HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 18
12 Pages
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
BMCC bond passes in four
of five Morrow County cities
Hermiston, Stanfield, Umatilla and Milton-
Freewater all vote no in Umatilla County
The Blue Mountain Community City
Yes
College bond measure passed last week,
Heppner
316
and every precinct in Morrow County
83
voted yes except for Irrigon. The BMCC Lexington
123
district covers both Umatilla and Mor- Ione
row Counties.
Boardman
196
The $23 million bond will cost Irrigon
187
taxpayers approximately 25 cents per
Umatilla
138
$1,000 of assessed property value for
Hermiston
941
15 years.
In Umatilla County, the bond passed Stanfield
114
with 52.96 percent of the vote, and in Echo
90
Morrow County with 52.25 percent.
Helix
67
Heppner voted 316 to 192 in favor,
42
Ione 123 to 68 yes, Lexington 83 to 66 Adams
Pendleton
2215
in favor, and Boardman 196 to 182 in
favor. Irri- Meacham
16
gon voted Pilot Rock
178
187 yes to
Athena
145
319 no on
9
the mea- Ukiah
Umapine
15
sure.
About Milton-Freewater
321
36 percent Weston
67
of the
eligible
5263
voters in Total
Morrow
County cast votes.
Above are totals from both Morrow and
Counties.
No
192
66
68
182
319
216
1209
126
57
39
50
1360
47
98
128
36
22
446
62
Local veterans among others
honored in trip to D.C.
4723
Umatilla
Wyden postpones
town hall
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, has postponed
the Morrow County town hall originally set for this
Friday, May 29, in Heppner due to a scheduling conflict.
A spokesperson for Wyden said the meeting will be re-
scheduled.
McEwen releases
third Sniper Elite
novel
Five Morrow County World War II veterans, accompanied by friends or family members, made the Honor Flight trip to D.C.
this month. Pictured are (back L-R) Clint Carlson, Sandy Matthews, Don Bennett, George Griffith, Lloyd and David McNary,
(front L-R) John and Ernie McCabe, and Alice and Jody Tatone. –Contributed photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
Five Morrow County
veterans were among a
group of 48 World War
II veterans from Eastern
Oregon to participate in a
World War II Honor Flight
to Washington, D.C. earlier
this month. Local veterans
on the four-day trip were
Don Bennett and Ernie Mc-
Cabe of Heppner, George
Griffith and Lloyd McNary
of Ione, and Alice Tatone,
formerly of Boardman and
now of Condon.
McCabe, 90, served in
the U.S. Navy in the South
Pacific from ’43 to ’46. He
was stationed at a naval
ammunition depot in Guam.
He was accompanied on the
trip by son John McCabe.
Bennett, 87, was one
of the youngest veterans
on the trip. He served in
the Army Air Force from
1945-1947, training in Kan-
sas before shipping out
for Oberhausen and then
Munich, Germany. He was
accompanied by daughter
Sandy (Bennett) Matthews.
Lloyd McNary, 90,
served stateside in the
Pacific Theater from ’45
to’46. He served as a Navy
corpsman in a naval hos-
pital on Treasure Island
in San Francisco Bay. He
was accompanied by David
McNary.
A l i c e Ta t o n e , 9 2 ,
served stateside in Florida
and San Francisco with
the Navy WAVES (Women
Accepted for Volunteer
Emergency Service) 1943-
1944, including serving as
secretary to Rear Admiral
Andrew C. McFall. She was
accompanied on the trip by
her son, Jody Tatone.
George Griffith, 89,
served in the Marines from
1944-1946. He spent most
of his time in the Pacific
Theater, participating in
Iwo Jima and serving with
the occupying forces in
Japan.
The trip was planned
by Honor Flight of Eastern
Oregon (HFEO), one of 117
regional hubs in 42 states
participating in the nation-
al Honor Flight Network
(HFN) program honoring
World War II veterans by
taking them to Washington,
D.C. to visit their National
World War II Memorial.
In order to qualify for the
flight, participants must be
World War II veterans and
not have seen the World
War II Memorial, which
opened to the public in
2004.
World War II veter-
ans travel free of charge
in appreciation for their
service and sacrifice seven
decades ago preserving our
freedoms. “Guardians” as-
sisting the veterans pay for
their own lodging, meals,
and airline expenses. HFN
operates totally on dona-
tions; even the HFN staff
donate their time. Many of
the Honor Flight volunteers
are Korean War and Viet-
nam War veterans.
“It was a wonderful
experience, one of my best
ones,” said Ernie McCabe
of the trip. “I was surprised
at the emotion I had, seeing
all the things we went to.”
The veterans and their
“guardians” began their
journey on May 13 when
they arrived in Portland
and were greeted with a
welcome party that night.
The group of 48 veterans
plus guardians left early the
next morning on their flight
to D.C.
From the beginning,
the trip was memorable.
On their arrival in D.C., fire
trucks at the airport sprayed
the plane with water, an
honor usually reserved for
retiring pilots. Even the ho-
tel was a highlight for some.
“We stayed in a Shera-
ton Hotel, which on 9/11
had airplanes fly right over
it. That was pretty excit-
ing,” said Alice Tatone.
Their tour of D.C. be-
gan the next day with the
purpose of the trip, a visit to
the World War II Memorial.
It was an emotional time for
all of the veterans.
“The World War II Me-
morial was really beauti-
ful,” said Ernie McCabe.
“There are 4,048 stars on
that memorial, each repre-
senting one hundred people
who had died. A real good
friend, Paul Rietmann, lost
his life in Normandy. I
could look at it and think,
‘He’s in one of those stars,
there.’”
After the World War
II Memorial came a tour
of the U.S. Capitol, where
they were greeted by Rep.
Greg Walden and Sen. Ron
Wyden.
Sandy Matthews said
the second day of the trip
began with something not
on the itinerary, when a
high school band in the
same hotel asked if they
could serenade the group
during breakfast. The vet-
erans dined as they listened
to Big Band-era favorites.
Other highlights that
day included the Lincoln
Memorial, Korean War
Memorial, Vietnam Me-
morial, and the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Memorial.
McCabe recalled a spe-
cial moment at the Lincoln
Memorial as the veterans
gathered on the upper level.
“We all started singing
the Star Spangled Banner. I
thought that was emotional
for the public,” he said.
At the Iwo Jima memo-
rial, the group was greeted
by a group of Marines do-
ing a silent drill. The Ma-
rines then came over and
shook the hands of all the
World War II vets. It was
at the Iwo Jima Memorial
that the group discovered
George Griffith’s special
connection to the event as
McCabe said his friend
and classmate—the two
graduated from Ione High
School together in 1943—
Hometown boy Scott
McEwen continues his lit-
erary career with the release
this month of a third Sniper
Elite novel, “The Sniper
and the Wolf,” with coau-
thor Thomas Koloniar.
Released May 12, the
book continues the saga
of SEAL Team sniper Gil
Shannon, who joins up with
an unlikely ally in order to
stop a terrorist plot bent on
destruction across Europe.
According to the book
teaser, “Hot on the trail
of ‘The Wolf,’ a rogue
Russian military sniper-
turned-Chechen-terrorist,
Gil Shannon turns from
hunter to hunted when his
mission is exposed by a
traitor high up in US gov-
ernment. Shannon must
turn to an unlikely ally—
a deadly Russian special
operative—to help even
the odds. But when they
discover that ‘The Wolf’ is
just the tip of a global ter-
The Sniper and the Wolf: A
Sniper Elite novel.
rorist plot whose goal is to
upend the US economy and
the stability of the Western
world, Shannon and his
team of operatives must
track the terrorists down
before their plan comes to
fruition,”
The book is available at
major book outlets, includ-
ing Amazon.com, Barnes
and Noble, and Costco.
Graduation
approaches for local
seniors
Graduation day is
quickly approaching for
seniors at Heppner and Ione
high schools.
Ione’s commencement
will be held Friday, June
5, beginning at 7 p.m. Bac-
calaureate services will be
held Monday, June 1, at
7 p.m. at the Ione Legion
Hall.
Heppner’s commence-
ment ceremony will take
place Saturday, June 6,
-See HONOR FLIGHT/ beginning at 2 p.m. in the
PAGE THREE
Heppner Jr./Sr. High School
gymnasium.
Baccalaureate services
for Heppner will take place
Wednesday, June 3, at St.
Patrick’s Catholic Church
beginning at 6 p.m.
Pavement chip seal planned on
Hwy.
207
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Oregon Dept. of Trans-
portation has issued an
update to the planned pave-
ment chip seal on OR 207
(Lexington - Echo High-
way) between Kilkenny
Road and the Morrow
County line.
Travelers should ex-
pect lane closures, reduced
speeds, day/nighttime flag-
gers, pilot cars, loose rock
on the roadway, and delays
up to 20 minutes.
Work is expected to
start June 1 and take about
two days.