NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2021
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Families, veterans pay their respects
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
As the sound of the Taps
bugle call echoed across
the Hermiston Cemetery on
Memorial Day, more than
600 American fl ags waved
gently behind the crowd
standing in silent attention.
The fl ags aren’t mere
decoration — anyone who
knows where to look can
fi nd the name on each fl ag
of an area veteran who has
died.
“My dad’s fl ag is out here
someplace,” David Marks
said after the memorial cere-
mony fi nished. “My uncle’s
fl ag is out here. I’ve been in
town long enough to know a
lot of the people on the fl ags,
if I can fi nd them.”
Marks, an Army veteran
himself, said he enjoyed the
service at the cemetery the
morning of Monday, May
31. The event included patri-
otic songs from Hermis-
ton High School’s choir and
band programs, and several
ceremonial honors for vet-
erans, including the reading
of names of local veterans
who died since the Amer-
ican Legion and VFW last
held the ceremony in 2019
(it was canceled in 2020 due
to COVID-19).
Living Faith Church Pas-
tor Dean Hackett, an Air
Force veteran, spoke at the
event, telling the story of
Charles Plumb.
Plumb was a “top gun”
naval pilot who completed
74 combat missions over
Vietnam from the USS Kitty
Hawk. On his 75th mission,
his plane was hit by a sur-
face-to-air missile and he
ejected, parachuting into
enemy territory. He was
captured and spent six years
as a prisoner of war, tortured
and beaten.
After he was freed,
Hackett said, a man
approached him at a restau-
rant one day and exclaimed,
“You’re Charlie Plumb!”
Plumb didn’t recognize the
man, who proceeded to tell
him that he had packed his
parachute.
Hackett said Plumb later
said he laid awake that
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
Members of the Army National Guard do a 21-gun salute during a Memorial Day service at the Hermiston Cemetery on Monday,
May 31, 2021.
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Members of the Hermiston High School Band play service
songs during a Memorial Day service at the Hermiston
Cemetery on Monday, May 31, 2021.
Oregon Army National Guard Staff Sgt. J.J. Tudela unrolls a
fl ag at the Hermiston Cemetery on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in
preparation for Memorial Day.
night, thinking about the
man who saved his life by
packing his parachute cor-
rectly, wondering how many
times he had passed him on
the ship and not bothered to
say hello, because he was
a fi ghter pilot and the man
Hermiston Herald, File
Whisky Fest spectators wait for Post Malone to take the stage
on July 13, 2019, at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds. This
year’s headliner will be country music star Toby Keith.
was “just” a sailor.
“He made a vow to
never let a day go by with-
out thanking someone who
packed his parachute emo-
tionally, who packed his
parachute spiritually, who
packed his parachute fi nan-
cially,” Hackett said.
He said many people go
through the day never think-
ing about the people who
“packed their parachute” in
some way to help protect
the life they are leading.
“Today I say, thank you
to the families of those men
and women who made the
ultimate sacrifi ce, that we
might live in liberty, in the
land of the free and home of
the brave,” Hackett said.
After the VFW and
American Legion canceled
annual ceremony and the
Avenue of Flags in 2020,
due to concerns about pro-
tecting elderly veterans
from COVID-19, attend-
ees at Monday’s service
expressed their appreciation
for seeing the fl ags fl y once
again.
“They’re so beauti-
ful,” said Kelly Zielke, of
Stanfi eld.
She was out at the ceme-
tery with other family mem-
bers to pay her respects to
the veterans honored in the
memorial service, and her
father-in-law, a veteran who
now rests at the Hermiston
Cemetery.
Kevin Hedgepeth, retired
Coast Guard, said he found
the
entire
observance
moving.
“I’m still a little teary-
eyed,” he said.
As a veteran of the small-
est branch of the military, he
was pleased to fi nd three
fl ags at the cemetery for
Coast Guard veterans.
“When I was active duty,
there were more cops in
New York City than Coast-
ies in the entire world,” he
said.
Hedgepeth grew up on
the Oregon coast, though,
and said he chose the Coast
Guard because he had a
great respect for them after
watching the rescues, pro-
tection and other bene-
fi ts they provided to com-
mercial fi shermen. Even in
times of peace, he said, the
Coast Guard saves lives and
protects livelihoods.
His specialty in technol-
ogy meant he wasn’t often
the one physically pulling
people out of the water, but
he said he will never for-
get the look in a man’s eyes
after he pulled him out of
the ocean after three days
drifting in an incapacitated
boat.
As people began to leave
the cemetery, he said he
hopes people remember that
Memorial Day is much more
than a three-day weekend.
“It’s an opportunity to
remember those who put
themselves in harm’s way
so we can continue to enjoy
life,” he said.
NORMAL
Toby Keith headlines
Pendleton Whisky
Music Fest in 2021
HERMISTON HERALD
Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest is ready to thrill again.
Songwriters Hall of
Fame inductee and two-
time Academy of Country
Music Awards Entertainer
of the Year Toby Keith is set
to headline the annual sum-
mer event on July 10, 2021,
at the historic Pendleton
Round-Up Grounds.
Country music’s Clare
Dunn, Clay Walker and Cole
Swindell also are slated to
perform, according to the
announcement from Pendle-
ton Whisky Music Fest.
Doug Corey, Whisky
Fest co-founder, said the
entertainers have been easy
to work with and “having a
top notch agent and one that
is respected in the industry”
was central to getting the
lineup.
“Trying to do this without
an agent would be diffi cult,”
he said. “There are simply
too many moving parts. We
are extremely lucky to have
secured Toby Keith, Cole
Swindell and Clay Walker,
all on such short notice. It
will be a wonderful country
music event. We are excited
for this year’s Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest.”
Organizers canceled the
2020 festival due to the
coronavirus pandemic. The
new lineup of 2021 per-
formers will replace the
original headlining artist
Eric Church, who is now set
to perform at the Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest in 2022,
along with Macklemore.
Whisky Fest also plans to
take place in front of a live
audience, but there will be
diff erences from previous
years.
Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest, according to the press
release, will follow all health
and safety guidelines per the
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention as well
as local and state govern-
ment health offi cials. This
year’s main event will have
a reduced capacity of 12,000
fans, and title sponsor Pend-
leton Whisky will provide
face masks at each entrance
to festivalgoers who choose
to wear one.
The event has show-
cased some of the biggest
names in the music per-
formance industry, includ-
ing Maroon 5, Blake Shel-
ton and, in 2019, Pitbull and
Post Malone.
This year’s festival will
kick off as usual with a Fri-
day night party in downtown
Pendleton, featuring musical
performances by Kurt Van
Meter, Precious Byrd and DJ
Sovern-T.
For updates on the 2021
and 2022 musical festivals,
including ticket information,
visit www.pendletonwhis-
kymusicfest.com.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS