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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2015)
MMA FIGHTER RETURNS CENTRAL FOOTBALL TO THE OCTAGON ADVANCES Page 12A Page 10A Page 10A Volume 140, Issue 45 www.Polkio.com November 11, 2015 75¢ IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS Dallas High School students team up with actors from LaCreole Middle School to pres- ent “Oliver!” The play opens tonight. »Page 16A FALLS CITY Fa m i l y B u i l d i n g Blocks starts a new pro- gram at Wagner Public Library. »Page 3A INDEPENDENCE JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Jesse Cagle, 81, of Dallas with a photo collage from his childhood, with his father, mother and brother, and during his military service in the 1950s during the Korean conflict. After his childhood in the Philippines, Cagle’s family moved to the United States, where he became a teacher. A blessed life »Page 15A MONMOUTH Dallas resident Jesse Cagle experienced war from two perspectives: as a child and young man By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Most people in Dallas know Jesse Cagle as “Mr. Cagle.” A teacher in the Dallas School District for 27 years, he had countless students in his classrooms over the years. Some he occasional- ly sees around town, and though they are adults now, they still call him Mr. Cagle. Cagle has had a rich life in Dallas, raising 11 chil- dren, nine of them adopt- ed, and a number of foster children with his wife of 50 years, Joyce, and enjoying a fulfilling career in educa- tion. A portion of his child- hood stands in stark con- trast to what Cagle said has been a blessed life in Dal- las. JESSE CAGLE /for the Itemizer-Observer Cagle stands in front of his bunker on DMZ in Korea. A changed life He was 7 years old on Dec. 8, 1941, when the first bombs dropped on Manila, Philippines. He was in school when his father, Lawrence Cagle, picked him up before taking his family — Jesse’s mother, Virginia, and his younger brother, Lonnie — out of Manila. Lawrence Cagle was a former American service- man who was stationed in the Philippines before being discharged and re- turning to marry Virginia Saliwa. As an American, he feared being captured and placed in an internment camp. Lawrence took the family into the jungle north of the Philippine province of Pangasinan. “That’s where my moth- er was born, so she was known up in that area,” Cagle said. “That’s where we hid in the early part of the war.” Out of concern for his family, Lawrence decided he should separate from Virginia, Jesse and Lonnie. With the help of his wife and other locals, he hid in the swamps in the region, an area Japanese soldiers rarely ventured. “He had been there for several months and my mother would provide food for him every so often, and so would other Filipinos,” Cagle said. But all he did to hide didn’t stop Jesse’s father from being captured by a Japanese patrol and sent to Santo Tomas Internment Camp on the grounds of Santo Tomas University in Manila. The camp held American, British, Aus- tralian and Chinese citi- zens, Cagle said. His family visited his father at the camp — the Japanese considered Filipinos “aliens” and did not hold them cap- tive, though thousands of civilians were killed over the course of the war. But Lawrence began noticing the environment worsen, and fearing for their safety, told them not to return until he was re- leased. “Most of the duration of the war, we were up in the jungle,” Cagle said. “My mother took care of my brother and I. We survived. By whatever means my mother had of finding food, we were able to do that.” He said in spite of their situation, he and his broth- er never felt unsafe, de- prived or in fear they would never see their fa- ther again. That was in large part due to his mother’s care- giving. See BLESSED, page 7A Civil War-era cannonball found on street in Dallas By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Alex Frey, of Dallas, was driving on East Ellendale Avenue between Walmart and the 76 gas sta- tion when he spotted some- thing unusual in the road. It looked like small rubber ball, but it was in the road where a car could hit it. He was riding with three friends — all of them teenagers — so one of them, Jacob Schultz, jumped out to get it. “I got out and went and THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK picked it up. It was heavier than I expected,” he said. “I dropped it by accident.” The first impression was that it may be a shot put, used in the throwing event of the same name in track and field. But the four friends had a sneaking sus- picion it might be some- thing else, but what, they didn’t know. They all held it and took photos with it. They dropped it for a second time. Kristal Dunmire and Frey asked their teachers — they are students at Dallas High School — to see if they knew what it was. No one knew for sure, so Dunmire gave it to her step- father, Thad Boatwright, to see if he could figure it out. Boatwright did some re- search and concluded this: It was an old cannonball. But there still was something unusual about it. “It didn’t meet the criteria of what a normal cannonball (would look like),” Boatwright said. See EXPLOSIVE, Page 7A Ta l m a d g e M i d d l e School students gather more than 2,000 pounds of food for the Ella Curran Food Bank. “Book of Days” opens at Western Oregon Uni- versity Thursday at 7:30 p.m. »Page 3A SPORTS Perrydale football de- feats Pine Eagle to keep state-title dreams alive. »Page 10A EDUCATION More than 70 stu- dents illed out college applications during the nationwide College Ap- plication Week cam- paign, sponsored by GearUp. »Pages 16A CRIME See inside for up- dates on a sex-abuse case at Kings Valley Charter School, a difer- ent case involving kid- napping and rape in West Salem, and this month’s most wanted. »Pages 2A, 6A LEAF PICKUPS Residential leaf pick- ups are beginning in Dallas on Saturday, and continuing for residents in Monmouth and Inde- pendence. »Page 3A Got a news tip? THAD BOATWRIGHT/Itemizer-Observer Give us a call at 503- 623-2373 or email ionews@polkio.com. Four teenagers found what turned out to be a cannonball. wed thu fri sat sun mon tue Veterans and their families are wel- come to breakfast at the Monmouth Sen- ior Center. Happy Veteran’s Day! 8:30-10:30 a.m. Free. Young Professionals is a networking op- portunity for the younger business crowd, meeting at Independence Grill. 5:30 p.m. Free. See what the Arc of Polk County is all about at its bi- monthly dance and karaoke at the Acad- emy Building. 6:30 p.m. $3. Swing your partner and do-si-do at Guthrie Park’s old- time square dance at the Guthrie Park Community Center. 7-10 p.m. $5. Explore the hobby of remote-control aircraft lying with the Dallas Wingdingers RC Fly- ing Club. 1-3 p.m. Free. Today is National Button Day. Button collecting has been a recognized hobby since 1938, when the National Button So- ciety was founded. Bring your loose change to the Polk County Coin Club’s monthly meeting and see if you have any gems. 7 p.m. Free. Partly cloudy Hi: 52 Lo: 35 Mostly cloudy Hi: 50 Lo: 42 Cloudy Hi: 56 Lo: 47 Rain Hi: 54 Lo: 41 Rain Hi: 53 Lo: 38 Showers Hi: 51 Lo: 38 Rain Hi: 49 Lo: 38