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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Former mayor’s son talks about father’s WWII heroics By JADE McDOWELL STAFF MEMBERS STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Secretary of Energy Rick Perry speaks about hydro electric power at a press conference after touring the McNary Dam with Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, on Monday in Umatilla. Energy Secretary Perry visits Northwest By GEORGE PLAVEN STAFF WRITER U.S. Secretary of En- ergy Rick Perry was non- committal Monday when asked about a proposal in the president’s budget to privatize the Bonneville Power Administration transmission grid follow- ing a tour of McNary Dam along the Columbia River. Perry, who was joined by congressmen Greg Walden, R-Oregon, and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash- ington, met briefl y with reporters outside the dam where he said hydroelec- tricity will continue to play an important role in Amer- ica’s energy strategy. The Trump administra- tion has proposed selling off transmission assets owned by BPA, which markets electric power generated by the Columbia River system — including McNary Dam. Northwest lawmakers have roundly criticized the plan, saying it would raise rates for consumers and affect reli- ability in rural areas. Both Walden and New- house signed on to a letter sent June 5 to Perry and Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Offi ce of Management and Bud- get, urging them to support the BPA. “We believe divesting BPA’s transmission assets will harm individuals and businesses, divert capital needed for further infra- structure investment in the Northwest, and undermine regional utility coordina- tion,” the letter reads in part. “BPA has helped to develop and administer the complex electrical system that powers the Northwest, now providing affordable and reliable power to over 12 million people and the businesses that help the re- gion thrive.” When asked where he stood on the issue, Perry only said that they should not be afraid to have that conversation before mov- ing on to another topic. Walden was more di- rect in his defense of the agency. He expressed con- fi dence that the BPA will remain public, adding that the notion of privatization has united just about every member of the Northwest delegation. “(BPA) does its job. And it has a darn important job in our region,” Walden said. On the subject of hydro- electricity and renewable energy as a whole, Perry said he is an “all-of-the- above guy,” pointing to the development of wind power and fracked natu- ral gas during his time as governor of Texas. Hy- droelectricity will play an important role moving forward Perry said, and he commended the work done at McNary Dam. “My hat’s off to every different part of this oper- ation to make sure it runs smoothly,” he said. McNary Dam was just the fi rst stop for Perry as he arrived in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington. On Tuesday, he traveled to the Tri-Cit- ies for a visit to the Pa- cifi c Northwest National Laboratory, HAMMER Federal Training Cen- ter and Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Perry said Monday that security at Hanford is “as good as there is in the world,” despite a partial tunnel collapse in May that contained highly radioac- tive waste. “We never like to have surprises, but we have them from time to time to time,” he said. “The long- term cleanup of that site is what’s important. That’s what I wanted to see.” He described both Han- ford and McNary Dam as examples of American strength and ingenuity, including Hanford’s role in developing the nucle- ar bombs that helped end World War II. “This is a fascinating part of America’s story,” Perry said. “There’s ex- traordinary history.” As family members cele- brate former Umatilla mayor George Hash’s 95th birthday, his son Randy is hoping that his father’s legacy is not for- gotten. Hash, who turned 95 on Tuesday, was mayor from 1991 to 2004. But many years before Hash worked to pro- mote economic development in western Umatilla County, he was being honored for his heroics during World War II. Randy said his father nev- er really shared stories from the war with his family until later in life, when Randy was a parent himself. He even- tually learned that his dad, a member of the 101st Air- borne Division, was one of the fi rst Americans to para- chute into Normandy behind enemy lines ahead of the D-day invasion of Normandy in France. He later became a prisoner of war in Holland, but eventually escaped. “George A. Hash is some- what of a World War II hero,” Randy said. “He’s featured in the Smithsonian.” In a video interview with George online, featured with other veterans’ oral histories, he said he chose to be a para- trooper when he enlisted be- cause he wanted to be in an outfi t “that was going over there to do some business.” “I fi gured that was the best choice if I wanted some com- bat,” George said. He also said he was “no kind of a hero,” just one of thousands of soldiers follow- ing orders. Randy said one of his fa- ther’s brothers-in-arms called him out of the blue years ago to tell him about the day his father was captured. The Germans had killed several members of their company, and George grabbed a gun and went off by himself to CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY RANDY HASH George Hash in 2017 and as a paratrooper during World War II. ambush the Germans that had been picking them off. The man told Randy they saw George from a distance keep shooting Germans until he had taken too many bul- lets to his arm and shoulder to continue re-loading. At that point, they thought George was dead. They later found out he had been loaded into the same fl atbed truck as the injured Germans he had just shot and taken to Stalag 3C, a camp that held more than 1,500 American POWs, for interrogation and imprison- ment. Hash was imprisoned for 561 days. Randy said many of the prisoners died from dysentery, and his father had lingering digestive problems for the rest of his life from going more than a year and a half with a barely adequate amount of food. “They were both starv- ing to death and freezing to death,” he said. At one point George was being held in a building where some of the fl oor- boards had been torn up to burn for warmth. As the Ger- mans began to load men into cattle cars to move them to a new camp, George and an- other man hid under the fl oor and got some of their fellow prisoners to help cover them back up. “The other guys didn’t want to do anything (to try and escape), because they knew they would get shot if they were caught,” Randy said. He said his father told him that he and the other prisoner waited until they didn’t hear any more movement in the camp and then split up and left on foot. George crossed on foot into Poland, where the Polish army helped hide him from the Germans, until he was able to stow away on a Merchant Marine vessel and eventually make his way back to the U.S., where he was sent to California to re- cover and train. “They were preparing to ship out to Japan, but the atomic bomb put an end to that,” Randy said. He said when he was a kid he had no idea that his father had led such an adventurous life. There were fl ashes of the tough POW, though, such as the day that Randy and his friends were lazing around the gym at Hermiston High School and his dad came in and started doing one-handed pull-ups. “He said something like ‘You guys should use this equipment’ and walked out,” Randy said. “Boy, my friends were sure impressed with how strong my dad was.” Randy said his dad was also known as a talented box- er. Despite his dad’s strength and fi ghting skills he nev- er once saw his father lose his temper and use physical force on anyone, even when provoked. Some of George’s chil- dren and grandchildren followed his footsteps into military service, including Randy, who served in the Coast Guard. The Hash family moved to Umatilla County in the 1950s, when George got a job as a teacher at Umatilla High School. He then taught shop and business classes — “career technical education” in today’s terms — at Herm- iston High School. He served as a Umatilla city councilor from 1989- 1990 and mayor from 1991 to 2004. Hash Park in Mc- Nary is named after him. After suffering a stroke, he is in Regency Hermiston Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. His family celebrated his birthday with him over the weekend. The support you need to find quality SENIOR LIVING SOLUTIONS A Place for Mom has helped over one million families find senior living solutions that meet their unique needs. There’s no cost to you! 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