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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2019)
GRANT UNION VOLLEYBALL ADVANCES TO FINAL EIGHT | PAGE B1 The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, November 6, 2019 151st Year • No. 45 • 20 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com HONORING VETERANS Contributed photo/Cheltzy Cox Cheltzy Cox hauling equipment in Afghanistan. Contributed photo Building a future far from home Cox becomes equipment operator for Navy Seabees Army Supply Sergeant Byron Rudishauser stands in front of a Quonset hut while serving in Alaska in the mid-1950s. Veteran recalls threat of war looming after ceasefire Learning to respect the flag, the country and the people By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle C heltzy Cox grew up with one goal in “Boot camp was not as hard as I thought mind: becoming an equipment it was going to be,” Cox said. “I grew operator. up working a lot and it helped me. I Her cousin Blake Lawrence was surprised to see people who inspired her to pursue the occu- couldn’t do push-ups or stuff like pation. Wes Grant, a retired chief that because they didn’t have to of the U.S. Navy and Grant do physical stuff every day. Boot County veteran, told Cox about camp was a breeze for me.” his career and gave her the goal of She outran all the girls in her joining the Navy Seabees. camp and every guy except two. Cox grew up working on her fam- Bucking hay, building fences, work- ily’s ranch in Monument. This job was Cheltzy Cox ing on the ranch and operating equip- ment had prepared Cox physically. something Cox enjoyed, and it also pre- pared her for the physically demanding tasks While being from a rural town of 100 peo- ple benefited Cox in boot camp, being sta- at boot camp. tioned in Port Hueneme, California, presented Beginning her service a complicated environment to learn in. Several years after graduating high school, “It was kind of a shock, but you adapt to it. Cox joined the Navy and was sent to boot See Cox, Page A7 camp on April 3, 2006. W hen Byron Rudishauser, a John Day drafted while he was still attending Yoncalla resident, joined the Army in High School in southwest Oregon. So he decided to sign up. September 1953, a cease- fire in the Korean War had taken “Looking back on it, I really place the month before. But the wasn’t worried about it,” he said. threat of war loomed. “If your name came up, it came up.” “We started basic training There were classmates he and got the hell scared out of us,” knew who died in the Korean Rudishauser said. “The trainer War. said, ‘I’ve got news for you.’ He Rudihauser was the son of a log- said the ceasefire had been canceled and fighting had started again, and Byron Rudishauser ger. The family lives in Seneca and Canyon City while his dad worked ‘You’re going to the front lines in at Edward Hines Lumber Co. in Seneca in his two weeks.’” Rudishauser said the trainer was pulling early years. His family moved to Yoncalla for one year, their leg and, shortly after, said he was just let- ting them know things could change overnight. then returned to Grant County. During basic training at Fort Ord in Fresh out of high school, Rudishauser was 19 when he entered military service. See Rudishauser, Page A7 He’d received a notice that he would be Bentz announces run for Walden’s congressional seat Findley plans to run for Bentz’s Oregon Senate seat EO Media Group Oregon state Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, announced last week that he will run for the seat in Congress being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Greg Walden. Walden, who was first elected to Congress in 1998, announced Oct. 28 that he would not run for re-election in 2020. Bentz said in a news release that he was sur- prised to learn that Walden would not continue in the position. “Congressman Walden has done (and is still doing) a great job as Oregon’s only Republi- can Congressman,” he said. Bentz served 10 years in the Oregon House of Repre- Oregon Sen. sentatives as the Republican Cliff Bentz state representative from Dis- trict 60, and almost two years in the Oregon State Senate as the Republican state senator for District 30. Bentz said that experience has been critical in preparing him to represent the people in the state’s 2nd Con- gressional District — a sprawl- ing district that covers much if Central, Southern and Eastern Oregon. “The challenges in Washing- ton, D.C., are great,” he said. “However, based upon my Oregon Rep. years of working as a rancher, Lynn Findley farmer, attorney, and as a mem- ber of the Republican party successfully passing legislation in a Legisla- ture controlled by Democrats, I feel confident See Bentz, Page A10 Grant County Veteran’s Services 530 E Main St. Suite #5 • John Day, OR 97845 • 541-620-8057 S150967-1
