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News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
FALLEN
Memorial Day remembrances
Continued from Page A1
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The tradition of handing
out poppies to honor those
who died originated with the
opening lines of Lt. Col. John
McCrae’s poem “In Flanders
Field.”
Grant County has a large
number of residents who
have served in the military.
Bob Van Voorhis, an active
supporter of local veterans in
the John Day area, estimates
about 1,000 veterans live in
the county, which has 7,185
residents.
Memorial Day is a time to
recognize publicly the sacri-
fice of those who served, but
their stories should be remem-
bered year-round.
Lelus “Pete” Baucum
didn’t receive his high school
diploma from Grant Union
High School until he retired
from teaching at the same
school 42 years later in 1984.
He was drafted into the Army
during World War II and
headed off to basic training
in Fort Lewis, Washington,
before the school year ended.
Cpl. Baucum served 2 1/2
years as a squad leader with
the Army’s 246th Combat En-
gineers and saw action during
the D-Day invasion, landing
in the third wave at deadly
Utah Beach on the Normandy
coast.
After that, the Allied forc-
es struggled through dense
hedgerows and fierce German
resistance as their foothold
in France slowly expanded.
Combat engineers were dem-
olition specialists who cleared
emorial Day begins with recognition at cemeteries
in Grant County. Members of American Legion El-
lis Tracy Post 77 will set about 500 flags at head-
stones of deceased veterans in Rest Lawn Cemetery in John
Day, Canyon City Cemetery and St. Andrews Catholic Ceme-
tery in Canyon City on Friday, May 25. No service is planned
for John Day or Canyon City on Memorial Day.
Members of American Legion Post 106 Auxiliary in Prairie
City will place about 150 flags and crosses with poppies at-
tached at headstones of deceased veterans in the Prairie City
Cemetery the same day. The post has more than 100 casket
flags that will be flown along the roadway running through the
middle of the cemetery.
The post in Prairie City also will hold a Memorial Day ser-
vice at the Prairie City Cemetery on Monday, May 28, start-
ing at 11 a.m. A short service will follow a gun salute and taps
played by Ed Heiple, with Tom McAuslan reading from “In
Flanders Field” by Lt. Col. John McCrae. A second service
will take place on the Bridge Street bridge, where a wreath
will be cast into the John Day River in memory of those lost
at sea.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Ed Negus, the commander of American Legion Post 106 in Prairie City, stands next to
a uniform complete with medals worn by Vernon D. Reynolds, a cattle rancher and fire
chief from Prairie City who fought in both World War II and the Korean War.
US deaths in foreign wars
1917-1918 World War I
Total: 116,516
Grant County: 5
1941-1945 World War II
Total: 405,842
Grant County: 20
1950-1953 Korean War
Total: 36,516
Grant County: 6
1955-1975 Vietnam War
Total: 58,209
Grant County: 4
2001-present
Afghanistan War
Total: 2,216
2003-2012 Iraq War
Total: 4,497
Contributed photo
Members of the Baucum family who served include, left to right, Bill Baucum, Coast
Guard; Jerry Baucum, Merchant Marines; and Lelus ‘Pete’ Baucum, Army.
roads for other troops.
Baucum was in a foxhole
somewhere in France on July
30, 1944, when he wrote to
the John Day Valley Ranger.
“The country we are get-
ting into now reminds me
much of the Hood River
Valley there in Oregon,” he
wrote. “There are a lot of oak
trees and apple orchards. The
fields are beginning to get
bigger, and the hedges seem
smaller as we drive further
inland.”
Baucum described sleep-
ing in foxholes as German
88 shells and other bombs
dropped nearby.
“I’ve had cold sweat run
down my face a number of
times since I’ve been over
here and believe me, that
sweat wasn’t caused by the
heat,” he wrote.
But morale was high, he
wrote — except sometimes
when they didn’t receive their
mail. After eating so many
“dog biscuits” in their K ra-
tions, the troops “all began to
bark like dogs,” he wrote. But
the food was getting better, he
noted.
“Eugene Davis of Prai-
rie City is in my company,”
Baucum wrote. “We’ve been
together ever since we came
into the Army. He drove the
Prairie creamery truck before
he was inducted.”
Baucum was injured twice
after his company reached
Germany. The first time, Oct.
7, 1944, a paperback novel in
one of his pockets prevented
serious injury, his daughter
Patty McArthur told the Ea-
gle.
“He didn’t realize he’d
been injured,” she said.
Then, five days later,
Baucum’s Jeep ran over a
land mine. Severely injured
and unable to walk, Baucum
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
A plaque at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John
Day recognizes locals who died in World War I, World War
II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
pulled himself into a thatch of
red willows where he hid for
about a day until he was res-
cued. Years later, he recalled
the red willows with fond-
ness.
Baucum spent 18 months
in Portland hospitals for sur-
gery and rehabilitation. He
met a nurse there, Ella Eichler,
and they were married Dec.
2, 1945. With her support, he
graduated from Oregon State
University in 1951 and spent
much of his teaching career at
Grant Union.
Baucum was awarded two
Bronze Stars and two Purple
Hearts for his service in the
European Theater, including
the capture of German troops.
But he suffered from shrapnel
in his legs for the rest of his
life — all the while running
a ranch, teaching high school
and raising four children,
McArthur said.
“The shrapnel worked its
way up to the surface of his
skin, like black pepper on the
back of his legs,” she said.
“But he was a warrior — he
handled the pain with nothing
more than an occasional aspi-
rin the rest of his life. I don’t
know how he did it.”
Vernon D. Reynolds
served in both World War II
and the Korean War. Ed Ne-
gus, the current commander
of American Legion Post 106
in Prairie City, considered
Reynolds “like a second dad.”
Reynolds grew up in the
Prairie City area, living for
a time at the Blue Mountain
Hot Springs. He enlisted in
the Army and served with
Company E 17th Regiment
7th Infantry. He received a
Purple Heart after he was shot
by Japanese soldiers on Oki-
nawa.
Reynolds re-enlisted for
the Korean War. After he re-
turned, he ran a cattle ranch
near Prairie City and served
for many years as the Prairie
City fire chief. Negus recalled
the day years later when he
and Chip Wood boarded a bus
in Prairie City bound for Port-
land and the Vietnam War.
“Three or four fire trucks
showed up at the bus stop,
lights flashing,” Negus re-
called. “The people in the bus
didn’t know what was going
on.”
Reynolds had organized
the tribute for two local men
headed off to war. Reynolds
died in the 1980s, and his uni-
form, medals and other mem-
orabilia are kept in the Post
106 hall on Front Street.
59152
A Tribute to Our Soldiers
on Memorial Day
We honor the memories of the brave soldiers who made
the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Their courage and
selflessness will always be remembered with gratitude.
We will never forget that freedom is not free.
John Day
541-575-1862
For more information contact
Grant County Veterans 541 620-8057
59110
Prairie City
541-820-3321
We will be closed Monday, May 28 in honor of Memorial Day
