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SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 97
❘ DECEMBER 7, 2016 ❘ $1.00
PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY 2016
PHOTO COURTESY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
This image of the sinking of the USS Arizona taken 75 years today during the attack on Pearl Harbor remains one of American history’s most iconic moments.
Military museum honors the past
Pearl Harbor vet remembers day
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
lan Tait was 18 years old
when, in the early morn-
ing hours of Dec. 7,
1941, the day he had been train-
ing for began with the sound of
Japanses planes on the horizon
near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Within minutes, the once
quiet Naval harbor was trans-
formed into one with thick
smoke, fire and chaos as the
unexpected attack played out
before Tait’s eyes. Little did he
know the events of that fateful
morning would be the single
most important factor in launch-
ing America into World War II.
Now living in Florence, Tait,
93, recalled the moment he real-
ized that the noise he was hear-
ing was not a training mission.
A
“We were getting
ready to go down for
breakfast and that’s
when we saw the
first airplanes,” he
said. “They came
diving down and
straffing our planes
in the water. At first
we thought it was
the Army Air Corps
practicing — then
all of a sudden I see
the smoke and all of
those planes.
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
“After that, it was Alan Tait was stationed at Naval Air
pandemonium.”
Station Kaneohe Bay, across the bay
Tait was sta- from Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941.
tioned at a base on
the bay and not on a ship, so moving about, increasing the
his view of the battle was number of targets and possible
unobstructed. The timing of casualties.
the attack occurred when there
See REMEMBERING 11A
were two teams of seamen
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
“D
ec. 7, 1941 — a
date which will
live in infamy,” or
so President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt (FDR) declared 75
years ago after the devastating
attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
when Japanese planes targeted
American naval forces, killing
2,403 and wounding 1,178
Americans and launching the
United States into World War II.
Today, on its 75th anniver-
sary, people across the country
are gathering in honor of Pearl
Harbor Remembance Day. One
of those places is the Oregon
Coast
Military
Museum
(OCMM), 2145 Kingwood St.
in Florence.
The museum is a time capsule
E MERGENCY C OLD W EATHER S HELTER
of Oregon coast history, a time-
line representing each of the
U.S.’s significant military
engagements from the 20th cen-
tury onwards and the men and
women who served. Numerous
personal effects, artifacts and
stories went into the museum’s
displays and dioramas.
Artist Judy Murphy designed
and created OCMM’s stunning
exhibits.
“Basically World War I was
easy because it was a trench,”
she said. “But World War II was
harder. I was thinking, ‘Holy
cow, it’s all over the place. How
in the world do I put all of this
together?’ I started looking at
maps, and that’s what I did. I
used maps for the Pacific theater
and Europe, and even the home
front. That’s how I weaved them
together.”
OPENS
Cold, wet weather sparks season’s first
opening at shelter’s new location
JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
INSIDE
One of five Emergency Cold Weather Shelter flags
flies in front of Fred Meyer Monday, to announce
that the shelter is open and that Fred Meyer is a
pick up location. The shelter was open Monday
and Tuesday nights due to cold, wet weather.
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Freezing temperatures and inclement
weather heralded the opening of the Florence
area Emergency Cold Weather Shelter
(ECWS) Monday
B Y J ACK D AVIS
and
Tuesday
Siuslaw News
evenings at the
Presbyterian
Church of the Siuslaw, 3996 Highway 101.
On Monday, more than a dozen guests
took advantage of the shelter’s services. It
was not known at press time how many
guests used the facility Tuesday evening.
For the past two years, the ECWS has
operated out of the Masonic Lodge, south of
town.
The Rev. Greg Wood of the Presbyterian
Church of the Siuslaw and president of
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THIS WEEK ’ S
ECWS said, “Our church has been very
involved with the ECWS, but this is the first
year we will house guests. Technically we are
the backup site.”
Wood said the Florence United Methodist
Church, which is the primary location this
year, is currently very involved with Helping
Hands.
“It helps to have two sites available,”
Wood said. “We would be happy if there were
other churches in town that would be willing
to host as well.”
Weather determines when the shelter opens.
“Unfortunately, this is just for emergency
weather conditions. Our criteria for opening
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WEATHER
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MUSEUM 7A
Mudslide victim’s
family files wrongful
death lawsuit
It will have been a year ago next week
since the tragic death of 70-year-old Delores
Miller, who was
B Y N ED H ICKSON
killed Dec. 18,
Siuslaw News
when a massive
mud slide swept
into her home on Mercer Lake Road.
Several days of heavy rains had saturated
the hillside behind Miller’s home, where she
lived with her husband, Gary, and their two
dogs. When Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
crews arrived around 3:15 a.m., they found
that the landslide behind Miller’s home had
pushed dirt, trees and other debris into her
SHELTER 7A
TODAY
A broad map stretches
between the three segments of
the World War II exhibit, weav-
ing together the naval and aerial
battles fought between the
Allied Forces and Japan on the
islands and coastlines of the
Pacific Ocean with the war
against Axis forces in Europe.
OCMM patrons will notice
that the Pacific Theater doesn’t
feature Pearl Harbor prominent-
ly; a series of numbers pinpoint
battle sites throughout thou-
sands of square miles. A corre-
sponding book at the front of the
display gives details and shows
photos.
Murphy researched books,
the internet and other sources
extensively before finishing the
display.
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LAWSUIT 11A