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East Oregonian
DOOLITTLE: More than 300 tickets were sold for the dinner
Continued from 1A
signal that the enemy wasn’t
immune to retaliation.
The raids came at a cost
— eight men were killed
in action or executed as
prisoners of war, while many
others were tortured and
starved throughout the length
of the war.
The wreath ceremony
also came with accolades
for the raiders, with tributes
and awards from Pendleton
Mayor John Turner, himself
a former Marine, and repre-
sentatives from state Sen. Bill
Hansell, Sen. Ron Wyden,
Sen. Jeff Merkley and the
Oregon Spirit of ‘45, an orga-
nization that honors those that
fought in World War II.
Helping
present
a
Congressional Gold Medal
to the raiders, Evan Hassel, a
member of the National Guard
and a veterans advocate for
Wyden’s office, talked about
the effect World War II has on
modern-day soldiers.
“Having served two tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan with
the 82nd Airborne Division,
I can say that the soldiers,
sailors, airmen and Marines
of our Greatest Generation
still cast huge shadows,” he
said. “Every day I spent in
uniform — and now as a
public servant — I sought and
still endeavor to follow their
sterling example, to be worthy
of the world they gave us.”
The history of World War
II and the Doolittle Raiders
also had an impact on Martin
Nelson, a lieutenant colonel
with the 3-116 CAV Battalion.
In a speech, Nelson
recalled growing up in Pend-
leton and driving his motor-
cycle among the remnants of
the air base before growing
up to realize the significance
of Pendleton’s role in the war.
Another Pendleton native,
Bob Stangier, actually played
a significant role in the war.
He was one of the few
World War II vets at the event,
flying 70 bombing missions
while stationed in Corsica and
Italy.
Stangier piloted a B-25, the
same model as the “Heavenly
Body,” and remembers it as a
reliable if clamorous plane.
“It was as noisy as it could
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
BUCK: Sheriff’s detectives
did not investigate because Echo
is under Stanfield’s purview
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Oregon Air National Guard F-15 fighter jet out of Klamath Falls flies over Saturday’s
Doolittle Raiders anniversary event at the Pendleton National Guard Armory.
be,” he said. “That’s why I
need hearing aids.”
Stangier said he liked
Saturday’s event and was glad
to see another World War II
tribute after the Pendleton
Air Museum discontinued its
Bombs Away Ball fundraiser.
Borboa said the gala’s
future depends on whether
the National Guard decides to
continue to support it.
Taking a break from
coordinating the event while
propping his foot on a chair,
the staff sergeant explained
that the National Guard was
shifting its focus to include
more community interaction.
Although men and women
in uniform weren’t hard to
find on Saturday, Borboa said
the National Guard’s partic-
ipation in the event would
have been greatly reduced
if Congress hadn’t passed
a continuing resolution to
keep the federal government
funded on Friday.
Despite skirting disaster,
the gala seemed to achieve
some success.
Attendance for the daytime
event ranged between 1,000
and 3,000 people, depending
on different organizers’ esti-
mates.
More than 300 tickets were
sold for the dinner and enter-
tainment portion of the gala,
with proceeds going toward
the Pendleton Air Museum
and its goal of building a
permanent museum.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Two volunteers from the crowd hold a photo of
Medal of Honor winner Jimmy Doolittle for leading a
bold long-range raid on the Japanese Islands during
Saturday’s Doolittle Raider anniversary event at the
Pendleton National Guard Armory.
demanded
subpoenas
before
releasing
any
customer information.
Detective
Robert
Guerrero testified to a
grand jury to obtain the
court order, Edmiston
said, which allowed for the
department to uncover the
internet address. But that
presented another compli-
cation — determining
police jurisdiction.
The IP address returned
to Buck, who was living in
Echo, a city that receives
its police services from
Stanfield.
Bryon
Zumwalt,
Stanfield police chief, said
Hermiston detectives told
him about Buck, but his
small department lacked
the resources to take on the
case. Zumwalt also said
he knew Buck’s family
dynamics and did not
consider him an immediate
threat to the community,
and that Zumwalt knew
Hermiston’s investigation
was underway.
Edmiston said Herm-
iston detectives provided
all the case information to
a detective at the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office
with the understanding
that it would pursue the
case. But Undersheriff Jim
Littlefield said sheriff’s
detectives did not investi-
gate because Echo is under
Stanfield’s purview.
Hermiston police on
March 8, 2016, received
more cybertips through
the Oregon justice depart-
ment pointing to Buck.
Edmiston said that led
to conversations with a
DOJ special agent and the
Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Office.
“When we got the last
tip and saw this was a
pattern,” Edmiston said.
“It was clear we needed to
take (the case) because we
had the resources to do it.”
Hermiston
detective
Randy Studebaker drew
the case. He also worked
on the Blue Mountain
Enforcement
Narcotics
Team, the local task force
that takes down criminal
drug
operations.
He
was due to rotate off the
assignment in early 2017,
Edmiston said, so the team
conducted a sweep Feb. 14,
2017 that included Buck.
“Our detectives wanted
to make sure Mr. Buck was
dealt with appropriately,”
the chief said.
Edmiston said Stanfield
police should have been
the agency on the case,
but Hermiston department
members have additional
training on internet crimes.
He said police have to take
additional
precautions
with child pornography
cases and are “super
sensitive about even how
information is shared
with another agency” to
avoid breaking the law by
sharing exploitive images
of children.
Buck, 38, pleaded not
guilty to five counts of first
degree encouraging child
sexual abuse stemming
from the possession of
digital images of child
pornography,
according
to court records, and in a
separate case he pleaded
not guilty to possession
of methamphetamine. He
remains in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
His defense attorney,
Thomas Gray of Pend-
leton, filed a motion April
6 to delay the trial.
“Defendant had wanted
to fire me but now fences
are patched,” Gray stated
in affidavit, and he also
needed more time to
prepare and work on “an
acceptable plea negotia-
tion.”
That deal could see
fruition Friday afternoon
during the change of plea
hearing in the Hermiston
courtroom of Circuit Judge
Eva Temple.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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them to get patients to our team at
the hospital more quickly.”
— John M. McBee, MD
The Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Department serves more than 20,000 people
across a service area of 2,000 square miles. The Department has three fire
stations, nine pieces of apparatus, and 21 firefighters. The time has come to
replace Station 1.
• Fire Station 1 has become too small to house the resources
necessary fire fighters require to do their job in
this day and age.
• The proposed location of the new fire station will improve
response times to emergencies overall.
• The new, larger station would meet training requirements,
house the necessary resources to keep us safe, and cost
less to maintain than the current central station.
Voting YES will ensure that our community is properly served and protected for years to come.
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