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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2020)
VETERANS DAY A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Honoring all who served Air Force veteran shares her story with Echo students By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Echo School’s annual Veterans Day parade may have been canceled, but the school kept its tradition of making sure students heard fi rsthand from a local vet- eran about what it’s like to serve in the armed forces. This year’s keynote speaker — whose words were broadcast live during a virtual assembly — was Colleen R. Shaw Piercy, SSgt. E-5, United States Air Force, who served from 1995 to 2001. She talked about the “why” of her ser- vice to her country during her Wednesday, Nov. 11 speech. It started when she was 17, and saw military service as a way to get out of “sandy, windy” Eastern Oregon, see the world and learn a trade. “After I learned more about my job and I defended my country, my ‘why’ for joining the armed forces evolved and became much more. The ultimate goal at the end of the day was to support and defend our country. Being a part of the team to protect the rights of speech, press, petition, reli- gion and assembly gave me satisfaction,” she said. Piercy described the rig- ors of boot camp, where she and other recruits were “bro- ken down” and rebuilt phys- ically and mentally. To pre- pare them for a job where inattention to detail could result in lives lost, they Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald A group of Echo sixth-graders performs a song in honor of Veterans Day at a virtual assembly on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald Colleen R. Shaw Piercy, SSgt. E-5, United States Air Force, who served from 1995 to 2001, speaks to a virtual crowd during a Veterans Day assembly in the Echo High School gymnasium on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. learned to treat everything in their life with exactness. “Every stray string on your clothes needed to be clipped off. Every T-shirt needed to be folded just right,” she said. “I remember taking tweezers and pulling each little edge of the T-shirt so it was all fl ush.” After boot camp, Piercy worked in space system operations. At Schriever Air Force Base in Colo- rado Springs, Colorado, she worked to launch and oper- ate GPS satellites that the military uses in combat and planning, and the defense satellites used to monitor for missile launches and other threats. Her next tour was in Aus- tralia, where she worked to monitor and analyze data from defense satellites. “I was the front line of detection of missile launches, satellite launches and nuclear satellites,” she said. “I could detect what kind of missile, where it was originating from and where it was heading.” Her next work, in Spain, was tracking “space junk” with a high-powered tele- scope so that military sat- ellites could avoid a colli- sion. Her fi nal work for the Air Force, at Edwards Air Force Base in California, was classifi ed. After an honorable dis- charge, Piercy worked for Boeing to help launch the Sirius XM satellite before family health issues brought her back to Eastern Oregon. She started to work for Good Fish’n the Brave treats vets to a day on the river By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Umatilla hosted an event honoring veterans Saturday, Nov. 7, with the fi fth annual Fish’n the Brave event. About 60 veterans, a few with their active-duty sons or daughters in tow, spent the day fi shing on the Columbia River with top-of-the line gear and boats captained by experienced fi shing guides. Tony Fisher, who runs Fish- er’s Catch Outfi tters in Ken- newick, Washington, said the event began fi ve years ago when his son asked if they could take some veter- ans on a free trip for Veter- ans Day. “He said, ‘Hey Dad, I think we should take some veterans out,’ and I said OK and did a Facebook post,’” Fisher said. The fi rst year about 12 veterans responded to the post, and Fisher did a draw- ing to take four of them out. Afterward, some of his other friends in the guide business offered to donate their ser- vices, and the event contin- ued to grow, with a high of 87 veterans in 2019. Fisher said next year he plans to do the event on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks instead of the Saturday before Veter- ans Day, so that the weather is warmer. He said Fish’n the Brave has become a fun way to say thanks to people who have served their country. Mark Ribich/Contributed Photo Veterans and fi shing guides set out on a free guided fi shing expedition on the Columbia River on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. “It’s one of those things to give back to veterans, to let them know we support them, and just let them have some fun out on the water,” he said. He’s gotten good feed- back each year, he said. Par- ticipants range from vet- erans whose services was decades ago to one veteran who had just recently got- ten out of the hospital from injuries sustained overseas. With all branches of the ser- vice mixed together at the event, sometimes there’s a little friendly “razzing” that goes on between the differ- ent branches. A writeup of this year’s event by Cathy Stolz, pres- ident of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 37 in Herm- iston, described the scene: “Once on the water, sea- soned guides sped to the best fi shing spots and assisted their honored charges with anything and everything requested. One team drew a 9’ sturgeon alongside their craft. After bragging-rights photos were taken, the fab- ulous creature regained its freedom. Throughout the day, many other photo- graphs were taken of happy Veterans with their catches, all of which were released back into the river.” Stolz said Fish’n the Brave was prepared to serve up to 100 veterans, but fewer showed up. Next year, she said, the American Legion hopes to help advertise the opportunity to its members. “We exist to help Veter- ans,” she said in an email. “This local event is amaz- ing! We want to be more involved in the future.” The Umatilla Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Cen- ter helped get sponsors for the event and do some of the legwork, and the chamber’s president, Mark Ribich, said they were happy to help. The event helped local busi- nesses by drawing fi shing guides and veterans from the region into Umatilla, he said, “but the bigger mission was Tony’s mission, which was serving veterans.” Sponsors provided a sack lunch and outdoor dinner for the veterans, funding to help cover costs of the event, and prizes to add to the drawing Fisher did for fi shing gear and vouchers for guided trips. Signups for next year’s free event on Sept. 11, 2021, are already available on the Fisher’s Catch Outfi tters website at fi sherscatchoutfi t- ters.com/fi shn-the-brave. Shepherd Medical Center as an admitting clerk and went back to school to become a radiology technologist. Although she is no lon- ger enlisted, Piercy said her time in the Air Force taught her attention to detail, cour- age, integrity and how to be a team player, and she said she has tried to instill those same values in her children. “The military helped mold me into the person I am today,” she said. After her remarks, Echo School District Superinten- dent Raymon Smith encour- aged students and other community members watch- ing the broadcast to thank veterans they see for their service. He described how his father, a Vietnam vet- eran, refused to seek needed help and support available to him as a veteran because of how badly he was treated after he returned from war. “When he got home he was spit on, he was called names, he had things thrown at him, and he was treated as a second rate citizen for a political stance he didn’t have a say in, that he didn’t have a choice in. But he went because he was drafted; he went and served his coun- try,” Smith said. He said that’s why Echo hosts Veterans Day events each year, so that students can understand the sacrifi ces that veterans have made and appreciate their service. “It is vitally important that we as a country remem- ber to thank our service members, and remember to say we support them as peo- ple,” he said. Turning 65? Medicare sign-up help? Medicare Supplements? Part D Rx Plans? Josh Goller Health Agent QUESTIONS? WE HAVE ANSWERS! Get the help you need locally from a trusted professional! Compare many plans with just one call! 125 SE 7th St., Hermiston • 541-289-7261 www.simmonshealthinsurance.partners
