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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2018)
V ETERANS D AY The Blue Mountain Thank you for your service EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , N ovember 7, 2018 • N o . 45 • 20 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com QUILTS OF VALOR PROJECT honors Grant County veterans Ladies from two quilting groups will award 63 vets By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle A s Veterans Day approaches, at least 63 Grant County men and women of valor will be hon- ored for their military service with handmade, quality quilts at two events this month. A small army of women have joined the Quilts of Valor Foundation in relation with the project. Two groups, one from the Mt. Vernon and John Day area and another from Monument, have been furiously quilting over the past several months, preparing the special gifts. Grant County Piecemakers Guild On Oct. 18, five women gathered around tables at Karen Hinton’s quilting shop, The Shiny Thimble, in Mt. Vernon. Hinton, who is president of the Grant County Piece- makers Guild, said she heard about the Quilts of Valor Foundation and decided as a New Year’s resolution to start a quilt in January. “I talked about it at our guild meeting, and it just snow- balled,” she said. She said the guild has held special sewing days, work- ing with partners. Betty Ricker of Mt. Vernon said there are many veter- ans living in Grant County, and she’s enjoyed her involve- ment with the quilting project. “It’s kind of like potato chips; you can’t make just one,” she said. See QUILTS, Page A10 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Mt. Vernon residents Karen Hinton, left, and Maudean Brown create Quilts of Valor for Grant County veterans, working at Hinton’s The Shiny Thimble quilt shop. Veteran recalls Cold War Germany Don Mooney was a soldier-tourist By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Don Mooney didn’t get the opportunity to learn how to fix helicopters, but he left the Army with some vivid experiences — including sailing across the Atlantic during the Cuban missile crisis. Mooney grew up in northern Califor- nia, but he has family roots in Oregon. He had started community college and was 18 when he joined the Army in 1959, enlisting for three years. His goal was to learn about helicopters. “They asked me for my second option, and I put down heavy equipment repair,” he said. “That’s how I ended up in truck driv- ing school.” Army life Mooney attended boot camp in Fort Ord, California. He had played football in high school, so he was physically fit, but accepting Army discipline wasn’t automatic. “They try to get into your head,” he recalled. “It took me a week to bend to Don their will.” Mooney Mooney had also been a hunter while growing up, so unlike other green troops he knew how to handle a rifle. The soldiers trained with an M1 Garand, and Mooney recalled a black soldier from Los Angeles, California, who’d never fired a rifle, becoming the top marksman in the company. At one point, Mooney considered en- listing in the elite 10th Mountain Division, which could have led to a tour in Vietnam in the early years of conflict there. But the Army required him to reenlist, and Mooney wanted to return to the states. Overseas duty Following eight weeks of truck training, Mooney traveled to Fort Dix, New Jersey, arriving just a few days after Elvis Presley returned from service in Europe. Mooney boarded the USNS General Simon B. Buckner in New York in April 1960, bound for West Germany, but the smells and vibra- tions of the troop ship proved too much. “I was sick before we left the harbor,” he said. One of the merchant mariners on board advised him to find work in the galley. Mooney said he hauled sacks of potatoes to a mechanical peeler and soon felt better. A train took the troops from the West German port of Bremerhaven to a military base near the city of Kaiserslautern. Mooney said he was assigned to drive See GERMANY, Page A10 Contributed photo Don Mooney weathers winter while at the military base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Mt. Vernon man to be extradited for kidnapping, rape charges Andy Vogt may still face federal charges By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Charges against a Mt. Vernon man accused of raping and kidnapping a 15-year-old Idaho girl will be pursued in an Idaho court. Andy Alan Vogt, 48, now faces Ida- ho charges of first-degree kidnapping and lewd conduct with a minor under 16. Bail was set at $1 million, according to court documents. Grant County Circuit Court Judge William D. Cramer Jr. gave Idaho officials 14 days Andy Vogt to pick up Vogt. “These crimes are based on conduct that is co-occurring with other more substantial crimes alleged in Idaho,” District Attorney Jim Carpenter said in a press release, adding that the case was transferred to avoid double jeopardy issues. The girl, who went missing from Eagle, Idaho, was located at a home in Mt. Vernon after the Grant County Sheriff’s Office was tipped off by law enforcement in Boise. Carpenter said Vogt met the girl through a social me- dia app. According to an Oct. 31 press release from Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer, the girl was taken into protective custody, and the occupant and owner of the home on Ingle Street in Mt. Vernon was arrested. Palmer said his office received a request for an agency assist from the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Boise on Oct. 29. Deputy Brandon Hutchi- son responded to Vogt’s residence on Ingle Street, where the girl was be- lieved to be, and located her. The investigation and search war- rant service concluded in the afternoon of Oct. 31, Palmer said. His office was working with the Ada County and De- schutes County sheriff’s offices along See CHARGES, Page A10 Saluting our Veterans this Veterans Day Grant County Veterans Services 530 E Main St., Suite 5 John Day 541-620-8057 88417
