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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2018)
HAZELNUT YIELDS FALL SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS MANNING LEADS GIANTS PAST 49ERS NORTHWEST/2A SPORTS/1B TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2018 143rd Year, No. 20 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD VETERANS DAY Remembering ‘the Forgotten War’ Staff photo by Kathy Aney Mike Morehead of Pilot Rock patrolled the Mekong Delta as part of the Mobile Riverine Force during the Vietnam War. Pilot Rock vet recalls service on the rivers of Vietnam By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney James P. Daniel, of the Tri-Cities, salutes during a special tribute to Korean War and Korean service veterans on Sunday at the Pendleton Convention Center. Daniel attended with his father, who is a Korean War veteran. By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian ive years after the end of World War II, the U.S. entered Korea following a series of conflicts between North and South Korea along the border. Though the conflict claimed thousands of lives, and lasted three years, it was not officially recognized as a war at first and, according to those who served there, it did not receive the same level of recognition as previ- ous wars. On Sunday, Umatilla County marked two milestones at its Veterans Day event: the 100th anniversary of the armistice of World War I, and 65 years since the cease- fire in Korea. The event, at the Pendleton Convention Center on Sunday, honored 30 veterans of the Korean War. Each one came up to receive a certificate of a Congressio- nal Citation, presented by local dignitaries, including Sen. Bill Hansell, County Commissioner George Mur- dock, and Kathleen Cathey, an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. A few of those honored were deceased, and their awards were received by their widows or other family members. Each veteran also received a handwritten letter from a student in Echo School’s second grade class, thanking them for their service. Pendleton Mayor John Turner, a Marine Corps vet- eran, said the war is often known as “the Forgotten War.” “The nation had just won a victory in the Pacific,” F See WAR/10A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Korean War veteran Muryl Navratil, of Pendleton, stands as the Army anthem is played during a special tribute to Korean War and Korean service veterans on Sunday at the Pendleton Convention Center. Mike Morehead of Pilot Rock survived 21 gun bat- tles on a United States Navy monitor in the Vietnam War. “Our deal was to be able to idle down and exchange fire and show them what fire power was all about,” More- head recalled. Morehead, 71, was a radio operator on the floating tank that was the Monitor M-6, but like the other five crew members he trained to do everything from engine work to firing the big 105-mm howitzer on the boat’s bow. While U.S. river patrol boats were about 32 feet long, swift and maneuverable, the monitors were 60 feet long and packed tons of armor to hold off enemy fire and even rocket pro- pelled grenades. More- head said the smaller boat Contributed photo were fast and fun to ride, Mike Morehead of Pilot but the M-6 could not Rock in his youth in the even buck the tide. Vietnam War. “Nobody wanted to ride this,” he said. “This was made to intimidate.” Morehead and his fellow crewman intimidated time and again on the waters of the Mekong Delta near Cam- bodia. He said he called his brothers in arms on Sunday because it was Veterans Day. “I’m really close with those guys,” he said. Morehead and two friends in 1965 went to Seattle to join the Marines, he said, but his urine sample con- tained too much of the protein albumin. See VIETNAM/10A UCFD sends crews to California blaze By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Firefighters from Uma- tilla County are in Califor- nia, helping battle a blaze that has been called one of the most destructive in state history. Three Umatilla County Fire District personnel were dispatched to Chico last weekend. Battalion Chief Ed Clark and firefighters Jessie Brown and Chance Mikaelsen were assigned to the Camp Fire, which, as of Monday, had burned more than 113,000 acres, 6,400 homes, and killed 29 peo- ple. It is the largest of three major fires currently burning in California. As of Monday, it was 25 percent contained. The cause of the Camp Fire, in Butte County, has not yet been identified. UCFD Battalion Chief Corey Gorham said the UCFD crew was assigned to 24-hour on, 24-hour off shifts, and that they are work- ing with a task force that includes Central Oregon and Union County crews. Gor- ham said whenever a major fire occurs, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office sends out requests to local depart- ments, who determine which of their personnel can go AP Photo/John Locher Fire crews clear rubble from the road near a building burned in the Camp Fire on Monday in Paradise, Calif. assist. Gorham said firefight- ers have to be able to com- mit to a 14-day assignment, which limits the number of people who can go. Those who have assisted at other out-of-state fires recently are at the bottom of the list. Gorham said UCFD sent firefighters to California around this time last year for other wildfires, but that was the only other time he could recall sending personnel out of state. The firefighters are com- pensated overtime for their out-of-state service. Another massive wild- fire burning in the state, the Wollsey Fire near Ven- tura, has scorched more than 91,500 acres since Thursday, and killed two people. Fire- fighters are working to con- tain several smaller blazes around the state as well.
