East Oregonian : E.O., May 31, 2016, Image 1

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CAR
SHOW
PENDLETON
GEARS UP FOR
SEMIFINALS
ECHO/3A
SOFTBALL/1B
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016
140th Year, No. 162
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON AVENUE OF FLAGS
Last 48-star flag to be retired
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
As people fl ocked to the
Hermiston Cemetery to pay
their respects on Memorial
Day, a sharp-eyed visitor
noticed something interesting
about one of the fl ags lining
the gravesites: It only had 48
stars.
“You can see it in the
pattern of the stars, the way
they’re offset,” Ken May said.
It wasn’t easy to spot — the
fl ag is one of approximately
600 that form the Avenue of
Flags lining the cemetery each
Memorial Day. The effort is
spearheaded by Veterans of
Foreign Wars Post 4750, and
they thought they had retired
all of the old 48-star fl ags
years ago.
The fl ags are all casket
fl ags donated by veterans’
families, standing as a stark
visual reminder of the number
of men and women with
local ties who have fought
to defend their country. May
makes it a tradition to visit
the cemetery every Memorial
Day to fi nd the fl ags of his
father and grandmother, who
both served in the Army.
He said he often chats with
other people also looking
for the fl ags of their family
members, which isn’t always
easy in a large cemetery where
the Avenue of Flags is never
set up the same way twice.
“That fl ag next year might
be all the way in the back
corner,” he said, pointing to
See FLAG/8A
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Ken May displays the 48-star fl ag he found on the
Avenue of Flags at the Hermiston Cemetery on Monday.
MILTON-FREEWATER
Photo contributed by Marco Alva-Diaz
Maria Villegas and her children
pose for a photo in this undated
contributed image.
Friends unite
in wake of
violent death
Charity car wash held to help
children of Maria Villegas
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Contributed photo
Jen Usinger and Jared Simpson will travel from South Africa to Morocco in their beefed up 2007 Wrangler Jeep Unlimited.
AND SNORT MAKES THREE
Couple quits jobs to explore Africa by Jeep
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Jared Simpson, Jen Usinger
and Snort will soon head to Africa
for the trek of their dreams.
Actually,
Simpson
and
Usinger are the dreamers. Snort
is the highly modifi ed Jeep that
the couple will pilot more than
25,000 miles in a two- to three-
year adventure to almost every
corner of the continent.
Simpson, a 1993 Pendleton
High School graduate, until
recently was production super-
visor at the Safeway Dairy in
Portland. Usinger, a child life
specialist, worked at Randall
Children’s Hospital, where she
helped young patients cope with
being a patient.
“We were ready for a change
in our lives,” said Simpson, 41.
“We happened to be in a spot in
life where we could quit our jobs
and pack up and go.”
“We wanted to go sooner than
later — Africa is changing so
much,” said Usinger. “It can be
See AFRICA/8A
“It’s one of the few places left where you can see every level of
human civilization from hunter gatherers to big modern cities. We want
to see what Africa has to offer while it is still Africa.” — Jared Simpson
Brush fire roars near TRCI
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A brush fi re burns across the road from Two Rivers Correctional Institution outside Umatilla.
It began in the early afternoon near the Columbia River and was reported to have burned more
than 300 acres by 3 p.m.
Friends and high school classmates of
Maria Villegas banded together Friday
night in Milton-Freewater in the wake of
her murder.
They said they wanted to do something
to help her two children, a son, 2, and a
daughter, 4. Saturday morning, some 20
of them had a benefi t car wash going by
9 a.m. in the parking lot of First Commu-
nity Credit Union, 151 S. Columbia St.,
Milton-Freewater. The crew washed about
10 cars in the fi rst hour, and with the sun
breaking through, a steady stream of vehi-
cles rolled in.
Villegas, 24, died Thursday. Oregon
State Police reported her husband, Oscar
Villegas Garcia, 26, infl icted serious cuts
to himself that morning at their home at
362 N.E. 13th Ave., Milton-Freewater. He
also cut and stabbed the two children, and
stabbed Maria to death.
Villegas Garcia is in county jail in
Walla Walla. Umatilla County District
Attorney Dan Primus said he intends to
charge him with murder.
Norma Perez and her husband, Marco
Alva-Diaz, were close friends of the
Villegases and have known them since
attending Milton-Freewater’s McLoughlin
High School. Perez said the children were
out of hospitals and safe with family.
Maria’s grandmother raised her in
Milton-Freewater, Perez said, and no
matter the circumstances Maria would
greet you with an infectious smile.
Paulina Avila said she went to middle
and high school with Maria. They were
not close, she said, but she, too, admired
Maria’s attitude.
“She had that smile,” Avila said. “If
you had the (worst) day, that smile would
make you smile.”
Car wash organizers Andre Salinas
and Randy Romero were members of
the Mac-Hi class of 2010, like many of
the volunteers at the car wash. They said
the idea was to fi nd ways to help Maria’s
children and family. The car wash could
continue Sunday, and they are considering
other fundraisers.
Alva-Diaz said his daughter and
Maria’s son have birthdays a week apart
and play together. The families went out
to dinner together, he said, visited each
other’s homes. He said Villegas Garcia
was his friend, and the man he knew loved
his wife and children.
See MARIA/6A