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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A COMMUNITY VETERANS Continued from Page 1A Schmitt, 60, served 26 years in the Army as chaplain in the reserves, guard, and active duty and served in different units including the 422 Signal Battalion at Reno, Nevada; 15th Support Battalion 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas; and the 1st Brigade Stryker, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. He deployed overseas fi ve times. Schmitt thanked those attending and gave a special shout out to Vietnam veterans. He talked about one of his deployments to Mosul, Iraq, where it was “a little too exciting.” His brigade lost 44 soldiers. “A small number in the terms of those who served in World War Two and Vietnam for a brigade but I can tell you, and as you all know, every life is precious and those men that I served with, they died honor- ably,” Schmitt said. “They died fi ghting for this country, they died fi ghting for the men and women that were right next to them.” He told a story about Pfc. Oscar Sanchez, a member of his brigade. It was in 2005 during the election in Iraq and the insurgency decided Mosul was the place they “were going to discredit the election so they would have to call it.” Schmitt said his brigade killed around 700 insurgents, but “we had some pretty hor- rifi c losses ourselves.” “It was a brutal time,” he said. He remembered that on Dec. 29, 2004, his unit established four outposts in Mosul. One of the favorite tactics of the insur- gents was to load vehicles with explosives and try to get them onto the American base where they would detonate. Sanchez and others were on guard duty when a dump truck loaded with 1,500 pounds of explosives was heading for their outposts. They knew it was a suicide bomber and fi red at the cab of the truck behind concrete barriers. Schmitt said Sanchez knew that if he kept standing so he could fi re, he could be killed. But if he dropped behind the barrier he would be protected. “But in so doing, would allow that dump truck to get closer and closer to that gate, maybe even break through that barri- er and get into OP Tampa and kill a bunch of his buddies,” Schmitt said. “So what’d he do? He kept fi ring like American soldiers do. Somebody hit him. S. John Collins / Baker City Herald Jayson Jacoby / Baker City Herald A Baker City homeschool teacher, Tala Yencopal, back row center, said she brought her students to the Veterans Day memorial Monday to help them grasp the "importance to understand our country's foundations and the sacrifi ces that allow them their free- doms." From left, Luke Hills, Maddie Yencopal, Sadie Yencopal, Jayden Yencopal (back), Zayne Hills and Ethan Hills. said Schmitt. He also mentioned 2 mil- lion Americans 18 years old and below are adopted from other countries “regardless of gender, color, and nationality.” He closed his speech by saying that all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who come to the end of a long, grueling deployment ask themselves “was it worth it?” — Lt. Col. Perry Schmitt, retired Army chaplain “The answer is yes,” Schmitt said. “But you also Dump truck driver, the suicide ask yourself a second thing: bomber, he dies. It triggers the Will anybody remember I mechanism and Sanchez, Pfc. suffered in this place? Will Oscar Sanchez, is killed with anybody remember that I saw the shrapnel. I’ll never forget my friends die in this place? that. Never forget all the men Will anybody remember that I’ve served with and all that...that I will carry terrible the men who fell.” memories all my life because Schmitt said his best friend of this place?” and other friends he made also He thanked everyone for were killed in the war. remembering the fallen and “It’s war and every life is those who served. precious,” he said. “For those who lived and Schmitt gestured to the yet carry those terrible VFW Memorial and said: memories,” Schmitt said. “Baker County, you have paid “And I want to say thank a tremendous price for this you from the bottom of my country. In blood and in trea- heart for the veterans who sure and with the memories didn’t get to say it to you. of those who have served that Thank you from the bottom of never go away, all of your life our hearts for remembering and I thank you for that and to come out to honor veterans your country is grateful.” on this Veterans Day here in Schmitt talked about how Baker, Oregon.” much money the U.S. spends Schmitt grew up in South- to help other countries follow- ern Idaho and joined the ing wars. Army on April 1, 1992, at the “What country in the his- age of 31. tory of the world gives money He had attended college at to their defeated enemies?” Northwest Nazarene Univer- he said. sity in Nampa. He pastored The U.S. expended in at three churches in Oregon, today’s dollars $5 trillion to Utah, and Nevada before he rebuild Europe after World joined the Army. War II. “It was after a long “No country is like this,” education period to become “Every life is precious and those men that I served with, they died honorably. They died fi ghting for this country, they died fi ghting for the men and women that were right next to them.” L OCAL B RIEFING Thanksgiving meals to be distributed November 19 at Safeway grocery in Baker City Employees from the Baker City Safeway store will distribute Thanksgiving meal packages starting at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19 in the east parking lot of the store at 1205 Campbell St. The meals were bought with donations from customers through the Turkey Bucks program, offered at checkout for the past few weeks. More than 180 meals will be available on a fi rst-come, fi rst- served basis. 4-H Christmas Bazaar scheduled December 6 and 7 at OSU Extension Service The 4-H Christmas bazaar is set for Friday, Dec. 6, from noon to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the OSU Extension Service, 2600 East St. To reserve a table, call 541-523-6418. Best Friends of Baker Saturday Market Open EVERY Saturday 8 AM - 2 PM DONATE BAGS OF UNOPENED PET FOOD AND GET 10% OFF! 2950 Church St, Baker City (fi rst left after Broadway turns into 10th) We accept debit, credit, cash & checks! Donations accepted Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays 9-1 (All proceeds benefi t the animals of Baker County) Carmen Ott of Best Friends of Baker hopes to fi nd a foster home for Foxy, a Pomeranian abandoned by her owners recently at a local rest area. Animal rescue group seeking volunteers a minister in the Church of the Nazarene that I really felt strongly the call to serve in the military,” Schmitt said. He began in the 422nd Signal Battalion at Reno. He loved it and decided to apply for active duty and was sent to Fort Hood, Texas. He deployed twice to Ku- wait in 1997. “I thought Texas was hot, but the 120s to 130s was brutal with sand storms,” said Schmitt, who has also deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. His deployment to Iraq as brigade chaplain for the First Brigade 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team was diffi cult, he said. “It was tough to come back from that,” said Schmitt, who has been diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). “I worked really hard to try and get my life back,” he said. Schmitt said it took around four years to feel like he was going to live again. Today, he is retired but works for the Army as a Suicide Prevention Program manager for the 807th Medi- cal Division in Salt Lake City. He said he can empathize with veterans who are strug- gling but are relucant to talk about their troubles. “Veterans don’t like open- ing up to other people, it’s just kind of the nature of the busi- ness and it takes a long time to talk to anybody else about it,” Schmitt said. “I wouldn’t talk to anybody unless they wore the uniform.” ARREST By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Carmen Ott wants to fi nd a loving home for every dog that comes her way, but sometimes that’s not the hardest part. Just getting the dog can be the bigger challenge. Ott, a volunteer with Best Friends of Baker, an ani- mal rescue nonprofi t, has just that problem now with a pair of dogs that have been seen for the past several days off Highway 30 near Haines. One is a brindle color boxer type, and the other a black, long-haired border collie. Neither neighbors nor Best Friends volunteers has been able to entice the dogs, and Ott worries the animals won’t survive wintry weather. She said the collie appears to be injured. Ott said she has been setting out food in the area, hoping the dogs will fi nd it. The situation is different with Foxy, a female Pomer- anian whose owners, who are truck drivers, abandoned the dog at a freeway rest area in Baker County on Oct. 28. Another truck driver found Foxy and drove her to Baker City, where he handed the dog over to Oregon State Police Trooper Levi Macy. Macy brought Foxy to Ott, who has been fostering the dog for the past two weeks and is hoping to fi nd a permanent home for the dog, who is about 10 years old and in good health except for some arthritis in her hips. Foxy is implanted with a microchip, and Ott said she used data from the chip to call the dog’s owners. She said they didn’t want the dog back. Macy said he will pursue charges against the owners for animal abandonment. He needs to confi rm whether Foxy was left at the rest area in Baker Valley or at Weatherby near Durkee. Ott said her current efforts to fi nd a home for Foxy, and the struggles to corral the two dogs near Haines, highlight Best Friends’ “desperate need for volunteers and members.” More information is available by calling Ott at 541- 519-4530. said. She later signed her interest over to Robert Continued from Page 1A Whitnah. The two couples opened Thamert had been the BeeHive Homes of Baker bookkeeper for the busi- City, an assisted living cen- ness, Robert Whitnah ter, in 2014. said. Once Thamert left, Robert Whitnah said an audit was conducted Thamert also had worked in October and November as an investigator for the of 2017. That’s when it Whitnahs’ law offi ce. became apparent that Thamert left the busi- money was missing, Whit- ness in October 2017 to nah said. move to Prineville to work Thamert is accused of as a building inspector for taking about $100,000 Crook County. from the business, he said. When he left, Thamert Because he had con- signed his interest in the sidered Thamert his best business over to Krischele friend, Whitnah said he Whitnah, Robert Whitnah had no reason to doubt Mobile Service Outstanding Computer Repair Any issue $40 fl at rate Call or Text 24/7 Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831 Have an OUTSTANDING Thanksgiving! www.outstandingcomputerrepair.com Refurbished Desktop & Laptops For Sale House calls (let me come to you!) Drop Offs & Remote Services are Available All credit cards accepted that Thamert was taking good care of the business accounts. Whitnah said the resi- dents of the assisted living center are not victims in the alleged crimes. Thamert is accused of stealing money from the business accounts. Visiting judge Erin Landis of Malheur County granted Thamert a con- ditional release after he was booked at the Baker County Jail Tuesday. Conditions of his release prohibit him from con- tacting Robert Whitnah; Jessica Hatfi eld, secretary at Whitnah’s law offi ce; or Nicole Howerton, ad- ministrator at the senior living center, which was renamed Memory Lane Homes about a year ago. Thamert also was or- dered not to enter Whit- nah’s law offi ce at 1930 First St.; his property on Sparta Lane; or Memory Lane Homes at 3078 Resort St. Thamert, who is repre- sented by Bend attorney Erick Ward, is scheduled to enter a plea to the charges at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 6 in Baker County Circuit Court. HELP NEEDED! Best Friends of Baker & New Hope have gathered the resources to trap, spay/neuter and vaccinate a colony of feral cats IF we have somewhere to put them afterward. If you have a barn on your property and are willing to provide food & water for a few cats, they will serve as loyal mousers! Please call 541-523-6863 Working cats need very basic care: shelter and access to food & water in all seasons. They WILL continue to hunt when fed! (Everyone needs fuel to get the job done!) FOOD DONATIONS NEEDED ȱěȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱ ¢ȱȱ¢ȱşȬŗȱȱ¢ȱŞȬŘ ȱȱŘşśŖȱȱǰȱȱ¢ Save a life and evict those mice! Call 541-523-6863 Ad sponsored by Jane Barrett
