Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
April 20, 2022
Page 3
Vietnam Vets planning journey to Memorial Wall
Sr.
Vietnam Veterans Randy
Boise Sr. and Gerald
Sampson Sr. would like to
share the following stories:
My name is Gerald
Sampson Sr., better known
as ‘Chickenhawk.’ I am a
Vietnam Vet. I enlisted into
the U.S. Marine Corp in
November 1969.
I flew out to San Diego,
California—did my Basic
Training at MCRD with my
Rifle Training at Camp
Pendleton. These trainings
were November 1969—
March 1970.
After graduating Basic
Training, I was moved on to
Camp Pendleton, north of
San Diego for further Infan-
try Training. We did a lot of
running, forced marches and
rifle qualifications. I scored
high enough to qualify as an
expert shooter.
Afterwards, moved into
sniper training for three
Courtesy Sandra Greene
Randy Boise Sr. and Gerald Sampson Sr. plan to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
weeks and some of us were
given the choice to go on to
staging for further Infantry
Training, which lasted about
two months.
After this training we
were asked: Were we consci-
entious objectors to the Viet-
nam War. Those who were,
they were sent back to the
barracks. Those who were
not were loaded up on buses
and taken to San Bernar-
dino. We were flown to An-
chorage, then Japan and
Okinawa before we landed
in Vietnam.
I spent my time in Viet-
nam as a Radio man, May
1970 to April 1971. So
many of my fellow service
men never made it hom.
I have always wanted to
pay my respects to my fel-
low service men by visiting
the Vietnam Wall in Wash-
ington, D.C. When I get
there, I know it’s going to be
an emotional experience but
will help with the healing pro-
cess. I hope you will support
our efforts to get to Wash-
ington, D.C.
By Randy Boise
My name is Randy Boise
Ballots going out for 2022 Primary
Most voters’ ballots will
be go out next week for the
May 17 Primary Election.
Some ballots—those for
military and overseas voters,
and out of state—already
went out earlier this month.
Otherwise, ballots will got
out next Wednesday, April
27. The last day to register,
change your political party
or request and Independent
ballot is day before, Tuesday,
April 26.
Election Day will be
Tuesday, May 17: Ballots
must be in an official drop
box or received by the Elec-
tions Office by 8 p.m. on
Election Day, or postmarked
by the U.S. Post Office to
be counted. No postage is
required on the mail-in bal-
lots. If you have not re-
ceived your ballot some days
Local candidates on the ballots
Here are the local can-
didates on the ballots:
Jefferson Count Com-
missioners Position
No. 1:
Mae Huston
Mark Wunsch
Laurie Danzuka
Jefferson County Com-
missioners Position
after April 27, you can call
the clerk’s office at 541-475-
4451.
There will be a 24-hour
drop site in Warm Springs,
on Wasco Street by Fire and
Safety. Other drop boxes are
at the County Clerk’s Office,
the Metolius and Culver city
halls, and at Crooked River
Ranch.
No. 2:
Kelly Simmelink
Sabria Rios
Jefferson County Sheriff:
Marc Heckathorn
Jason Pollock
Rick Dupont
Jefferson County Asses-
sor:
Ray Soliz
Remember to sign your
return envelope. A ballot will
not be counted unless the re-
turn envelope is signed and
the signature matches the sig-
nature of the voter registra-
tion record. Some other in-
formation from the clerk’s
office:
Voters who are registered
as Democrat or Republican
will receive a ballot that in-
cludes candidates for that
specific party, along with
nonpartisan contests.
Voters registered in any
of the minor parties or as
nonaffiliated—not a mem-
ber of any political party—
will receive a ballot for the
Primary Election that in-
cludes only the nonpartisan
contests.
In Jefferson County, in-
cluding the Warm Springs
area of the reservation,
there are 16,560 registered
voters.
The registration numbers
by party are: Republican,
5,493. Democrat, 3,370. In-
dependent, 825. Non-affili-
ated: 6,511. Other minor par-
ties: 361. There are presently,
1,443 registered voters in the
Warm Springs area precinct.
I was drafted into the U.S.
Army in 1971. My Basic
Training and Advanced In-
fantry training took place at
Fort Lewis, Washington. Af-
ter Advanced Infantry
Trainings I was shipped to
a new duty station—Viet-
nam—assigned to the Sec-
ond of the 327 Infantry
Battalion attached to the
101 st Airborn/Air Mobil
Unit.
My duty while in country
was to be the point man. I
have the deepest respect for
all who served during the
Vietnam conflict.
Many of us who served
did not get to come home to
their loved ones. Many of
our own tribal members who
were there are no longer with
us.
It has always been Jerry’s
and my goal to visit and see
the Vietnam Memorial Wall
in Washington, D.C. to pay
our respects to our fallen
Service Members.
The opportunity has come
and we would like to do this
while our health still allows.
There have been friends and
fellow vets who have con-
tributed to our fundraising
efforts, and we appreciate
you very much.
My wife Birney and I,
my daughters Jolene and
Desirae, Sandra and Jerry
and their daughter Norene
have been doing fund-rais-
ing and our Raffle, hoping
to cover the associated
costs to make this trip a
reality.
You can see any of the in-
dividuals to purchase a raffle
ticket to have a chance at
three prizes of 1) $1,000; or
2) $500; or 3) $250. Tick-
ets are $ each or five tickets
for $20. Drawing will be on
Facebook Live on May 23.
Thank you, We appr eciate
any and all support.
Career talk at the
Warm Springs Academy
It was Career Day ear-
lier this month at the
Warm Springs Academy.
The tribes’ radio sta-
tion KWSO happened to
be one of the career op-
portunities that students
had an opportunity to hear
about. The students
asked questions and heard
some good stories.
The students heard
how Neal Morningowl got
into radio:
“Good afternoon ev-
erybody. My name is Neal
Morningowl,” he began.
“I am the Operations Man-
ager for KWSO.” Mr.
Morningowl continued:
“When you’re 14 or 15
you get to start working
here in War m Springs
through the Youth work
program. So my first job
actually was at KWSO.
My first year getting to
work I believe I was 15.”
The Academy Career
Day was about an hour
and a half, and included
many businesses, so stu-
dents had a wide range of
topics they could choose
to hear about and maybe
find interest in.
During the KWSO
presentation, students
heard about the differ-
ences in the back-
grounds of people who
come in to work at
KWSO, and how things
actually work.
Some students took
the opportunity to have
their voice on the radio
by recording liners that
are added to the rotation.
Listen to 91.9 FM, and
you might hear someone
you know.
Coming to Indian Country:
988 and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The Northwest Portland
Area Indian Health Board
suicide prevention project—
called Tribal Health-Reach-
ing out InVolves Everyone, or
THRIVE—has partnered
with the Indian Health Ser-
vices, tribes and tribal orga-
nizations across Indian Coun-
tr y. Together, they are devel-
oping the 988 direct 3-digit
mental health emer gency re-
source.
Why do we need 988?
Suicide is the second lead-
ing cause of death for Na-
tive youth ages 10-24. Na-
tive communities experience
the highest rates of suicide
amongst all racial and ethnic
groups in the U.S., and sui-
cide rates among American
Indian and Alaska Native
communities rose by 118
percent between 1999 and
2017.
Suicide is preventable.
988 is one step in the direc-
tion of saving lives. This
early intervention can reduce
the burden on 911 and hos-
pital services. 988 will move
mental health and substance
use services out of the shad-
ows and into the main-
stream; it will send a message
that healing and getting help
are normal and important
When you’ve got a
police, fire or rescue
emergency, you call
911. When you have
a mental health
emergency, you call or
text 988.
parts of life.
What is 988?
988 is a direct three-digit
line to trained National Sui-
cide Prevention Llifeline cri-
sis counselors that will go
live July 16, 2022. With an
easy to remember 3-digit
number, the Lifeline hopes
to reach many more people
in emotional crisis. This ser-
vice is provided free of
charge to the caller.
Any person of any age
can call or text 988. Services
will be available 24/7, year
round. They will include a
text option, translation ser-
vices for non-English
speakers, accessible options
for people who are deaf or
hard of hearing, and ser-
vices for minors.
How will this affect our
community?
The impact of 988 will
vary from community to
community. If your commu-
nity has reliable phone and
911 services, it will now have
access to 988, twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a
week.
Community members
will be able to receive con-
fidential ser vices during
mental health emergencies
with minimal involvement
of police or hospitals.
If you live in an area
where connecting to 911 is
difficult, you may experience
the same with 988. Please
know that chatting via the
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
website, texting NATIVE to
the Crisis Text Line at
741741, or texting 988
when available in July may
be the best ways to connect
in this communities.
Lifeline crisis centers
are local and effective
What happens when
you call, or text, 988?
The National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline pro-
vides fee, 24/7 confiden-
tial emotional support to
people in suicidal crisis or
emotional distress. The
Lifeline is effective in re-
ducing suicidal and emo-
tional distress.
The Lifeline has
served over 10 million
people since is inception.
Call centers in the
Lifeline divert hundreds
of thousands of calls
from 911 every year.
Independent evalua-
tions demonstrate that
Lifeline centers are effec-
tive in reducing emo-
tional distress and
suicidality.
You will be connected
with a trained crisis worker
from a local crisis center.
Wait times are anticipated to
be under one minute. The
caller can talk about any
emotional crisis, not just sui-
cide.
The crisis worker will use
active listening to assess risk,
determine if a person is in
danger, and assist the per-
son in feeling better and ac-
cessing resources. If the cri-
sis worker believes the caller
is in danger, he or she will
work with the caller to care
a safety plan that does not
require calling emergency
services. Less than 3 percent
The Lifeline is a net-
work of over 180 local
call centers. Crisis centers
are connected to local
community resources in-
cluding community men-
tal health, hospitals, so-
cial services and first re-
sponders. The Lifeline’s
crisis call centers provide
the specialized care of a
local community with the
support of a national
network. There are no
Lifeline tribal crisis call
centers—Yet! Tribes
may partner with re-
gional non-profits to pro-
vide coverage to tribal
communities as well as
open tribal crisis lines in
their community.
of calls result in dispatching
911 services.
If you are calling about a
friend or family member
who is in distress, the per-
son on the phone will walk
you through how to help and
provide resources.