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4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL FEBRUARY 21, 2018 O PINION Offbeat Oregon History: Tillamook Guerillas By Finn JD John For The Sentinel Early 1942 was a really nerve-racking time to be an Oregonian — especially if you lived on the coast. The United States had just gone to war against a country that was already famous for being able to deliver large amounts of force anywhere within 600 miles of its aircraft carriers. No other country in the world, at that time, was better at surprise attacks; and no other country in the world could bring those attacks to bear farther away from its home shores. So although Japan itself was thousands of miles away on the other side of the Pacifi c, there was a real sense in coastal Oregon and Washington that the Pacifi c might as well be a very large river for all the protection it would afford, if the Japanese decided to invade. Oregon and Washington were, in a real sense, the front lines. So there were plenty of heartburn pills sold in Oregon drugstores when, a few months into the war, the Oregon National Guard got called up to go fi ght in Europe, leaving the state wide open and defenseless. In Tillamook, a man named Stewart P. Arnold had an idea for a way to do something about that. Arnold was a First World War veteran, and had lost his sight in combat. But he seems to have lost none of his fi ghting spirit. He arranged the orga- nizational meeting of something called the “Gue- rilla Rifl e Club” at the Pleasant Valley Grange on March 5, 1942, and a total of 69 local men signed up. The plan was for this loose association of lo- cal men, packing their own hunting rifl es, to be ready on a moment’s notice to resist a Japanese invasion. Their organization was paramilitary, with offi - cers elected by the membership militia-style and a military chain of command. At the organizational meeting, Arnold was elected commanding offi cer, with the “rank” of colonel; and the membership elected a captain (Art Sperber) and a fi rst and sec- ond lieutenant (Earl Clarine and Ralph Blum) as well. But they were defi nitely not an Army unit. They were civilian volunteers, with no uniforms, sponsored by no government. If captured by an invading force, they would be treated as fi fth-col- umnists, not entitled to the protections of the Ge- neva Convention. That was fi ne; the men understood that. They also understood that if the Japanese actually in- vaded Oregon, not having the protections of the Geneva Convention would be the least of their worries. Within a month, the Tillamook County Gue- rilla Rifl e Club had swelled to more than 1,000 members and attracted national attention. “(There are) snuff-dipping mackinawed men from the forests; ruddy, overalled farmers of stur- dy Swiss stock; pale businessmen from the little towns,” wrote a Time Magazine reporter in the March 30 issue. “They had no uniforms, did no drilling, furnished their own guns and ammuni- tion for target practice. But they were dead shots and they were ready to shoot.” "I think a lot of guys in the Guerrillas were guys who couldn't get into the military, or were disabled for one reason or another,” Garibaldi historian Jack Graves told the Tillamook Head- light-Herald’s reporter in 2010, “and older guys, including ones who had already served their time in the military." There were some younger lads as well — 16-year-old boys too young for Army service, but as good with a .30-30 as any 25-year-old Marine. “If the Japs try to land in the bays or inlets - Netarts, Tillamook, or lesser coves — they will fi nd guerrillas on cliffs, sandspits, and in the bogs — using their own ammunition and rifl es,” Col- onel Arnold told the Headlight-Herald reporter. “Our motto is, keep your guns cleaned and oiled, and your powder dry.” It was more than just that, though. “My dad (Roy Graves) told me they had mined all the bridges that connected Tillamook to the (Willamette) Valley,” historian Graves told the Headlight-Herald reporter. “There were teams of two to three men assigned to each bridge.” Especially after Time Magazine’s article came out, the idea of forming guerilla militia compa- nies spread wildly across the state. A similar group sprang up almost immediately in Lincoln County. A group calling itself the Bushwackers had already formed in southeast Portland, three months before; another guerilla club now formed in Independence; and, across the state, as April dawned, the guerilla-militia movement started taking Oregon by storm. Meanwhile, the Oregon State Guard was grow- ing nearly as quickly. Formed in 1940 as a mili- tary force answering directly to the governor, the state guard was the logical organization to take on what the guerillas were doing. The State Guard got scant support from Wash- ington, D.C., until word got out about the gue- rilla companies. At that point, Army leaders started pondering worst-case scenarios involving random gangs of poorly-trained armed men run- ning around the countryside looking for Japanese soldiers to kill. It wasn’t hard to imagine ways this could turn out very badly, and the Army had no way of knowing what kind of training these guerillas were getting. Soon the pressure was on Governor Charles Sprague to rein them in — and Washington was suddenly in a far more generous mood as regards rifl es, ammunition, and training supplies. Sprague, who had been supportive at fi rst, now started encouraging the guerillas to join forces with the state guard. “One thing made clear in this war is the value of guerrilla fi ghting; and our local fi ghters, famil- iar with the terrain, can be of great value in repel- ling the enemy,” he wrote, in a press release on March 17. “They should be enrolled in a military body, however; otherwise they would not be enti- tled to the rights of prisoners of war, if captured, but would be subjected to immediate execution. They should also be regularized for training and for proper coordination with regular troops.” In May, the federal government, dissatisfi ed with the pace of absorption, actually ordered all the guerilla clubs to disband or be absorbed into the state guard. Most of them, by this time, had done so; but “Arnold’s Raiders,” the biggest of the bunch, still held onto its independence. An awkward showdown was avoided by the expedient of redesignating the Tillamook County Guerilla Rifl e Club as a non-military organiza- tion, and it continued as an independent club. Ironically, it was the following month that the Japanese came as close as they ever would to actu- ally invading the mainland U.S., when the subma- rine I-25 hove to off the mouth of the Columbia and shelled Battery Russell. That, of course, was a coun- ty away from the Tillamook Guerillas’ home base; but it’s a safe bet that some of Arnold’s Raiders were on their way northward, rifl es locked and loaded, the minute they got the word — just in case. Dr. Fuhrman: Pomegranates can help against disease By Joel Fuhrman MD For The Sentinel Ruby red, delicious and nu- trient rich pomegranates pack a mighty punch in safeguard- ing your health. Pomegranate contains a unique and powerful antioxidant called punicalagin, the most abundant antioxidant in pomegranate, responsible for more than half of the antiox- idant activity of pomegranate juice. Pomegranate juice has been analyzed to have greater anti- oxidant capacity than red wine, grape juice, cranberry juice, green tea or acai juice. Drinking pomegranate juice measurably reduces oxidative stress (the toxic effects of free radicals) in healthy humans. Much research has shown that pomegranate’s potent antioxidant capacity pro- vides protection against heart disease, cancer and cognitive impairment. Pomegranate was one of the earliest cultivated fruits, and has been prominent throughout his- tory in art, culture, and religion, from the story of the seasons in Greek mythology to Romeo and Juliet to the Bible. Pomegranate is ubiquitous in Middle Eastern cooking and its super food status, unique fl a- vor and texture has made it in- creasingly popular in the U.S. A pomegranate contains hundreds of tiny, crisp arils; each aril is a seed encased in a juicy pulp, a tasty mix of sweet and tart fl a- vors. Health benefi ts of pomegran- ates - anti-cancer: 1) Pomegranate has anti-in- fl ammatory effects that may protect against cancer and other chronic diseases. 2) Pomegran- ate has anti-angiogenic proper- ties, meaning that they may help to prevent growing tumors from acquiring a blood supply, pre- venting those tumors from re- ceiving the nutrients that would allow them to grow larger. 3) Pomegranate is one of the few foods (mushrooms are another) that contain natural aromatase inhibitors. This means that they inhibit the production of estro- gen, which can reduce breast cancer risk. 4) After treatment for prostate cancer, two studies have shown that pomegranate juice or supplements slowed the increase in PSA. Protection against heart dis- ease: 5) Pomegranate phytochem- icals reduce LDL oxidation (a contributor to atherosclerotic plaque development). 6) Pome- granate phytochemicals have blood pressure-reducing proper- ties. 7) In a study of patients with severe carotid artery blockages, after one ounce of pomegranate juice daily for one year, there was a 30 percent reduction in atherosclerotic plaque. In strik- ing contrast, in the participants who did not take the pomegran- ate juice atherosclerotic plaque increased by 9 percent. Guards memory and brain function: 8) Pomegranate supplements taken before and after surgery prevented the postoperative memory dysfunction associated with coronary artery bypass or heart valve surgery. 9) In those with mild memory complaints, individuals drinking pomegran- ate juice daily performed better on a memory task compared to placebo and displayed increased brain activation measured by functional MRI. Removing the edible arils from the pomegranate is easy when you know how to do it. The easiest way is to cut it around the diameter, split it into two and then pound the back with the back of a large serving spoon. The fl avor and health benefi ts of pomegranate make the effort well worth it. Enjoy fresh pomegranates, especially when they are in season, and. When selecting pomegranates, look for a ripe, deep-colored fruit with a red to reddish-brown outer rind that is heavy for its size. Pomegranate season typically runs from Oc- tober through February – it’s nearly over now, but you can store some arils in the freezer or look for packaged frozen arils to get the health benefi ts of pome- granate all year round. Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and a board certifi ed family physician specializing in lifestyle and nu- tritional medicine. C ottage G rove S entinel (541) 942-3325 Administration James Rand, Regional Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager ................................................. Ext. 207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Aaron Ames, Marketing Specialist ........................................... Ext. 216 aames@cgsentinel.com Jana Stelle, Marketing Specialist .............................................. Ext. 203 jsteele@cgsentinel.com Editorial Caitlyn May, Editor. ................................................................. 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IN BRIEF FEB. 21-MARCH 4 • • The Cottage Grove First Impressions Program is a project of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce, City of Cottage Grove, Main Street Program, and the Rural Economic Vitality team from Rural Develop- ment Initiatives (RDI). First Impressions partners two communities in the region, to provide volunteer teams to visit and provide an objective feedback. In August, a visiting team of volunteers from Oakridge conducted a day-long “fi rst impressions” assessment in Cottage Grove. Results will be provided at a luncheon on Feb. 22 at noon. For more information, contact (541) 256- 0551. Community Conversations Tuesday, Feb. 27 from 6-8 p.m. at the Cottage Grove High School cafeteria. Free event.
