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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2004)
JULY 1, 2004 Smoke Signals 9 T""1 ' 'i'-v. G7 -mm :3 n Float Wave Stephanie Duran (left), Grand Ronde Senior Veterans Queen and Miranda Provost, Grand Ronde Junior Veterans' Queen wave to spectators from the Spirit Mountain Casino float. Photos by Peta Tinda , p xl ' , Vr-"- ""' V jTl i. igjm. ,,MM r'-7j I V' . km Royalty Court Grand Ronde Tribal Royalty Princesses Kayla Kneeland, Geft) Tenisha Rios (right) and Kiana Leno (bottom) rode the Spirit Mountain Casino float and waved to the thousands of parade-goers. A 96-foot long alligator (below) sponsored by Reser 's Fine Foods was part of the parade. The float featured snapping jaws and blinking eyelids. A Blend of Cultures The Tribe's float in this year's Grand Floral Parade, which is part of the City of Portland's Annual Rose Festival, passes in front of a famous Portland landmark "The Chinatown Gate" on Burnside. Many cultures were represented during the parade. The Grand Ronde float features a family dressed in traditional reed clothing and basket hats as they gather items from their cedar canoe. Mom Of Deceased Veteran Seeks Right To Sue Mercier continued from front page mine whether those in charge of the Osprey program had in fact been negligent. In 1950, however, a federal court decision exempted from the 1946 Federal Tort Claims Act all civil law suits against the military. For more than 50 years, military malfeasance has been untouchable in civilian courts. "My son was a Marine," said Mercier. "His dad was a Marine. He loved the Marines. I want them to know that we love the armed services, but at the same time, there are people in the armed services that abused the privilege and right now, the families that suffered can't do anything about it." Following 2003 services for Santos at Willamette National Cemetery, Mercier broke down in sadness and frustration, and took to the Internet to see what she could learn. She found Veterans Equal Rights Protection Advocacy, Inc. (VERPA) www.verpa.org. VERPA was formed by former Navy First Class Petty Officer Jef frey A. Trueman, who likewise felt abused by the service following his ef forts to expose through the ranks of command "issues of pay and training r'-;l I , . . Lid ; .-4 r ' v. Si j Jk r ' r fff- . '0 . : ml i. J.-' v, , - I , T.fr iftn mn r J ....., Remembering Keoki Chris Mercier takes a sad moment looking over the original news stories of her son's death in the crash of an experimental aircraft called the Osprey. fraud." "The Justice Department," he said, "is using taxpayer money to cover up rather than (prosecute) crimes committed by federal employees against Americans serving." VERPA legislation to overturn the 1950 court decision now sits on the desk of Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, but has not yet been introduced. The last two Congresses have seen scaled down bills introduced that would have allowed civil lawsuits in cases of military medical mal practice, and while each passed in the House, they failed in the Senate, said Trueman. The office of Oregon Congress man David Wu had not re turned calls for comment at press time. According to a VERPA peti tion to abolish the 54-year-old doctrine, "Congress has failed to act resulting in the following in dividual and systemic abuses arising in the DOD (Depart ment of Defense) and military to go unremedied, to include, but not limited to: (1) Murders, (2), Rapes, (3) human experi mentation in violation of the Nuremberg Code (Atomic Testing, LSD, Anthrax, other FDA unap proved inoculations), (4) Agent Or ange and Gulf War Syndrome ex posures and failure to treat, (5) Abuse of Power and Gross Negli gent Acts, (6) Undue Command Influence, (7) Abuse and Double Standards under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), (7) Fal sification of Official Documents, (8) Abuse of the military's mental health system (9) service-connected mental or physical injury or injus tice." "When I think of how the major ity of people in the world are ap palled by the abuse suffered by the prisoners in Iraq at the hands of our military, and the outcry that has moved the U.S. military to talk of compensation for the victims," said Mercier in printed statement, "I ask why the people of America are unable to see the parallels with the abuse suffered by our own ser vice men and women and act simi larly to protect them in the same way." "We just need our right to be heard," said Trueman, "and I think the public will be outraged when they learn about this."
