A4
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MAy 20, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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GUEST COLUMN
Unity and strength through diversity
F
or the second year in a row, Memo-
rial Day observances in communi-
ties, organizations and even within
family groups will look very different
later this month because of the COVID
pandemic.
The parades, large ceremonies and
other occasions, which I and so many
others in the Oregon veteran community
have always found moving and mean-
ingful, have not yet been
able to safely return in
many places.
Yet, the importance
of this day — and the
emotions and memories
that it brings — have not
changed.
KELLY
For countless families
FITZPATRICK
across our communities,
our state and our nation,
Memorial Day is a stark and, often, pain-
ful reminder of those loved ones who
went to serve their country and never
came home.
Whether they volunteered during a
time of war, stood guard over our peace
or never expected to wear the uniform
until their draft card arrived — their ser-
vice and selfless sacrifice represent the
best and highest ideals that America has
to offer.
We continue to feel their loss today.
In recent months, and particularly as
we have approached this year’s Memorial
Day holiday, I have found myself reflect-
ing on the themes of unity and strength in
diversity.
It was just before the Korean War, in
1948, that President Harry S. Truman
issued Executive Order 9981 — abol-
ishing discrimination based on race,
color, religion or national origin in the
U.S. armed forces. When war broke out
in 1950, our country entered the fray
with a fully integrated and desegregated
military.
I believe those who have served our
nation in uniform know the meaning
— and the value — of unity more than
almost anyone else. We were trained to
protect those on our right and those on
our left — and to trust that they would do
the same for us.
Every day in service, all that mattered
was that someone had your six, and was
there to offer a hand when you stumbled.
Their color, nation of origin, religion or
sexual orientation were not part of the
equation.
After service, the diversity of our vet-
eran community is a source of immense
pride and strength. We are Black, white,
Latinx, Asian American and Pacific
Islander, men, women, transgender and
nonbinary, young and old, urban and
rural, of every race, religion and creed —
unified through our shared service and
sacrifice.
The honored ranks of the fallen
include Sgt. John Noble Holcomb, who
was born in Baker. John was awarded
the Medal of Honor posthumously for
his extraordinary courage and sacrifice
Associated Press
Many Memorial Day celebrations will be virtual again this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
MAy WE NEVER FORGET OuR FALLEN HEROES.
THEy WERE THE BEST OuR COuNTRy HAd TO
OFFER, ANd THEIR MEMORy INSPIRES uS TO BE
BETTER. THEIR COuRAGE MOVES uS. THE WORLd
IS A BETTER PLACE BECAuSE OF THEM, BECAuSE
THEy LIVEd ANd BECAuSE THEy SERVEd.
during the Vietnam War — where he sin-
gle-handedly forced an enemy retreat,
despite being mortally wounded, saving
many American lives.
They include Erin McLyman, from
Eugene, who proudly enlisted in the U.S.
Air Force after recovering from a severe,
years-long addiction to drugs and alcohol
that began when she was in just her first
year in high school. She later enlisted
in the Oregon National Guard, and was
eager to deploy to Iraq. She died March
13, 2010, in an enemy mortar attack.
They include the 100th Infantry Bat-
talion — which became known unoffi-
cially as the “Purple Heart Battalion.”
The unit was one of only two combat
units during World War II that was com-
prised of second-generation Japanese
Americans, known as “nisei,” who had
briefly had their rifles stripped away due
to prejudice following the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
They would go on to fight bravely in
Europe, even as their families remained
in internment camps back in the United
States. The men of the 100th Infantry
Battalion earned recognition as the most
decorated American unit of its size and
length of service.
And the honored ranks of the fallen
include Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn
Cashe, who was the first Black service
member to receive the Medal of Honor
for service in Iraq or Afghanistan for the
heroism he displayed after his Bradley
struck a roadside bomb.
The explosion ruptured the Bradley’s
fuel cell, engulfing both the vehicle and
its occupants in flames. Enemy fire soon
rained down on their position. But none
of that stopped Sgt. Cashe from acting
quickly to save his soldiers.
Drenched in fuel, he pulled the driver
and five other soldiers from the burning
vehicle — saving their lives, while suf-
fering second- and third-degree burns
over 72% of his own body. Despite this,
he insisted on being the last person on a
medical evacuation helicopter.
Cashe exhibited incredible courage
during that attack. Despite the fact that
both the vehicle and its occupants were
engulfed in flames, and amid unrelenting
enemy fire, he acted quickly to save his
soldiers.
Putting the welfare of his soldiers
ahead of his own and ignoring the terrible
burns, he insisted on being the last person
on a medical evacuation helicopter.
Sgt. Cashe died 22 days later — on
Nov. 8, 2005. He was only 35.
It is impossible to know exactly what
was going through the minds of Sgt.
Cashe, Sgt. Holcomb, Private McLy-
man, the members of the 100th Infan-
try Battalion and so many other heroes as
they made the ultimate sacrifice. But we
who have served know they were moti-
vated by the rare courage and devotion
that is common to those who have borne
the battle — to protect our nation, our
loved ones back home and our fellow
servicemembers.
The harsh reality of war and conflict is
that not everyone will make it home. Let
us honor the memory of heroes no longer
with us — not just on Memorial Day, but
every day. And let us strive to live up to
the incredible example they have set for
all of us.
May we never forget our fallen
heroes. They were the best our country
had to offer, and their memory inspires
us to be better. Their courage moves us.
The world is a better place because of
them, because they lived and because
they served.
May we never forget what they sac-
rificed, and what their loved ones have
lost.
Kelly Fitzpatrick is the director of the
Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Misleading
R
e: College tuition increase and
COVID-19 surcharge: If there is any
misleading going on about these topics,
it’s being done by David Oser (The Asto-
rian, May 13). A reading of board minutes
over the last 12 months will show that both
were discussed as options by the board.
A check of SAVECCC.COM will
show that news of the budget commit-
tee’s decision to not seek a tuition increase
was posted May 12, the day after it was
announced at a full board meeting, the day
before Oser’s letter, and is visible on every
single page of the site. I have replaced ref-
erences to a COVID surcharge with “fee
increases,” raised again as a possibility by
a board member at the most recent board
meeting.
As to Oser’s assertion that there are
scholarships available to cover every
potential student’s tuition and living
expenses, it is flat out false. The average
community college student Pell Grant cov-
ers about two-thirds of tuition. Of course,
one could always go into debt for the next
15 years via usurous, nondischargeable
college loans.
CCC’s current tuition may be negligi-
ble to someone of Oser’s financial status,
but it’s a hell of a lot of money to every-
body else.
TIM LYMAN
Warrenton
Who benefits?
N
othing to see here, folks. Nobody
behind the curtain, certainly not U.S.
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, or Demo-
crat Gov. Kate Brown.
Simpson’s floating a plan in Congress
to breach the lower Snake River dams,
integral to supplying Pacific Northwest
electricity. We’ve invested billions of dol-
lars over decades in these dams to sup-
port salmon population. You pay for this
in your electricity bill, so breach the dams
and it all goes down the drain.
A three-year, court-mandated scien-
tific study released last year recommended
retaining the four lower Snake River
dams, with additional steps supporting
salmon.
Meanwhile, Brown announced creation
of a multistate group of stakeholders to
develop a long-term agreement to combine
resources, find solutions. Why on March
4, one week after the group first met, did
Brown quietly sue the federal government
to overturn their decision and breach the
dams? Have you read about that?
U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.,
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and
Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., issued a strongly
worded statement regarding the collusion,
upon learning of the hidden coordination
between the offices of Simpson and Brown
regarding the proposal to breach the four
dams, condemning the lack of transpar-
ency and the undermining of four gover-
nors’ agreement to work together.
Why, with no proven benefits to salmon
population, are they colluding to remove
a source of 100% renewable energy? Who
benefits? Certainly not the salmon or the
rate payers.
Collusion, definitely not collaboration.
ERIKA PALECK
Director, West Oregon Electric
Cooperative District 5
Vernonia
Assumes
I
n the May 11 edition of The Astorian,
a letter titled “No one” assumes facts
that aren’t facts. The author, one Christina
Buck, claims that those of us who’ve not
been vaccinated are “solely responsible”
for herd immunity to be absent from Clat-
sop County.
Buck has no way of knowing this. We
may have reached herd immunity. She
doesn’t know. She further says, “Every
single person must get vaccinated,” an
absurd statement. Should infants be vac-
cinated? Trained medical professionals
might disagree with her blanket assertion.
The fact — and actual facts regarding
the virus and vaccines are in exceedingly
short supply — is that, a year ago, the vac-
cines didn’t exist.
It’s also a fact that most healthy peo-
ple have little to fear from the coronavi-
rus. It makes no sense for healthy individ-
uals to take a vaccine about which little
is known, to combat a virus that probably
won’t harm or kill them and that they have
excellent odds of recovering from, if they
become infected.
It’s been documented that individuals
in certain demographic groups are subject
to adverse, and even fatal, reactions due
to the vaccines. Verified accounts of death
related to the vaccines exist, although
they’re not publicized by the media, which
is troubling.
Again, there’s no way to know the vac-
cines are safe in the intermediate and long
term. “No one” knows.
SCOTT AMES
Astoria