SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
11 A
M ILITARY C HRONICLES —
Our museum’s own ‘Coastie’
B Y C AL A PPLEBEE
Special to the Siuslaw News
I
t’s always a good thing
when several different
elements become syn-
chronized into one result that
brings it all together. Such is
the case recently with the
community emphasis on
becoming a Coast Guard
City, coinciding with our
own current museum
“Veteran of the Quarter” pro-
gram, which features one of
its own volunteers, Bill
Brown, himself a WWII U.S.
Coast Guard veteran.
Though born in California,
Bill moved to Oregon at an
early age, growing into
young manhood in Mapleton.
He became familiar with
some Coast Guardsmen here
in Florence and decided that
was the branch he wanted to
enlist in when he entered our
nation’s service in December
1941.
Bill did his training in Port
Townsend, Wash., but after
only a few weeks was trans-
ferred to Ketchikan, Alaska,
where he remained through-
out WWII until his discharge
in May 1946 at the rank of
Bosun Mate 1st Class.
While in the Coast Guard
and the Alaskan Territory,
Bill’s primary duty was
search and rescue for the
numerous aircraft that went
down in the rugged terrain of
that region.
Unfortunately, there were
fewer rescues than there were
recoveries. He recalled one
incident where a couple of
businessmen from Anchorage
had recently purchased a new
Lockheed Electra, hired a
pilot and with an additional
secretary on board headed
out to one of the remote
islands.
However, due to inclement
weather, they slammed into a
mountain before they reached
their destination.
Miraculously, all four sur-
vived the initial crash, but
both the pilot and the secre-
tary eventually succumbed to
injuries and weather.
Bill was sent up in a Navy
Kingfisher to spot the wreck-
age and, after doing so, he
and his crew of 12 coast-
guardsmen trekking in to
recover the two bodies as
well as rescue the two sur-
vivors. The two survivors
recuperated in the hospital
for over a year before being
discharged.
Bill visited one of them
throughout the recovery peri-
od, and though the gentleman
offered gifts in appreciation
of his efforts, Bill declined
— he was just doing his duty.
Like so many other veteran
stories I’ve heard over the
years, regardless of the
branch of service, another
story he shared was when
one person messed up in
their outfit the whole crew
had to pay for it — usually
when the punishment was
running around the track with
a sea bag on his back.
Bill will be the featured
veteran at our current
“Veteran of the Quarter” dis-
play at the Oregon Coast
Military Museum (OCMM).
The community is invited
to visit and enjoy his display,
as well as watch his oral
interview to learn more
about one of our own.
And for those who can’t
make it during this quarter,
be sure to join us at this
year’s Veterans Day Parade
on Saturday, Nov. 11, in Old
Town Florence.
I am proud to report that
Bill, who is one of our very
cheerful regular volunteers,
will be my guest, joining me
in my 1948 Jeep with USCG
markings.
But you’ll have to look for
yourself to see if he’ll be
sporting a sea bag on his
back!
To learn more about mili-
tary heritage in general, visit
the OCMM, 2145 Kingwood
St., Thursday through
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
or visit www.oregon coast
militarymuseum.com.
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H
ere’s a September 2017
headline that really got
my attention:
“New Look at Old Data
Confirms Mortality Benefit
from PSA Screening.”
I had to read that article
immediately.
This year, a team headed by
Dr. Ruth Etzioni, a biostatisti-
cian with the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in
Seattle, reanalyzed the old data
from the U.S. Prostate, Lung,
Colorectal and Ovarian Trial
(PLCO) and the European
Randomized Study of Screening
for Prostate Cancer Trial
(ERSPC) that led to the
USPSTF’s no PSA screening
recommendation.
When reanalyzing the PLCO,
the team paid particular atten-
tion to the comparison of the
intervention group and the con-
trol group. The intervention
group
participants
were
assigned to receive PSA tests
while the trial designers permit-
ted the control group partici-
pants to continue their “usual
medical care practices” — i.e.
getting PSA tests (on their own)
during the trial.
According to Etzioni, by the
time the U.S. trial started
(1993), a lot of the population
was already being screened for
prostate cancer as part of routine
care in their doctors’ offices. I
was in my mid-50s at that time
and was getting my PSA test
annually upon the advice of my
primary care physician.
Had I been part of the PLCO
trial, I’m quite certain I would
have followed my doctor's
advice and continued getting the
PSA test.
Question: What was the per-
cent of the PLCO control group
that received at least one PSA
test prior to or during the trial?
The Urology Center of
Colorado answered that last
year and determined it was close
to 90 percent — greater than the
85 percent in the intervention
group.
That meant the intervention
and control groups were nearly
identical with 85 to 90 percent
of each group getting one or
more PSA tests. And get this:
the men in the control group
reported having had more
cumulative PSA testing than
men in the intervention group.
And to think the National
Cancer Institute set up that trial
and spent millions of dollars on
it.
As Dr. Etzioni points out,
comparing those two groups to
one another wasn’t answering
the question everyone really
wanted answered: Did PSA
screening reduce prostate cancer
mortality.
What her team’s analysis
amounted to was the compari-
son that people really wanted:
screening versus no screening.
Etzioni added, “We conclud-
ed that both groups of the U.S.
trial were reflecting a benefit of
screening. That’s why when you
compared them to each other
you didn’t see a difference.”
By treating both groups of the
PLCO as benefiting from
screening (along with the inter-
vention group of the ERSPC),
the researchers concluded that
PSA screening tests reduced
prostate cancer deaths by 25 to
32 percent. The reduction was
primarily a result of the earlier
detection of cancer, according to
the researchers.
Etzioni stated, “The amount
of early diagnosis was very
strongly correlated with the
reduced risk of prostate cancer
death.”
The team also noted a 7 to 9
percent reduction in the risk for
prostate cancer death per year of
mean lead times (MLT). MLT is
the average time by which diag-
nosis is advanced by screening
versus no screening. That is a
powerful finding.
For men who are weighing
the pros and cons of prostate
cancer screening, this new study
by Dr. Etzioni and team
strengthens the evidence that
early detection with PSA
screening reduces deaths from
prostate cancer. We know that
early curable prostate cancer is
rarely diagnosed due to symp-
toms. Diagnosis due to symp-
toms is usually too late for a
cure.
These findings support
Oregon Urology Institute’s rec-
ommendation that men should
get a baseline PSA test during
their 40s. Based on the PSA
number, the DRE, and other per-
sonal risk factors, urologists can
then establish a future screening
schedule — taking those per-
sonal factors into consideration.
This baseline test could lead
directly to screening if one’s
PSA and/or DRE indicated the
need for it.
It could, more than likely,
lead to intermittent PSA testing
to avoid an unpleasant surprise.
But, without that first PSA
test, one will never know.
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