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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2019)
4A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019 The Observer OUR VIEW Carpe diem, Tigers The superlatives do not soon run out. Dominant. Elite. Historic. Undefeated. State champions. The La Grande High School Tigers football team trounced its competition this season on its way to a perfect 12-0, with the crowning achievement of defeating the defending state title holder Banks in the Class 4A championship. I didn’t get to see the game but listened to it via the internet. This was a tough game. La Grande couldn’t plow through the Banks Braves the way they had so many other opponents. And that revealed the team’s character. Coaches and players stayed with their game plan. They didn’t opt for come cockamamie trick play to ignite a score. They remained focused. They played smart football and capitalizing on opportunities. Knocking off Banks 21-0 was no mean feat. And the Tigers did that almost 45 years to the day the last time the team took state. The players earned this season and the state trophy. They will hold on to the memories of this season the length of their lives. And well they should. Victory, after all, is sweet. But also fl eeting. What this team of Tigers learned, though, is any- thing but fl eeting. Teamwork, sacrifi ce and discipline are core values this group has been building for years. That’s obvious. Values that will serve them well as they move forward, as will the values of te- nacity, surpassing ego, looking at the bigger picture. That’s the kind of stuff these teammates should hold onto. Yes, they should enjoy the win, along with their families, friends and team supporters. They have every right to. But they should savor everything it took to get to that game and prevail. Because at just 17 or 18, even bringing home a state championship should not be the peak of their lives. Rather, this should be a stepping stone, a jumping- off point. They made it so far, yet so much more lies ahead for every member of the team. Life is far longer and tougher than any football game or season, and tests all of us to our limits. The knowledge this team acquired helps prepare them for that. So the questions become, then, for each member, what’s next, what can I do now? The constant lessons they gained on the road to becoming state title holders provides the answers: What you are willing to set your mind to. What you are willing to endure. What you are willing to seek. Really, it goes back to that Latin phrase, carpe diem — seize the day. These Tigers look like they can do that. So, yes, go Tigers. More victories await you. And we are eager to see you achieve those as well. OTHER VIEWS Trump was right to stand up for vet C hief Petty Offi cer Eddie Gallagher is a highly decorated combat vet- eran who made the mistake of posing for a photograph with a dead ISIS combatant. It was a breach of etiquette, to be sure. And it was not good optics for a Navy SEAL to have done such a thing. But it is a minor charge, the only thing a military tribunal was able to convict him of amid a complicated trial that was marred by accusations of pros- ecutorial misconduct and a witness who changed his story on the stand. Despite the relatively minor charge, some in the Navy wanted to remove Gallagher from the SEALs, stripping him of his Trident pin, a serious consequence. Throughout the trial and the debate over Gallagher’s future, one of his stron- gest supporters has been President Trump, who tweeted: “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfi ghter and Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to busi- ness!” I agree with the president on this one. It seems fair to argue that Gallagher might’ve had a prickly personality and wasn’t the best example of military excellence. What doesn’t seem fair is trying to railroad him out of a career as a punitive reaction to the acquittal on more serious charges. But that is exactly what the Navy brass, under the leadership of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, tried to do. After the mixed decision was handed down by the tribunal in July, the Navy pursued an internal inquiry to decide whether Gallagher should be demoted and stripped of the Trident pin, essen- tially kicking him out of the SEALs. The Navy suspended its internal inquiry, but Secretary Spencer was reportedly angry that Trump had intervened in a personnel decision by overruling Gallagher’s demotion and demanding he keep the Trident pin. He CHRISTINE FLOWERS tried to engage in some back channel moves without notifying Defense Secre- tary Mike Esper and was fi red. On his way out, Spencer criticized Trump with a parting shot: “[I don’t think the president] really understands the full defi nition of a warfi ghter. A warfi ghter is a profession of arms and a profession of arms has standards that they have to be held to, and they hold themselves to” I am not an expert on military justice or the code. But as a lay person who is the daughter of a Cold War veteran, the niece of a Marine, the great-niece of a man who parachuted onto the beaches of Normandy, and the cousin of combat veterans in Vietnam, I know what honor looks like. It is not “perfection.” It is not stoicism. It is not the almost in- human ability to suppress our natural emotions in the face of brutality. Honor is what Gallagher showed by being on the front lines in a war that had taken the lives of friends and comrades, men killed by adherents of that sick ideology embraced by the dead ISIS fi ghter. To worry about the optics and fl awed etiquette of posing for the cameras with a vanquished enemy is outrageous, and the Navy leaders who pushed for Galla- gher’s demotion and expulsion from the SEALs were not defending the reputa- tion of the service. They were bowing to PC priorities. This was not Abu Ghraib. This was a photo of a dead ISIS combatant and the men who were glad he couldn’t hurt any more of their brothers. There will be those who will defend the Navy’s right to clean its own house simply because they hate the president so much. There are others who would defend the Navy regardless of who was in the White House. Both are wrong. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Stopped account balances less than $5 will be refunded upon request. Subscription rates per month: By carrier...............................................$11.80 By mail, all other U.S. .............................. $15 A division of LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Observer welcomes letters to the editor. Letters are limited to 350 words and must be signed and carry the author’s address and phone number (for verifi cation purposes only). We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We will not publish poetry, consumer complaints against businesses or personal attacks against private individuals. Thank- you letters are discouraged. Letter writers are limited to one letter every two weeks. Email your letters to news@ lagrandeobserver.com or mail them to La Grande Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, Ore., 97850. MY VOICE My Voice columns should be 500 words. Submissions should include a portrait-type photograph of the author. Authors also should include their full name, age, occupation and relevant organizational memberships. We edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject those published elsewhere. Send columns to La Grande Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, Ore., 97850, fax them to 541-963- 7804 or email them to acutler@ lagrandeobserver.com. Eddie Gallagher, who has announced his retirement, never should have been convicted of posing for an offensive photo. The president was right to stand up for him. The shame is that the Navy didn’t. — Christine Flowers is a syndicated freelance columnist. STAFF Phone: SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 34% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe. Write to us 541-963-3161 An independent newspaper founded in 1896 Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-422-3110 (USPS 299-260) Fax: 541-963-7804 Email: The Observer reserves the right to adjust subscription news@lagrandeobserver.com rates by giving prepaid and mail subscribers 30 days Website: notice. Periodicals postage paid at La Grande, Oregon www.lagrandeobserver.com 97850. 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