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NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
One of the missing
Search for soldier who disappeared during Korean War continues
By KATHERINE JONES
Idaho Statesman
BOISE, Idaho — The
Saturday before Veterans
Day, on a glorious autumn
day when Boiseans were
honoring veterans with a
festive parade, Jorja Reyburn
wasn’t there. Instead, she was
in a quiet meeting room with
officials from the Depart-
ment of Defense who were
reporting their painfully slow
progress to families of service
members who have never
returned from war.
From World War II
through the Cold War, 82,423
service members are still
missing in action. One of
those is Reyburn’s father, 1st
Lt. James Elliott, who raised
his hand to go to Korea. He
has been missing for 67 years.
“I just feel like he knows
Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman via AP
that we’re keeping up the Jorja Reyburn stands with a photo of her father, 1st Lt. James Elliott, who went
good fight,” Reyburn says. missing in the Korean War when she was two years old, in front of her Boise, Idaho
“And I think he’d be proud home. She says the family will continue the search no matter what.
that we haven’t given up
love (that keeps me looking).
on him. And, of course, we
And I made the promise to
never will.”
my mom that I would keep
A POW/MIA flag flies out
up the search.”
front of Reyburn’s Star home.
She wipes away tears and
Inside, she’s turned the dining
— Jorja Reyburn
holds up a bumper sticker to
room into a memorial for her
father to keep him present in hospital,” Reyburn says, “or my brother and I were never express her emotions: “When
her mind and in her life. A we probably wouldn’t be told what happened to our one American is not worth
dad. We just knew we didn’t the effort to be found, we as
quilt in memory of her father having this conversation.”
Elliott met Reyburn’s have a dad, for whatever Americans have lost.”
hangs in red, white and blue
First Lt. Elliott was
on the wall next to photos mother after he was reason. We had pictures of
and her nephew’s sketch of discharged from service in our dad, but we didn’t know involved in the battle of
Naktong Bulge, along the
Elliott. On the table, a 6-inch Southern California, but he what the association was.”
Back then, she says, Naktong River in Korea.
tall binder is crammed with missed the military life and
single-parent families were Reyburn has detailed maps
detailed information she’s re-enlisted in 1946.
“Then the war broke out unusual and kids at school and points to Hill 409 where
gathered and supporting
documents are piled neatly in and my dad was one of the would tease them. Then her her father volunteered for
first to sign up,” she said. mother remarried, so she night patrol. Five men were
stacks beside.
had a different last name killed that night. Three bodies
“I was hoping we would “That’s just how he was.”
Elliott called home the than them, and kids teased were recovered; two were not.
have resolved this in my
One theory is that Elliott
mom’s lifetime,” Reyburn night he was shipping out them about that, too. When
says. But her mother died in — as he and his wife had Reyburn took her First was killed that night and his
2015, and Reyburn made a arranged — but Reyburn’s Communion, however, the body was taken, first to a
promise to her. Her daughters mother was in the hospital communion certificate said temporary cemetery nearby
and later to the National
and her nephews are on notice with, coincidentally, her own “status of father: defunct.”
“I was 9 years old. I got the Memorial Cemetery of the
about their responsibilities as appendectomy. In the days
well when the time comes to before phones were ubiqui- dictionary out and I looked Pacific at Punchbowl Crater
tous, he tried at the hospital it up,” she said. “It said ‘no in Honolulu.
pass on the search.
longer exists.’ I thought, wow,
That’s what her brother
“I’m hoping. I mean, my but missed her.
“They never spoke again,” but I never asked my mother. I firmly believes, and that their
oldest grandchild is 30 years
just accepted the fact.”
father was misidentified or
old. And my dad was 29 Reyburn says.
Elliott landed in Korea
And then came the his dog tags lost. There is
when he went missing. It’s
just something our family on Aug. 9 and was reported internet. One day in the evidence that supports this:
1990s, Reyburn sat down Reyburn, her mother and
will keep up with until — missing Aug. 27, 1950.
Reyburn’s
mother and typed her father’s name brother interviewed two
until he’s home.”
As soon as he turned 18 happened to have taken a on a computer — and she got servicemen. One witnessed
in 1939, Elliott joined the photo of Reyburn and her results. His name showed up their father’s body being
placed on a tank, removed
National Guard. He then brother riding their tricycles in the National Archives.
“I felt like I’d won the from the battlefield and taken
joined the Army in 1944. one day. On it, she’s written:
Although he went AWOL “Sept. 10, 1950. Date of lottery,” she says. “(The to the temporary cemetery.
The military, however,
from a hospital in an attempt telegram.” Reyburn was search) just kind of takes on
to join his unit shipping only 2 years old and has no a life of its own. One thing believes the North Koreans
leads to another and I would took his uniform and that his
overseas, an appendectomy memories of her father.
“And not only did I not spend literally hours.”
body hasn’t been recovered
kept him stateside. “Thank
She pauses. “I think it’s yet.
God he was sent back to the know my dad,” she said, “but
“We just knew we didn’t have a
dad, for whatever reason.”
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Measure 101 supporters,
opponents clash in debate
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND
—
Supporters and opponents
of Ballot Measure 101,
which could repeal part of
Oregon’s Medicaid funding
plan, faced off Wednesday
in a debate at the Mult-
nomah Athletic Club.
Medicaid is a health care
coverage program jointly
funded by the state and
federal government serving
about 1 million Oregonians
through the Oregon Health
Plan.
A special election Jan.
23 concerns parts of a 2017
funding law. Particularly
at issue are provisions in
the law to increase federal
Medicaid matching funding
by collecting assessments
from the state’s hospitals,
insurers and coordinated
care organizations — the
regional
networks
of
providers serving Medicaid
patients.
A trio of Republican state
representatives successfully
petitioned to refer portions
of the law, including those
provisions, to the ballot.
Measure 101 will ask
voters to either vote “yes,”
to keep all the provisions
of the bill; or “no,” to cut
some of them out.
Republican State Reps.
Julie Parrish, of Tualatin/
West Linn, and Cedric
Hayden, of Roseburg, who
referred the issue to the
ballot, spoke in favor of
repealing parts of the law
Wednesday.
Speaking on the oppo-
site side was Felisa Hagins,
political director of the
Service Employees Interna-
tional Union Local 49, and
Jessica Adamson, director
of government affairs for
Providence Health and
Services, are advocating to
keep all of the assessments.
Some takeaways from
Wednesday’s forum:
• Neither side wants to
cut people from Medicaid:
Both sides of the issue said
they didn’t want people
on Medicaid to lose health
care. Parrish and Hagins
say they grew up covered
Agape House Presents
AS THE BALL
DROPS
ON
TIMES SQUARE
Work delayed at Hanford project over worker safety
RICHLAND,
Wash.
(AP) — Work on a major
demolition project on the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation
was halted for two days this
week after air monitors worn
by several workers showed
they might have inhaled
radioactive particles.
Workers late Thursday
were cleared to return to the
demolition of the Plutonium
Finishing Plant, which for
decades was part of the
nation’s nuclear weapons
production complex.
The U.S. Department of
Energy has called the work
at the Plutonium Finishing
Plant the most hazardous
demolition project on the
sprawling site.
The Tri-City Herald
reports the plant is contami-
nated with plutonium, and the
particles can easily become
airborne.
“We take this very, very
seriously,” said Ty Blackford,
president of Energy contractor
CH2M Hill Plateau Remedia-
tion Co. “We are dealing with
a form of contamination that
is very, very hard to manage.”
Lapel monitors worn by
six workers at the Plutonium
Finishing Plant complex have
tested positive for radioactive
particles at levels of concern,
according to laboratory
results. The highest potential
exposure was 11 millirems
for one of the workers.
For comparison, the
average person in the United
States is exposed to 300
millirems of radiation annu-
ally from natural sources,
such as radon or radiation
bombarding Earth from outer
space.
Workers wear the moni-
tors near their faces as a
check for airborne radioac-
tive particles that could be
inhaled.
On Wednesday morning,
lab results for four lapel
monitors worn Tuesday
came back positive.
The finding was unusual
enough for CH2M officials
to call a halt to the demoli-
tion project, Blackford said.
The Hanford Atomic
Metal Trades Council also
issued a stop work order for
its employees about noon
Wednesday. HAMTC is an
umbrella group for about 15
Hanford unions.
Surveys
found
no
contamination on workers’
skin or protective clothing,
the newspaper reported.
Of the four positive tests
on lapel monitors worn
Tuesday, all but one was
determined to have been
triggered by naturally occur-
ring radon, the newspaper
reported.
The fourth test result
was the one that measured
11 millirems of possible
internal
contamination.
However, further testing
showed that part, but not
all, of the reading likely was
because of radon.
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by Medicaid, and Hayden,
a dentist, serves patients on
the Oregon Health Plan.
Hayden and Parrish
largely disagree with the
Measure 101 supporters,
though, on how it ought to
be paid for — and argue
the state could find other
sources of funding.
Supporters
of
the
measure say that it took the
last legislative session to
get insurers and Medicaid
providers to agree on a
funding plan. They argue
the legislation’s mecha-
nisms are approved ways
to collect federal matching
funds, which pay the vast
majority of Medicaid costs.
• Where could the
money from the taxes go?
The two sides disagree on
whether the funds generated
by portions of the legisla-
tion at issue can be reverted
to the state’s general fund to
pay for other things.
Parrish claims a legisla-
tive counsel opinion from
June indicates that a .7
percent assessment on net
hospital revenues could get
swept to the state’s general
fund and used for purposes
other than health care.
The
“yes”
side
disagrees, saying that the
money collected from the
assessment would only go
to health care, and that a
“sweep” to the general fund
requires separate legislation
— which is not an unprece-
dented move.
•
The
insurance
market: The cost of
insurance for those not on
Medicaid, which could also
be affected by the ballot
measure, came up during
Wednesday’s debate as
well.
The law’s 1.5 percent
tax on gross premiums, or
premium equivalents for
public employee health
care plans, on insurers is
intended to fund a reinsur-
ance program that insulates
insurers from high-risk
claims that can drive up
premiums.
Proponents say it’s
already working, reducing
2018 premiums by an
average of 6 percent.
Pendleton Faith Center
Invites you and your
family to:
T HE 2017 L IVING N ATIVITY
P RESENTATION
Sunday, December 17th,
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
@ Roy Raley Park,
Pendleton, Oregon
Visit Izzy the Camel across the
street @ Dave's Chevron 5-6 PM
Walk Through - 6-7 PM
- Drive or Walk 7-9 PM
“For God so loved the world
that He gave his only
begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
should not perish
but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16