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Volume 5 • Issue 6
In this issue:
The ‘Memphis Belle’ takes flight over the Treasure Valley Page 7
RHMS performs “The Love of Three Oranges” Page 8
Fresco Arts Academy to become magnet within Meridian School District
Delivering Community News to Eagle, Star & W. Ada County JUNE 2014
www.theindnews.com
Eagle Field of Honor celebrates military service Keynote speaker Sorensen tells of Vietnam experience
By Philip A. Janquart Former Mayor Nancy Merrill saw her first “Field of Honor” while visiting Washington, D.C. She brought the idea home to Eagle where the “field” has become not only a static display but also a living event now in its eighth year. Hundreds of flags, each one of them representing a service member, adorned Merrill Park at the Eagle Field of Honor dedication ceremony, held May 17 to pay tribute to military personnel, both past and present. “When Nancy left, there was no one to Keynote speaker Leland Sorensen and his wife Laura. run it, to take it over, so my sister Kathy and I said, ‘we’ll do it!” explained volunteer “We were bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Heather Paredes. “My dad was in the Navy supporting the friendlies there in Laos in their and I love my freedom. That’s why I do it.” civil war,” he explained. “In March of 1969, I was Paredes said she and Kathy were aided by involved in a rescue mission to find a pilot that dozens of other volunteers who helped with had ejected from an F-105. He ejected fine, and the flag display and event organization. was seen tearing up documents as he descended, Attending the dedication was Mayor Jim but when he landed in the trees, his parachute Reynolds who was a fighter pilot during the folded in and he fell about 150 feet to the ground Vietnam War. Reynolds said he enjoyed the and died.” “fly-over,” which included a P-40 Kittyhawk, Sorensen said he was lowered by cable to the a Navy Trainer N3N Bi-Plane and a Spotter ground and found the pilot had also rolled down L-19 01 Bird Dog, provided by the Warhawk through a grassy slope, stopping short of another Air Museum in Nampa. tree line and was wrapped up in his parachute. The dedication ceremony also included the “I noticed drops of blood before I got up to him “Posting of Colors,” performed by the U.S. Air and apparently as he rolled down, he had been Force Honor Guard, an invocation by Phil flinging his blood out ahead of him, like a rock Hawkins of the Idaho Veteran’s Home and out of a tire, and so this guy had come down there Taps, performed by Michael Kappelman of pretty fast and pretty hard, because I was seeing Bugles Across America. blood a fair distance from where he actually was.” The Eagle Field of Honor keynote speaker Bringing the downed pilot home, dead or alive, was Leland H. Sorensen who shared some was part of his job, but certain circumstances recent experiences connected to his service prevented that from happening. during the Vietnam War. “It had been three hours since he ejected and Leland Sorensen he was so wrapped up in his parachute,” he exSorensen, born in Pocatello, became a U.S. plained. “It was after five O’clock and the sunset Air Force pararescueman (Parajumper, or PJ for down there is at six every night, I thought it might short) in 1967. His missions involved rescuing be impossible to get out of there and so I left him.” pilots and other crewmembers shot down by enemy fire. Photos by Jackzphotography
Sorensen did so, however, believing another helicopter would come in the next day to recover the downed pilots body, as customary in those situations, but didn’t find out until December 2013 that it never happened. The Search 45 years later “Last December I was contacted by the government. They were trying to locate the air crew for Jolly Green 09 (JG 09) and JG 16, the two HH-3E helicopters on that mission back in 17 March 1969,” Sorensen explained. “I wrote back and told them I was the PJ that went to the ground, so arrangements were made for me to go with a JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, U.S. Department of Defense) team to try to locate the hill I was on.” The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command conducts global search, recovery and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts in order to support the Department of Defense’s personnel accounting efforts, according to the JPAC website. “They (JPAC) had a mission to look for remains and they had this guy’s name on their list, so I went with them in hopes I could identify the hillside I was on,” Sorensen said. The team of investigators, however, only had three days to work, all the while under the under the direct scrutiny of Laos government officials. The first two days produced nothing, and it looked as if the third would also be a bust. The team used various reports of the downed pilot’s last known position, but came up empty. In addition, the landscape had undergone a significant transformation in the 45 years since Sorensen had last seen the area. “When I was lowered to the hillside (in 1969), it was a grassy slope,” he said. “But it’s all jungle now, with trees and vines and grass and bushes, totally unrecognizable.” Read the full article and view many more photos at www.theindnews.com
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Say you saw it in the Independent News
VISIT AND SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY BUSINESSES
Rush Striker United wins championship Page 19
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID EAGLE, IDAHO PERMIT NO. 60
ECRWSS
POSTAL PATRON LOCAL
FOR PRODUCTS, GOODS OR SERVICES COMPETITIVE WITH ANY TREASURE VALLEY BUSINESS FOR QUALITY & VALUE:
Businesses are noted for membership in the Chamber of Commerce: Eagle (E) or Star (S). Eagle Chamber of Commerce 939-4222, Star Chamber of Commerce 908-5476
ANIMAL CARE Kringle's Korner, (S), pg 5 ARCHERY Dead-On Archery, pg 12 ARTS (THE) Eagle Art Commission Sculpture Invitational, pg 11 Fusions Glass Studio, pg 11 AUTOMOTIVE CARE & TIRES Big O Tires, pg 13 BEAUTY & BARBER Todd Stewart, pg 8 BUILDING SUPPLIES Evan’s Building Center/ ACE Hardware, (E), Insert
COMMUNITY & BENEFIT EVENTS City of Star, pg 3 Eagle First Friday, (E), pg 11 DENTAL CARE Star Dental, (S), pg 4, Insert DEPARTMENT STORE Kings, pg 10 DINING & ENTERTAINMENT El Mariachi Loco, pg 3 EDUCATION Little Miracles Preschool, pg 16 Stepping Stones Children’s Center, pg 9 FINANCIAL INSTITUTION Eagle Home Mortgage, pg 18 Idaho Independent Bank, (S), pg 7 FOOD Olive and Vyne, pg 7
FRAMING Finer Frames, (E), pg 11 Frame Works, (E), pg 9 HEALTH CARE Star Medical, pg 12 State of Mind Counseling and Wellness Center, pg 4 HEALTH, WELLNESS, FITNESS Keller Skin Care, (E), pg 17 Silk Touch Medspa, (E), pg 7 HOME IMPROVEMENT Avalanche Glass & Doors, pg 17 Budget Blinds, pg 8 CF Construction, pg 20 LANDSCAPING, IRRIGATION Eagle Landscape, pg 17 Eagle Tree & Shrub, (E), pg 13 Star Tree & Shrub, pg 8
REAL ESTATE Lions Gate Subdivision, pg 2 Maggie Price, Century 21 Realty, pg 5 The Smack Group Realty, Insert SENIOR SERVICES Paramount Parks at Eagle, pg 9 The Cottages, (E), pg 14 VISION CARE Eagle Vision One, (E), pg 19 BUSINESS DIRECTORY, pg 16 Ada Emissions Carew Property Management Handyman Can Hummingbird Lawn & Garden Equipment Repair Star Tires Tom Merkle Lawn Care