................... JENNIFER WILKINS
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Highway 99 renamed in honor of Snohomish settler William P. Stewart By Julie Muhlstein Herald Writer Three sisters gathered at Georgina Paul’s Everett home earlier this year to talk about a man they never met. They are the great-granddaughters of William P. Stewart, an African-American Civil War veteran who settled in Snohomish after serving in the Union Army. Stewart, born free in Illinois in 1839, was a private in the 29th U.S. Colored Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in Chicago in early 1865, and served in the final stages of the Union’s Virginia Campaign, including the fall of Richmond. By 1889, he and his wife, Elizabeth “Eliza” Thornton Stewart, had settled in Snohomish. They had one son, Vay Stewart, a mailman. William and Eliza Stewart are buried at the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery in Snohomish, where his grave is marked by a government-issued headstone. Pvt. William P. Stewart, served in the Civil War with the 29th U.S. Colored Volunteer Infantry.
It has been an extraordinary spring for Paul, 69, and sisters Mary Barrett,
55, who lives in Lakewood near Tacoma, and Everett’s Marilyn Quincy, 72. On Tuesday they were in Olympia, where the state Transportation Commission agreed to rename Highway 99 in Stewart’s honor. They cheered the announcement, which followed the Legislature’s unanimous March passage of House Joint Memorial 4010. The measure requested that State Route 99 be named the William P. Stewart Memorial Highway. “It was such an honor for our family as a whole, growing up here,” said Paul, a lifelong Everett resident and 1964 graduate of Cascade High School. For Barrett, who grew up hearing stories about her ancestors, the highway designation has renewed her pride in Stewart and in roots that go back generations in this state. “People ask where I came from. I’m an original Washingtonian,” said Barrett, who graduated from Cascade in 1978. Quincy noted that their mother, Stewart’s granddaughter, was named Maydrew Wiliza Stewart Davis. Her
middle name, Wiliza, was a blend of William’s and Eliza’s first names. They have pictures of the Snohomish farmhouse where the Stewarts settled, and of ancestors who moved to north Everett. As the sisters leafed through a family Bible and photos, they praised Hans Dunshee, now a Snohomish County Council member. In 2002, then-state Rep. Dunshee, D-Snohomish, launched an impassioned effort to remove a marker at Peace Arch State Park in Blaine designating the road as “Jefferson Davis Highway No. 99.” That marker and another near Vancouver, Washington, were put up in 1940 by a state branch of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Davis, once a congressman from Mississippi, was president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Those old granite monuments are now on private land. State Department of Transportation spokesman Travis Phelps said traffic engineers will soon begin work on signs with the Stewart SEE STEWART, PAGE 5
for the change. First was the Civil War era, when Stewart served. He described the early 1940s, when the old monuments were installed, as “the height of the Jim Crow period.” And now? “I think we are significantly different and better than we were in 1941,” Dunshee said. He sees no reason to honor Davis here, and described the Confederate leader as “a man who led a revolution that killed more Americans than any other war action we’ve been in.” In Stewart, “we’ve got a man who volunteered in the Union cause,” said Dunshee, adding that black Civil War soldiers “risked enslavement if they were caught.” “I thought he was a man to honor,” Dunshee added. Phelps said the new designation affects Highway 99, which doesn’t run the full length of Washington. Old U.S. 99, once called Pacific Highway, was a federal route from the California-Mexican border to Blaine. It was gradually phased out starting in the early 1960s. Dan Bates / The Herald
Southbound drivers get a glimpse of a new state highway sign near Everett Mall Tuesday that designates the William P. Stewart Memorial Highway. Last year, Highway 99 was renamed to recognize Stewart, an African-American Civil War veteran who settled in Snohomish County after serving with the Union Army.
STEWART
up for what he thought was right,” said Harrison, who has worked on a Snohomish County black history project.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 designation.
is long overdue.
Marian Harrison, 85, was with the sisters in Olympia. She had an ancestor marry into Stewart’s family and is related to Quincy. For Harrison, who lives in Marysville, the change
Harrison, who has testified in Olympia in support of the Stewart designation, praised Dunshee’s tenacity. “I admire the guy. He stood
The issue “was important because it was about us,” Dunshee said. “It was about what we consider important in this state.” Dunshee considered three time periods while pushing
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Highway 99 runs from Fife north through Seattle, where it is Aurora, and into Snohomish County. Officially, it ends in Everett,
near Everett Mall Way and Highway 526. About 200 Civil War veterans are buried in the GAR Cemetery, said Biff Reading, the cemetery manager. They include Sgt. Austin P. Waterhouse, who served with the 44th Indiana Volunteers and lost an arm at the battle of Shiloh. For Dunshee, there’s an important message in honoring a black veteran of the Civil War. “Racism is not dead. It isn’t ended. I think this is a good statement about our state,” he said. Stewart’s great-granddaughters agree. Barrett said history has overlooked contributions made by AfricanAmericans, Native Americans and Chinese workers who toiled to build the country’s railroads. “Snohomish has a very rich history, and so does the state,” she said. “Coming up in school, we learned very little of that history,” said Quincy, a 1962 graduate of Everett High. Today, a proud past has come to light. Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlste i n @ h e ra l d n e t . co m .-
Living H i s to r y
Groups unite to provide visitors a working glimpse into the island fort’s wartime past By DANIEL WARN
dwarn@whidbeynewsgroup.com
Guests at Fort Casey on Aug. 5 were apt to witness scenes from another time. Men in historically accurate World War II uniforms milled about the Central Whidbey fort, greased up their jeeps, shared a cigarette at break and lounged in the barracks. To the untrained eye, the group could have been Fort Casey time travelers from 70 years ago. But to those in the know, they were participants in a living museum exhibit called Living History. Peter Lahmann, part of a WWII history group called Friends of Willie and Joe, participated in the Living History event by bringing his WWII vehicles to Coupeville. The group showed four jeeps with vintages ranging from 1942-44, complete with faux gear to complete the illusion. “We drove up from Olympia this morning in these things and in about twenty minutes we’re gonna drive back,” Lahmann said, explaining that they were going to have to leave the event a bit early because the vehicles were being a temperamental, and they had a ferry to catch. CONTINUED PAGE 7
Photo by Daniel Warn/Whidbey News-Times
George Carter, a self-proclaimed museum piece, readies himself for the questions from a revolving door of guests in a mockup of a WWII military barracks at Fort Casey Aug. 5. Carter was part of a living museum called Living History.
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HISTORY FROM PAGE 6 Lahmann first became interested in WWII when he grew to appreciate his family members that served, he said. “I had seven uncles and one aunt in the service in WWII, and this 1942 Jeep represents two uncles from the 295th combat engineers on the front,” he said. “The 1944 Jeep represents an uncle that was captured by the Germans in January 1945, a prisoner of war until the end of the war.” In one way or another, WWII has steered Lahmann for his entire life. Now he does at least six such demonstrations a year and can display for WWI to Desert Storm with his eight military vehicles. While Lahmann led the vehicle displays, George Carter — an auto mechanic — manned the barracks, showing Fort Casey guests what it must have been like to live in a fort. Carter, who’s been doing living museum exhibits for a dozen years, never broke character, striving to deliver the most authentic experience he could. Carter said he got involved with Living History because he didn’t like reenactments. Apparently they required “too much running around in uncomfortable boots.” Living History is especially joyful, Carter said, when he gets to educate families. “I like being a museum piece and teaching children and teenagers about the past,” he said.
Photos by Daniel Warn/Whidbey News-Times
Above: Peter Lahmann, part of a WWII history group called Friends of Willie and Joe, examines one of the 1940s Jeeps he brought to Fort Casey’s Living History event Aug. 5. At left: Lahmann and another demonstrator discuss the specs of a 1942 combat Jeep.
Lahmann shared Carter’s sentiments, saying than events like Living History are crucial for all generations. “If we don’t remember and pass these stories on to the children, then the contribution of this (WWII) generation will disappear.”
VAQ-129 holds change of command at NAS Whidbey Island The “Vikings” of Electronic Attack Squadron 129 held a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Aug. 1. Cmdr. Eric Illston relieved Capt. Trevor Estes as the commanding officer of VAQ129. The ceremony started with an airborne change of command followed by a more formal ceremony where Estes passed Illston the squadron’s Viking broadsword. In September of 2015, Captain Estes assumed command of VAQ-129, the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for the EA-18G Growler community. In his time leading the 650 personnel and 50 aircraft squadron, 240 students graduated to the Navy’s premier Electronic Attack fleet.
The squadron manages the training for roughly 130 students at a time through a challenging syllabus including airto-air counter tactics, carrier qualifications and airborne electronic attack.
the Vikings were also awarded the Commander, Electronic Attack Squadron Wing Pacific (CVWP) Golden Wrench Award in 2016 for utilizing the most outstanding maintenance practice.
3,200 flight hours in the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler. He joins the Vikings after a tour with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J-5, Global Policy and Partnerships) in the Pentagon.
Estes lead the Vikings through a rigorous operational tempo with 33 detachments to various air stations and aircraft carriers across the country and was the acting carrier air wing commander on seven carrier qualification detachments for all the Tailhook FRSs. Through this schedule,
Estes is leaving the Vikings to command Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) stationed in Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.
“This squadron is the finest training squadron in the world and I’m thrilled to be a Viking again,” said Illston.
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Survey to gauge veteran need, statistics By EVAN THOMPSON
ethompson@whidbeynewsgroup.com
Freeland resident Kat Ersch knows what’s done is done. Her late husband, 22-year Navy veteran Bill Davison, did not receive the level of health care he was entitled to during his final days dealing with Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. The shortcomings were many, but much of it had to do with a lack of access to veterans services on Whidbey Island in the mid-2000s. “I kept trying to reach out for help and couldn’t find anybody,” Ersch said. “He missed out on the services he was entitled to.” She can’t change what happened to her husband, who died in August 2009, but she wants to help ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Ersch is among those encouraging veterans and spouses to participate in an online survey about the status and needs of Island County veterans. Ersch hopes the survey will prove how valuable a standalone veterans resource center would be to Island County’s veterans. “That’s my hope and dream to get that here,” Ersch said. Island County Veterans Services is administering the census survey named “Island County Veterans Count,” which is meant to identify
the demographic of veterans on the island, establish a need for increasing Veteran’s Administration services and establish better connections to services currently available to veterans. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/islandcountyveteranscount to participate. Island County Veterans Services continues to do what it can in terms of connecting veterans with the help they need and providing transportation, but the survey may lead to a greater scope of services, Ersch and Island County Veterans Services Coordinator Dana Sawyers said. The survey includes questions ranging from military occupation and yearly income to whether or not veterans use Veterans Administration health care benefits. The responses from the survey will not be shared publicly and not every question requires answering. The survey, open to both veterans and spouses, should also help definitively prove how many veterans live in the county, as well as identify any shortcomings in services. Prior censuses have shown Island County to have the highest number of veterans per capita in the state, somewhere between 14,000 and 17,000. Island County has about 71,000 total residents, meaning veterans make up about 23 percent of the community.
There is not a crop of health care options available to veterans on the island, Sawyers said. Because there is a shortage of medical providers that accept Veterans Administration programs such as the Choice Program, which allows veterans to receive health care within their community, veterans must travel to Seattle and other areas where help is available. Making matters worse, Sawyers said there are a “surprisingly” high number of veterans who have never connected with the services they’re entitled to due to a lack of awareness. The survey, she hopes, will shed more light on health care benefits veterans have earned and provide more visibility for what Island County Veterans Services is doing in the community.
Photo by Evan Thompson / Whidbey News Group
Kat Ersch holds up a photobook that includes pictures of her late husband, Bill Davison, a 22-year Navy veteran.
Fortunately, Sawyers said, the organization provided this type of information to veterans in July at the Whidbey Island Fair when as many 150 of them stopped by the Island County Veterans Service booth. Dennis Phillips of Richard “Buck” Francisco Marine Corps League Detachment 1451 said the former Marines have also been spreading the word about health care services
when they participate in events and flag raising ceremonies in the community.
health care services and establish the need for better services on the island.
“We just to try to get them hooked up with somebody who can answer their questions and get them pointed in the right direction,” Phillips said.
Island County Veterans Services is also in need of more volunteers who can become care coordinators, a vital part of the operation.
Phillips added the survey will go a long way toward identifying veterans who need
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Sunday Morning................10am Sunday Evening.............6:30pm Wednesday...........................7pm
Sunday Evening Prayer 6:30 PM at St. Mary Catholic Church in Coupeville
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Jeffrey Spencer, Lead Pastor Pastor Marc Stroud, Associate Pastor
679-1561
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NAS Whidbey SAR conducts SAR rescues three in weekend rescues second rescue off Mt. Stuart The day after rescuing an injured 64-year-old hiker off Mount Stuart on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017, another Search and Rescue (SAR) team from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island evacuated his 60-year-old climbing partner. A helicopter from the Chelan County Sheriff ’s Office was unable to reach the man earlier due to environmental factors and aircraft power limitations. Additionally, the sheriff was unable to reach the man or get him to climb to their location due to his inexperience with technical climbing and exhaustion from staying overnight on the mountain. SAR located the man at an altitude of approximately 8,500 ft. After adjusting for altitude and winds, the crew was able to lower a crewmember to the scene and extract him. They then flew him to his family at Pangborn. According to Lt. Erin Hittle, the SAR mission commander, the mission was challenging due to altitude, low visibility and high temperatures. She praised her crew for their professionalism and the successful outcome. “Everyone did a great job today,” she said, “and we were rewarded by watch-
ing this family reunite.” This was the 29th rescue of 2017 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR, which has also conducted five searches and 14 Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions this year, totaling 55 lives delivered to a higher level of care. The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue/ medical evacuation platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation. Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a noninterference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the AFRCC (based on a Washington State Memorandum of Understanding) for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.
A Search and Rescue team from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island conducted two rescues on Saturday, Aug. 19. The first rescue was on Mount Baker in the Cascades, the second in the Olympic National Forest. NAS Whidbey Island received a report through the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center of two injured climbers on Mount Baker. The crew of five departed at approximately 2:20 p.m. and located one of the climbers following a pass of the reported area at an elevation of about 6,000 feet. After hoisting one of the SAR crewmembers to the injured but ambulatory climber’s location, the crew determined that the
other climber was stuck in a crevasse approximately 300 yards away. The crew recovered the first climber and then moved into position over the crevasse. Upon reaching the second climber, the crew determined he was deceased. The crew then departed to transfer the survivor to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham. While they were transferring the survivor, the SAR crew received another request for assistance, this time in the Olympic Mountain Range, approximately 8 miles southwest of Elwha. After refueling, the crew transited to the given location where Forest Service Members were assisting two injured,
64-year-old hikers. The setting sun made visibility difficult, but the crew was able to hover in a safe location and two crewmembers rappelled 150 feet down. After conducting assessments, the two survivors and two crewmen were hoisted into the helicopter for the transit north. The crew landed at the helipad at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles at approximately 7 p.m. and transferred the hikers to higher care. These were the 30th and 31st rescues of 2017 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR, which has also conducted five searches and 14 Medical Evacuation missions this year, totaling 58 lives delivered to a higher level of care.
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MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING SALES CONSULTANT The Whidbey News G r o u p, o n b e a u t i f u l Whidbey Island, WA, is interviewing for a position in the adver tising department sharing the many benefits of newspaper, online and niche product advertising with new accounts and current clients. This is a fast-paced, challenging position that requires a self-star ter, someone ready to hit the ground running, with no limits on success. Our sales staff is equipped with the latest, most up-to-date research and is fortunate to sell the leading media on Whidbey Island, whether that be print or online. Applicants must be forward thinking and able to apply the many benefits of the Whidbey News Group advertising to a variety of businesses. What’s in it for you? In addition to working with a great group of people, we offer a base salary plus commission, excellent medical, dental and vision benefits, paid holidays, vacation, sick and personal days, and a 401(k) retirement plan with a company match. Submit your application to careers@sound publishing.com for immediate consideration. EOE careers@soundpublishing.com
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2014 Harley Davidson XL1200C. Custom 1200 CC. 2 windshields, bags, sissey bar, luggage rack. G r ay & bl a ck $ 7 5 0 0 . 2 0 0 7 Ya m a h a XT225W/C with factory l u g g a g e r a ck $ 1 6 0 0 . both with very low miles. 360-678-3421
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Garage Sale!! Saturday 8/26 8am-3pm Sunday 8/27 8am-1pm Cleaned out closets and garages, lots of good stuff including tablesaw, tools, waher and dryer. No Early Birds! 1251 Rainer LN
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2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06! Stock #T10331 VIN: IGIYT2D64F5602800
Best Financing Available! Over 200 Vehicles in Stock! What Oil Do You Want To Change? Did you Know that there is up to 7 different Oils in your Car, Truck and Suv? They are Motor Oil, Transmission Oil, Brake Fluid, Front Differential, Rear Differential, Transfer Case,and in some Vehicles there is still power Steering Fluid. We Change our Motor Oil every 3-5 Thousand Miles, But yet we do not ever think about the other Vital Oils that need the same service. Come By and See or Call our Professional Service Advisors on When and Why You should Change the other Vital Fluids in your Car, Truck or Suv and Make an Appointment Today to keep Your Vehicle in the Best Running Shape possible.
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