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A veteran remembers
Union
County
Former prisoner of war recounts Vietnam experiences
hits pause
By Dick Mason
The Observer
Local schools work to
remain open as some
activities take a break
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — The
La Grande School District could
return all grades to distance
learning as the number of cases
of COVID-19 continues to mount.
Other local school districts also
are working to remain open to
in-person instruction.
Other activities, however, are
going to have to take a break.
Gov. Kate Brown on Monday,
Nov. 9, announced Union
County joined the group of coun-
ties taking a two-week pause
on social activities to help stop
the rapid spread of COVID-19
where community transmis-
sion is on the rise. Baker County
also made the pause list Monday,
along with Clackamas and Wash-
ington counties. The four join
Jackson, Malheur, Marion, Mult-
nomah and Umatilla counties on
the pause, which goes into effect
Wednesday, Nov. 11, and lasts
until Nov. 25.
The pause measures include
urging all businesses to man-
date work from home, ceasing
long-term care facility visits that
take place indoors and reducing
the maximum capacity of other
indoor activities to 50 people.
The governor is instituting the
two-week pause in counties with
a case rate above 200 per 100,000
people over a two-week period or
more than 60 cases over a two-
week period for counties with less
than 30,000 people.
Union County on Friday
was close to reaching the pause
threshold. Over the weekend,
Union County had 19 new cases
of COVID-19. Monday morning,
the Center for Human Develop-
ment, La Grande, reported 13
new cases in the county. Brown’s
announcement about the pause
came hours later.
Since the pandemic began,
Union County has reported 553
total cases and two resulting
deaths.
The Oregon Health Authority
on Monday reported the state
had 723 new COVID-19 cases,
bringing the state total to 51,155.
Four more people in Oregon died
from the virus, pushing the state’s
death toll to 734.
The pause comes as the La
Grande School District considers
shifting all students to virtual
learning.
The district in an announce-
See, Schools/Page 6A
Mike Benge did not know his life was in
immediate danger, but his friends did.
Benge, then a civilian in the South
Vietnam city of Ban Me Thuot, was doing
what he did best in early February 1968 —
reaching out to those in need of assistance.
The North Vietnamese’s historic and devas-
tating Tet Offensive was underway. Benge
was trying to help everyone he could to evac-
uate before the next attack occurred.
Benge, from Morrow County in Eastern
Oregon, was preparing to go up a hill to lend
a hand to friends when he noticed they were
waving. He fi rst thought the waves were a
greeting, then he detected desperation.
“They were telling me that the North Viet-
namese were after me,” Benge said.
By the time he realized this, it was too late.
Out of a ditch emerged North Vietnamese
soldiers.
“There were 13 of them, armed with
AK-47s and SKS assault rifl es and a rock-
et-propelled grenade launcher — the muzzle
of which at that moment was pointed at me,
looked as big as a bushel basket,” he said.
Benge did not know it, but years of impris-
onment awaited him.
Higher-ups disregard crucial
intelligence
The course of Benge’s life had changed
dramatically from a short time earlier when
he was watching the start of the Vietnamese
Lunar Year, also known as Tet, a major
holiday.
South Vietnam and North Vietnam were
at war, but many in South Vietnam felt safe
because the two sides agreed to a cease
fi re for the Tet holiday. Benge knew better,
though, because the anti-communist Montag-
nards of Vietnam’s highlands reported to him
they had seen a large North Vietnamese force
on the Cambodian border poised to make an
attack on Ban Me Thuot.
Benge and his friend Gerry Hickey were
disappointed with the response they received
after telling military offi cials of the report.
“They brushed aside the intelligence, ques-
tioning whether the Montagnards could be
believed,” Benge said.
The response of the two men was one of
incredulity.
Mike Benge/Contributed Photo
Mike Benge, left, talks with Montagnards in South Vietnam in the 1960s while with the
U.S. Agency for International Development. Benge, who has family in Union County, would
spend six years as a prisoner of war following the Tet Offensive in January 1968 in Vietnam.
“I can’t explain what it felt like
to fi nally be free.”
— Mike Benge, who spent six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam
See, Benge/Page 5A
COVID-19 aid available for businesses
By Kaleb Lay
The Observer
LA GRANDE — As corona-
virus cases surged last week in
Union County and winter con-
tinued its steady approach, the
struggles of the past year were
fresh in the minds of many La
Grande business owners.
While most La Grande busi-
nesses have thus far survived the
pandemic relatively unscathed,
many have done so thanks
to local, state and federal aid
programs.
“Most of our businesses are
holding on, with some actually
having benefi ted from the pan-
demic, including businesses that
offer items that are necessary
right now like face masks,” said
Christine Jarski, economic devel-
opment director for the city of La
Grande.
Jarski said the city still has
funding available for businesses
that have been affected by the
coronavirus pandemic, including
a low-interest loan program
reserved for businesses within
city limits. The city issues one
such loan to The Cell Fix, a local
electronics repair company.
“There’s been a lot of assis-
tance utilized,” said Harold Wol-
INDEX
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Kaleb Lay/The Observer
The Cell Fix electronics repair shop, La Grande, is one of 24 business-
es that received low-interest loans from the city of La Grande due to
impacts from COVID-19.
ford, who works at The Cell Fix.
“I think there have been local and
state level assistance that’s been
utilized that’s defi nitely been
appreciated. … We’re adjusting,
we’re keeping up with everything,
but there were defi nitely times
that that assistance was essential
and appreciated.”
The program offers loans of up
to $10,000 to affected businesses
at 1% interest.
The loans are issued on
48-month terms, and payments
are deferred for the fi rst six
months. The second six months
require interest-payments only.
WEATHER
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Jarski said the city has
awarded 24 of the loans to local
businesses, and the program
has about $80,000 in remaining
funds. She also stressed addi-
tional resources are available,
including grants through the city
and various federal programs.
To qualify for the city’s
emergency loans, businesses
must be physically located
within La Grande city limits
and cannot have employed
more than 50 people when
operating at full strength. Busi-
nesses also must have been rel-
atively stable before the nega-
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
31 LOW
39/23
A little snow
Morning fl urries
WARMING STATION PREPARES
tive effect of the pandemic hit.
Wolford said business has been
steady through the pandemic so
far. He also noted if The Cell Fix
hadn’t received assistance, he was
unsure if “we’d still be here.”
With winter weather nearing
and the travel season at an end,
some experts expect the corona-
virus will exacerbate seasonal
slowdowns for some business.
“Our hotels and motels,
now that the travel season is
over, they’re going to see nega-
tive impacts,” said Greg Smith,
director of the Eastern Oregon
University Small Business Devel-
opment Center, La Grande.
“People who don’t have to travel
are not.”
Not all businesses have expe-
rienced contractions due to the
pandemic, according to Smith,
who noted, “If you’re running a
liquor store, you’re doing extraor-
dinarily well.”
Businesses interested in assis-
tance programs should visit the
Union County Chamber of Com-
merce website. Any business
considering closing can contact
Jarski, the Northeast Oregon
Economic Development District
or the Small Business Develop-
ment Center.
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 134
2 sections, 12 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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observer.com.
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com