Leading history
Black History Month group of the day
The Tuskegee Airmen, the United States’ first black
fighter pilot group, was formed as both the 99th Fighter
Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group of the 15th Air
Force, United States Army Air Force in 1941. The Unit
ed States military was still segregated at this time, and
black soldiers were still subject to second-class citizen
status.
All 992 pilots selected for the program, mostly col
lege graduates, were trained at the famed Tuskegee In
stitute in Alabama founded by Booker T. Washington.
The unit’s overall commander was Benjamin O. Davis
Jr., who would later become the first black general of
the Air Force.
In both training and active service, the members of
the Airmen endured tremendous racism from white
soldiers. This included an incident in which 103 offi
cers were court-martialed for Insubordination after try
ing to enter one base’s officers’ club.
However, the Airmen proved themselves time and
again, especially during the 10 months (June 1944 to
April 1945) that they flew escort for the heavy bombers
of the 15th Air Force. During the course of 200 mis
sions, not one bomber under their care was shot down
by German fighters. This stands as a record unequaled
by any other air unit in the USAAF during the war.
The Tuskegee Airmen were deactivated in 1945, fol
lowing the end of the war in Europe.
Pat Payne
News brief
Asian Celebration
comes to fairgrounds
Asian legends will come to life
Feb. 15 and 16 at the Lane County
Fairgrounds.
The 18th Annual Oregon Asian
Celebration, presented by the Eu
gene/Springfield Asian Council, will
be held at the Lane Events Center
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days.
The theme of the event, “The Leg
ends of Asia,” will be conveyed with
dances, martial arts demonstrations,
a marketplace, an art exhibition and
traditional Asian foods.
Locations such as Japan, India,
Thailand, Nepal, Hawaii, Korea, the
Philippines and the Middle East will
be represented in the event, which
organizers said attracts about 18,000
visitors every year.
The official opening ceremony will
begin each day with Waka Daiko
taiko drummers and the Chinese li
ondance, to scare away evil spirits
and usher in good fortune.
Daily admission is $4 for adults
and free for children 12 years and
under. A $ 1-off-admission coupon is
available at all area Bi-Mart stores.
— Roman Gokhman
Marijuana
continued from page 1
“We have people coming from all
over the state for our services,” said
Dalotto, who has been involved
with the nutritional and health as
pects of marijuana use his entire
adult life. “We’re creating a model
organization that we hope to dupli
cate in other places.”
Dalotto emphasized that one of
the center’s main goals is to educate
the general public about the
OMMA, which exempts patients
from criminal penalties related to
growing and possessing the herb. In
order to apply for a medical mari
juana card, patients must first be di
agnosed with one of nine qualifying
ailments, such as HIV/AIDS,
Alzheimer’s disease and cachexia, a
condition of severe malnutrition.
Dalotto also said that he is in sup
port of decriminalizing the drug.
“The American public seems to fa
vor legalization, but it relies on politi
cians to pass legislation, he said.
“There is no reason there should be
a law against the plant unless they’re
using it to hurt someone.”
Citing “Question 9,” a recent
Nevada initiative to legalize the
drug, Dalotto said he believes
money plays heavily into the poli
ties of marijuana.
“Any voter initiative for legaliza
tion always gets outspent by cor
porate and government initiates,”
he said.
In spite of support from the Neva
"There is no reason
there should be a law
against the plant
unless they're using it
to hurt someone"
ToddDalotto
Compassion Center
president
da Conference of Police and Sheriffs
— the state’s largest police organiza
tion — the measure failed, with 61
percent of voters rejecting it. Nation
al drug czar John Walters made two
trips to speak against marijuana use
before voters went to the ballot.
But the Compassion Center has
yet to raise ire from governing au
thorities in Oregon.
Dalotto said he’s received no in
terference from state officials and
minimal intervention from federal
officials. Last year, medical marijua
na patient Leroy Stubblefield’s
plants were seized by Drug Enforce
ment Administration agent Michael
Spasaro. Doctor Phillip Leveque, a
physician at the Compassion Cen
ter for two days each month, also
works at a variety of other OMMA
centers across the state, including
Voter Power in Portland. He has
signed medical marijuana applica
tions for more than 4,000 patients
and said that the law’s “strange” cri
teria cause confusion.
“The biggest problem is that
judges don’t understand the law, the
district attorney doesn’t understand
the law and the police don’t under
stand the law,” Leveque said.
Medical marijuana user John
Walsh, a Compassion Center pa
tient and cannabis activist for many
local organizations, said the law’s
gray areas make it “difficult for
there to be enough available when
they need it.”
A benefit for the Compassion Cen
ter and Emerald Empire Hempfest
2003 will be held Saturday at 8 p.m.
at the Campbell Club Cooperative.
Contact the Pulse reporter
at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com.
Love
continued from page 1
marriage ended five years ago. He
said he still wondered and dreamed
about his long ago romance with
Vinton. He had tried locating her
over the years, but ha.d never had
any success.
Vinton, on the other hand, was
never married.
“I guess in the back of my mind I
was always looking for someone who
would measure up to him and no one
ever did,” she said.
In fact, Vinton said she never ex
pected Hesse to come back into her life
again at all. She had thrown away all
of the letters he’d sent her, and all that
remained of their long ago romance
was an old picture of them together
during his brief visit to California.
But Vinton and Hesse’s love story
wasn’t finished. One month ago,
Hesse was finally able to track down
Vinton using google.com. Once he
sent her a first e-mail to find out if
she was the same girl he knew 30
years ago, Hesse and Vinton were
able to rediscover their love for one
another. Long phone conversations
about their lives, dreams and hopes
strengthened Vinton’s and Hesse’s
feelings for each other, and con
vinced her to make the choice she
couldn’t all those years ago — move
to Connecticut to be with Hesse.
“I’ve decided that at this stage in
my life, no matter what I have here,
it’s important to live out that
dream,” Vinton said.
Tina Hammock, a graduation spe
cialist in the Office of the Registrar,
has known Vinton for five years and
said she’s thrilled her friend found her
long lost love. She said you usually
only find heart-rending romance sto
ries on movies or television, but Vin
ton and Hesse’s story went past any
thing she had ever seen before.
Hammock said she will be very
sad to see Vinton leave for Connecti
cut in September, but will make sure
to keep in contact with her. She
added that Vinton has been a good
friend to her and even helped her
find her husband’s biological father.
Vinton and Hesse plan to spend
their first Valentine’s Day together
driving to Seaside, visiting Washing
ton and just spending time with
each another. Vinton said she’s
thankful for the new chance she and
Hesse have been given and doesn’t
have any second thoughts about
moving to Connecticut.
“Just being together is the most
important thing,” she said. “You
don’t want to go to your death bed
with regrets and what-ifs.”
Contact the senior news reporter
at jenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.
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