STATE
6A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
O REGON IN B RIEF
From wire reports
Union Pacifi c train
with liquefi ed gas
derails in Portland
PORTLAND — Union
Pacifi c says two locomotives
and three tank cars contain-
ing liquefi ed petroleum gas
derailed in Portland, striking
and cracking a support beam
to an overpass providing
access to a major industrial
area.
The company says there
are no injuries and none
of the tanks leaked in the
derailment that happened
at about 9:20 a.m. Saturday.
Crews are working to get the
locomotives and tank cars
back on the tracks.
Portland Bureau of Trans-
portation spokesman Dylan
Rivera said North Going
Street is closed until city
engineers determine how
much damage the overpass
sustained. It’s not clear when
the road might reopen.
The road provides access
to Swan Island, a major in-
dustrial area of the city with
many workers.
Rivera says a small
private road is being used to
access Swan Island.
But authorities returned
the phone and other elec-
tronic devices several
months later after fi nding
no such images. Buckmeyer
died a few months after that
in April.
Target spokeswoman
Danielle Schumann declined
to comment.
Man arrested after
dump truck drops
gravel on interstate
PORTLAND — A 50-year-
old man police say used a
dump truck to drop loads
of gravel on Interstate 5 in
Portland and attempted to
elude police in the vehicle
has been taken into custody.
KOIN-TV reported that
Craig Ferrero was arrested
Friday on suspicion of crimi-
nal mischief, reckless driving,
reckless endangering and
unlawful use of a vehicle.
Dozens of police offi cers
pursued the dump truck that
left the freeway. It fi nally
stopped on Southwest Bar-
bur Boulevard after spike
strips shredded its tires.
It’s not clear from online
records if Ferrero has an
attorney.
Temporary fi x made
at hatchery to prevent Lawsuit over
shooting death of
salmon die-off
Finicum dismissed
TRAIL — Workers at
Cole Rivers Hatchery in
western Oregon have put in
new plastic water piping as
a temporary fi x to prevent
another massive die-off of
Rogue River spring chinook
salmon eggs.
The (Medford) Mail
Tribune reported in a story
on Friday that the work is
intended to prevent a repeat
of a fungal outbreak in
December that killed 1.2 mil-
lion spring chinook eggs and
young fi sh called fry.
The work is a stop-gap effort
until the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers fixes the water
system and worn-out elements
at the 46-year-old facility.
Offi cials say the die-off
in December was caused
by rusting metal pipes and
bacteria in sediment that
accumulated for years in the
piping.
Two dead after
vehicles collide in
northwestern Oregon
MOLALLA — Offi cials in
northwestern Oregon say
the driver of a Mini Cooper
and her male passenger died
when the vehicle collided
with a Dodge Ram pickup.
The Clackamas County
Sheriff’s Offi ce said the col-
lision occurred at about 4:30
p.m. Friday near Molalla.
Authorities say the woman
died at the scene and the
man was fl own to an area
hospital where he died.
Police say the driver of
the truck appeared to be
uninjured.
Police say the initial inves-
tigation indicates the driver
of the Mini Cooper was at
fault for the crash.
Names haven’t been
released.
Lawsuit: Target lied
about child porn on
customer’s phone
PORTLAND — The family
of a deceased Oregon man
has fi led a $1 million lawsuit
against Target contending a
worker made up a false story
about child pornography on
the man’s mobile phone that
led to his arrest and eventual
death due to a heart attack
caused by stress.
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reported that the family
of 43-year-old Jeffrey Buck-
meyer fi led the lawsuit last
week in Multnomah County
Circuit Court.
Authorities seized Buck-
meyer’s electronic devices
after Buckmeyer visited a
Target store in Portland in
July 2018 for help with his
phone, and an employee
reported seeing naked girls
about 10 years old.
PORTLAND — A federal
lawsuit related to the shoot-
ing of rancher Robert LaVoy
Finicum has been dismissed.
Oregon Public Broadcast-
ing reports the civil suit was
fi led in U.S. District Court
of Oregon by Ryan Payne,
Shawna Cox and others who
were associated with the
Bundy family’s 2016 occupa-
tion of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge.
They claimed that FBI
agents, Oregon State Police
and other offi cials violated
their civil rights by using
excessive force and “ambush-
ing” them on the day Fini-
cum was shot and killed.
Chief District Court Judge
Michael Mosman dismissed
all counts in the lawsuit Fri-
day, saying “It’s time to put a
fork in this case.”
The lawsuit was fi led in
January 2018.
Judge halts 50% pay
hike for blueberry
pickers for now
OLYMPIA, Washing-
ton — A federal judge has
blocked the government from
imposing a 50% wage hike
for blueberry pickers.
The Olympian reports U.S.
District Court Judge Salva-
dor Mendoza Jr. temporarily
stopped the Department of
Labor from implementing a
July order raising wages for
pickers.
Zirkle Fruit southeast of
Seattle sued to prevent the
government from starting
the new wage structure.
The government notifi ed
Zirkle of the new pay rate
on July 24, a day after the
increase actually took effect.
Zirkle said it was blind-
sided by the mid-harvest pay
hike. The blueberry harvest
began in June and continues
through September.
Two killed in small
plane crash near
Hood River
HOOD RIVER — A pilot
and passenger were killed
in a small plane crash near
Hood River.
Hood River County Deputy
Joel Ives told the Oregonian/
OregonLive that the crash
happened at about 10:10 a.m.
Friday in a fi eld between
a runway and a hangar at
Hood River Airport.
He says witnesses heard
the engine sputter before
the plane headed toward the
ground.
The identities of the two
people have not yet been
released by authorities. It’s
not immediately clear what
caused the crash.
Edgar Weinberger/US Army via National Archives
Pendleton-based Army paratroopers get ready to jump over a forest fi re in summer 1945. In the fi nal years of
WWII, Japan launched thousands of bomb-carrying hydrogen balloons to drift across the Pacifi c on the jet stream
in an attempt to start forest fi res. Most probably fell harmlessly into the ocean, but hundreds reached North
TRIPLE NICKLES
Honored for their work during WWII
By Tom Banse
Oregon Public Broadcasting
PENDLETON — It’s a story that
seemingly has it all: a classifi ed mis-
sion, dashing young men in uniform,
leaps out of fl ying airplanes, stray
bombs, plus some wildfi res and a side
of racial prejudice. The little-known
slice of Pacifi c Northwest history
featuring an all-black Army battalion
is less likely to be overlooked now
that the state of Oregon and people
in Pendleton have put up a historical
marker.
Eastern Washington University
sociologist Bob Bartlett had a big hand
in reviving regional interest in the
veterans of Operation Firefl y, which he
only heard about fi ve years ago.
“I see this picture of these para-
troopers, these all-black paratroop-
ers, boarding a plane. I said, ‘Whoa,
whoa, whoa,’” Bartlett recalled in an
interview. “It says 1945. I’m thinking,
‘I don’t know.’ I read the story. Imme-
diately I was drawn in. Wait a minute.
How did I not know this story?”
Bartlett has been hooked ever since
on the history of the Triple Nickles.
That’s the nickname of the 555th
Parachute Infantry Battalion, the na-
tion’s fi rst black paratroopers. The U.S.
military was segregated back then.
Bartlett’s own father and uncle served
in other segregated Army units in
World War II, which seeded his inter-
est in military history.
Bartlett said the Triple Nickles
thought they were destined for Japan
when they stopped at Pendleton Army
Airfi eld in the spring of 1945. But no,
they were about to be converted into
smokejumpers for Operation Firefl y.
Professional smokejumping started in
1939 in Washington’s Methow Valley.
“They had two missions: to fi nd
Japanese balloon bombs and to dis-
mantle or destroy them, and to fi ght
forest fi res,” Bartlett said. “At the
time, the military thought those two
things were connected.”
In the fi nal years of WWII, Japan
launched thousands of bomb-
carrying hydrogen balloons to drift
across the Pacifi c on the jet stream
and start forest fi res. Most probably
fell harmlessly into the ocean, but
hundreds reached North America.
“They dropped all over including
Spokane and Boise, and Mexico and
Alaska,” Bartlett explained. “As far
away as Michigan and Iowa.”
The partial success of the enemy’s
incendiary balloon barrage was
kept hush-hush on the homefront to
prevent panic.
Bartlett said he is motivated to
make sure the soldiers’ story doesn’t
get lost to the winds of time. That’s
how his path crossed with the
Oregon agency in charge of his-
torical markers. The Oregon Travel
Information Council wants to “fi ll in
gaps” in whose history is recognized,
heritage manager Annie von Domitz
said.
It took several years of planning
and fundraising before a diverse
crowd could gather in the late summer
heat for a dedication on Pendleton’s
Main Street. Bartlett, who hails from
Spokane, got the honor of cutting the
National Archives/Eastern Washington University
A trooper in full gear waits for the order to board ship at Pendleton Army
Airfi eld in summer 1945.
Tom Banse/Northwest News Network
Eastern Washington University senior lecturer Bob Bartlett, kneeling lower
right, poses alongside other history buffs beside the new historical marker
for the Triple Nickles in Pendleton on Aug. 30.
ribbon for Oregon’s newest historical
marker.
“Are the scissors sharp?” he asked
as he hefted the oversized ceremo-
nial shears. A sizable audience of
onlookers and history buffs let out a
big cheer when three vigorous snips
severed the red ribbon.
The interpretive panel succinctly
describes Operation Firefl y, the Triple
Nickles and the Japanese balloon
bomb barrage. The marker also is
forthright in acknowledging the
discrimination that 300 or so black
soldiers experienced in Pendleton dur-
ing that era.
Reached by phone in Florida,
96-year-old retired Sgt. J.J. Corbett
said the reception the elite troops got
varied from friendly to racist.
“We met people who said they had
never seen colored folks,” Corbett
recalled.
Corbett distinctly remembers being
taken aback by the signs on some
business doors.
“During that time, we saw signs
(that said), ‘No dogs and Indians are
allowed,’” he said.
The African-American soldiers
learned the prohibition applied to
them, too.
“The reception was cold. We could not
eat in any one of the restaurants,” retired
Lt. Col. Bradley Biggs said in a 1990 oral
history recording preserved at Howard
University. “We found it difficult to buy
a drink or a meal. Only two bars would
serve us anything. … Hotels in town
would not serve us.”
The townspeople, he said, “were living
in the Northwest but with a Southern
attitude.”
Very few members of the Triple
Nickles are still alive today, and
none of them could make it to the
late August dedication.
“I wished I could be out there,”
Corbett said in an interview from
his home in Bartow, Florida, ahead
of the event. “I regret that I didn’t go
back to Pendleton ever.”
Corbett said it took him a long
while to realize his battalion had
done things that were worth recog-
nizing.
Pendletonian Brooke Armstrong,
executive director of Pendleton
Underground tours, contributed to
placement of the historical marker.
She said that while her city is dif-
ferent now, the discrimination that
happened in the past “needs to be
addressed.”
“I love how things are turning
around,” Armstrong said. “Maybe
not everywhere in the world, but if
we can make some impact on it, I’m
all for it.”
Event organizer Kristin Dol-
larhide of Travel Pendleton said
the marker dedication showed “it’s
never too late” to make amends,
even almost 75 years later.