OPINION
High-flying flag’s disappearance baffles caretaker
Gone Perry is offering SUX) for an
American flag.
Bui don't start digging through
your storage thinking you've found a
way to make a quick buck. Perry's look
ing for a particular American flag It's the
one that has boon flying high above Al
ton Baker Park at the top of a 195-foet
Douglas Fir tree near the Aut/.en Foot
hriHoo
Pal Malach
Perry put the first
flag up on the Fourth
of July, 1991, to honor
Vietnam veterans.
And now ho believes
it has been stolen.
“I first noticed it
(was gone) on Tues
day morning of this
last week,” the !1H
yoar-old University
Physical Plant em
ployee said. "I had it
really attached good,
so ! was positive it
man 1 blow down, bul i wont over mere
anyway to look."
l’erry, who runs a weekend tree-trim
ming business, first climbed within 10
feet of the top of the tree, where the
width is "about the size of a 12-ounce
Pepsi or Coke can," on the day many
were celebrating the return of Desert
Storm veterans.
Perry said ho got the idea to flV the fine
because the Desert Storm parados re
minded him of the lack of tribute given
to reluming Vietnam veterans
"Everybody was celebrating and doing
the big whoop-di-do about it and all
this," Perry said, "and I got a brother-in
law and some friends that went through
Vietnam, and they didn't get anything
done lor them .''
Perry said his brother-in-law. Bob
Wyckoff of Eugene, was "really feeling
low."
"1 just hung this flag up there," he
said, "and it just brought his esteem back
up It just made him feel goral again I
said, 'This is for you.' "
Perry used climbing chains and spikes
that fasten to his boots to scale the tree
When he got near the top. he attached
the three-by-five-feet flag to a tolesc ojiing
fiberglass pole that extender! to about 30
foe! Perry completed his one-man war
memorial by fastening the pole to the
tree with nylon rope.
But the flag he believes was taken
down is not the original Perry said lie
cause of the strong winds that rt|> the Hag
up over time, he lias had to replace Old
Glorv four times
Perry said the flags themselves don't
rost much to replace, hut it is the idea
!Hij» someone took it that bothers him
"The flag's not really lm|Kirtant,"' he
said It would he nice to get it all heck
so I rouhi put it hack up The tree just
looks naked without it
Perry said he suspet ts the flag may
have been taken by the same person who
put a peace flag up on the same pole ear
lier this fall Perry said if that t* the case,
he'll trade his American flag for the
peace flag he took down and keeps at
home.
"(The peace flag) stayed there maybe
two days before I really got pissed-off
and took it down," he said "1 had talked
to a couple of guys already who said
they were ready to shout it down, and it
was only up there for a couple of days
Perry said the American flag starlod as
,i gesture to his brother-in-law. bill he
lias continued to maintain It because so
many people have taken a liking to il
"It wasn't put up out of spite." he said
"it was meant to make people feel good,
not to bo ripped down and stolon
I'.it Malm h is i-tilUir t>l the Emerald
CcMuflwfty p#>Olo
Gene P0rry places a new flag earlier this
summer at the lop of a I9i>-teet Douglas
Fir tree near the Autien Footbridge Perry
said he believes the flag, which serves as
a memorial for Vietnam veterans, was
stolen last week.
LETTERS
Find solutions
Did the students who slept in
the EMU Courtyard Tuesday
night really servo a purpose hv
sleeping under a circus tent?
Why not do something really
worthwhile with your time?
Sign students up to work for
Habitat for Humanity, help
transport volunteers to local
soup kitchens and shelters dur
ing non-holiday times when
they're really needed, or sell
your trademark Birkenstocks
and buy a homeless kid a
month's worth of food.
Most people are painfully
aware of the plight of the home
less. Please don't turn the issue
into a circus act. why not work
on solution*?
Paul W Budlong
Business
Sugarcoated
In responding to Deanna
Dawson and Keri Levine about
their disgust over the Lollipops
advertisement In the Emerald,
all I ran say is:
Sugar, if someone thinks ad
vertising for watching women
dance nude is blatant disre
spect for women, she should re
consider
I mean, baby, whistling and
hooting .it a woman on the
strut)! is d isrespeclfuI
And sweetie. speaking con
descendingly to a woman is
disrespectful In women
Hut (ensuring advertising in
the University newspaper on
the basis of political correct
ness is disrespectful to every
one's intelligent e
Gilbert Hanson
English
Keep power
The editorial against the right
ol Oregonians to amend the Or
egon Constitution through bal
lot measures is the worst case
of arrogance and elitism I've
seen In the Enwrultl
In lhi’ editorial, you "It
simply gives l«<' much power
to people who can't handle It
Don't you trust the people?
Why can't we handle it? Are
you one of the chosen few who
can handle the power'
You also say, "The elei torute
does not deserve that mut h
power." It is precisely the pow
er to change the constitution
that the writers of the Oregon
Constitution wanted to pre
serve.
In most states, the electorate
doesn't have the control over
the political process that Orego
nians have We should not he
working against this type of
puwi r but working to empower
voters in otliiir status
Brain McNamara
Undeclared
POLICY
I .otters to the editor
must he limited to no
more than 250 words,
legible, signed and the
identification of the
writer must be verified
when the letter is sub
mitted.
\ THIS WEEK
oa»«a«^Soi
vo i^w
A 'r'£#'5ot** Sch°°1ipTISC^
LP at ^ O0 m'rnbCt^J£sted a°d
:;r
346-4362
Dole Whip
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