A4 • Friday, November 13, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Dog tags tell a story that leads to Seaside
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
Tim Schreck made an interesting
find.
“Recently I purchased a World War
1 Army dog tag for a nominal amount
at a local coin store,” the Portland man
wrote the Seaside Signal.
The name on the dog tag — the alu-
minum identification used by the mili-
tary with name, rank and serial number
— was Patrick D. Dillian.
After some initial research, Schreck
found a match, leading to Seaside High
School. “There is an active college
scholarship in Seaside under the exact
same name,” he said.
Who was Patrick Dillian?
Ky Jennings, among organizers of
Seaside’s Vietnam Veterans War Memo-
rial in the Cove, provided an assist.
She was able to identify Dillian as
born Feb. 13, 1889 in Hallock, Minne-
sota, to parents Joseph and Mary Dil-
lian. “He and his wife Effie lived in
Clatsop County, in Astoria, and perma-
nently in Seaside,” Jennings said.
Patrick and Effie lived with Mary
Dillian on Seventh Street in Seaside
after she was widowed.
Dillian served in World War I in the
Coast Artillery. He worked as a truck
driver for a Seaside business, Jennings
said. At 53, he registered for the draft in
World War II.
Effie Dillian, who graduated from
a Quaker college in Indiana, where
she was from, was a home economics
teacher at Seaside High School.
Photos by Tim Schreck
World War I army dog tag and army number of
Patrick D. Dillian, a former Seaside resident.
The couple had no children.
Patrick Dillian died on July 11, 1945.
Effie Dillian set up the scholarship in
her husband’s name in 1946. She died
in 1973. The couple are buried in Ocean
View Cemetery in Warrenton.
“This scholarship will go to a grad-
uate of Seaside High School who has
shown in daily associations with oth-
ers qualities of outstanding leadership;
of being humane; and of cooperation,
honesty, kindness, consideration, and
intelligence, and who will attend school
within the Oregon university system,”
according to the description.
Schreck would like to return the dog
tags to any surviving family members.
“There have been a few recent national
stories of lost dog tags returned to sol-
dier’s families and I would love to get
this artifact to any surviving family
or perhaps to a local museum in your
area,” he said.Schreck said he enjoys
U.S. history and most historical nonfic-
tion. Along with the Dillian dog tag, he
is also working on tracing another that
appears to belong to Fred E. Haynes,
from a family in the Plano, Texas, area.
“I want both to be returned to their
proper places for no charge,” he said.
“The process has been remarkably inter-
esting and rewarding.”
GUEST COLUMNS
No time for secrets at Broadway Middle School
GUEST COLUMN
RANDALL A. FRANK
Attention taxpayers in the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation District. The
director and board of this local taxing dis-
trict are seeking to increase their indebt-
edness without voter approval for the
purchase of Broadway Middle School.
In their last endeavor to expand they
sought a $20 million bond which was
soundly defeated and at that time the
director was quoted in the paper as say-
ing that the cost of pursuing Broad-
way Middle School would “far exceed”
this current expansion project. I believe
most of us agreed with his assessment
of this property, which encompasses 5
acres and 73,000 square feet of various
aging buildings. Now I must ask what has
changed since 2018 when the statement
was made?
Our Seaside School District 10 led by
Doug Dougherty presented before the
Seaside City Council a rather compelling
argument regarding this 71-year-old prop-
erty, its life span and the costs of bringing
it up to current standards when seeking
voter approval for our new school located
now out of the tsunami inundation zone.
There are rumors of leaks which have
existed for years, fl ooding in the old locker
rooms, evidence of asbestos and lead paint
— are they true? An inspection was done
to identify the presence of lead and asbes-
tos, paid for with district money but it is
being withheld from public view. Another
inspection for overall building condition
has also been ordered but that also is not
being shared with the public. Why? Also
if this location was a danger to children
then should it be used for programs with
them now?
I am a 56-year resident of Seaside and
our daughters grew up here and attended
our schools. I myself attended Central,
Gearhart, Broadway and Seaside High
School. I voted for the pool and appreci-
ated having our kids learn to swim there.
I also like having the skate park. I might
not be opposed to this proposed purchase
but show me the business plan or projec-
tions. I (and all 10,000 district taxpayers)
would then be able to comment on this
transaction.
I pencil this $2.25 million at 4% for 20
years to be around $13,500 per month and
then there is insurance, water and utilities,
lights, power, garbage and heat, which I
estimate at $2,500 per month. That’s not
even including the employees to work
at the property. I see a $16,000 payment
monthly which does not include any nec-
essary repairs which may be needed to
bring the facility up to code or to retro-
fi t it for the newly identifi ed uses. The
other side of the equation is where is that
money coming from? This is why you fi rst
develop a business plan and projections so
these questions may be answered. Never
ever would I fi rst make a purchase and
then answer the income side.
A social media survey was haphazardly
tossed out to whoever might see it, but I
wonder how many of the people in the dis-
trict even know it exists and if they are able
to take it. Why are they proceeding with
the purchase before the results are com-
piled and why are we not able to see them?
Is this an emergency transaction? Where
is community input and transparency? The
taxpayers have paid for reports we can-
not view, seemingly last minute meetings
are called without adequate public notice
and no input or feedback or interaction is
allowed. There are eight questions here
that deserve an answer.
Please, please, please: Let’s not put the
cart before the horse and also allow trans-
parency with the stakeholders. This is no
time for secrets.
Randall A. Frank is a Seaside resident.
Veterans Day, a time to pause as a nation
GUEST COLUMN
KELLY FITZPATRICK
This Veterans Day across the nation, for
the fi rst time since the holiday was con-
ceived in November 1919, there were no
large ceremonies in big cities and small
towns in observance to properly express
our gratitude and appreciate our country’s
brave men and women who served in the
United States armed forces.
Instead, 2020 will long be remembered
as a year of tremendous change and chal-
lenge for our nation. Yet, this year also
notably marks 75 years since the end of
another historic global event that united
our country: the end of World War II and
the subsequent creation of the Oregon
Department of Veterans’ Affairs in 1945.
One of the most poignant aspects of our
Oregon veteran community is that it is as
diverse and united as the nation we serve.
Whether you are one of the 300,000 Ore-
gon veterans who served in the trenches of
Europe, the mountains of Korea, the jun-
gles of Asia, the deserts of the Middle East
or anywhere in between; on (or beneath)
the world’s oceans, or in the skies above;
here at home or overseas, in wartime or in
peace; you are part of an unbroken chain
of patriots who have served this coun-
try with honor through the history of our
nation.
Every day, even after their military ser-
vice, our veterans ensure America remains
strong. Every day, they employ their hard-
earned leadership skills and continue to
serve their communities.
Our veterans are moms and dads, teach-
ers and doctors, engineers and entrepre-
neurs, social workers and community
leaders. They are the heroes of a peaceful
nation who answered the call and returned
to live in the land they defended.
Heroes like World War II paratrooper
Bill Wingett — though he never embraced
that distinction.
Private First Class Wingett was one of
the original members of Easy Company
of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, a unit made
famous by the book and HBO miniseries
“Band of Brothers.”
On June 6, 1944, he was one of 17,000
paratroopers to perform a night jump
behind enemy lines fi ve hours before the
historic beachhead assault began. Along
with other paratroopers from the 101st, he
fought his way through to Normandy. He
also served with honor in the Battle of the
Bulge, the Battle of Bastogne and other
pivotal confl icts until the war ended.
He was awarded the Bronze Star for
his bravery during the Battle of Brecourt
Manor and earned three Purple Hearts in
separate engagements.
Sadly, Bill passed away just a few weeks
ago at his home in Lebanon. He was 98.
The veterans of the Greatest Gener-
ation, serving nearly eight decades ago,
are vanishing at a startling rate, as are the
veterans of the Korean War generation.
Just fi ve years ago, there were more than
17,000 WWII veterans living in the state
of Oregon. Today, there are fewer than
6,000. Their contribution and example
must never fade from our awareness. The
nation and the world they fought to protect
will endure because of their service and
deep sacrifi ces.
Today, we also remember our fellow
Americans missing in action, whose fate
is still undetermined. We will not rest
until we have made the fullest possible
accounting for every life that was given
in pursuit of our freedoms and preserving
democracy.
We also pause to remember the men and
women who did not live to be called “vet-
erans.” Many of them rest in the hearts of
our national cemeteries.
We also honor the families of the lost,
who carry a burden of grief that time may
lighten, but never lift, as well as all vet-
erans’ family members. Their loved ones
placed duty and country before their own
lives.
America is known as the land of the free
and the home of the brave, but this was
never a given. This reputation was earned
by the blood and sweat of patriots who,
generation after generation, dedicate them-
selves to keeping our nation safe, strong
and free.
What veterans have given our country is
beyond our power to fully repay, yet, today
we pause as a nation to recognize our debt.
Kelly Fitzpatrick is the director of the
Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for lat-
est meeting information and
attendance guidelines.
TUESDAY, Nov. 17
Union Health District of
Clatsop County, 8 a.m., Sea-
side Civic and Convention
Center, Necanicum Room.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District Board
of Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225
Avenue A.
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
Seaside School District,
6 p.m., www.seaside.k12.
or.us/meetings.
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Darren Gooch
Joshua Heineman
Rain Jordan
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
989 Broadway.
Seaside Tree Board, 4 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside City Council,
6 p.m., homelessness work
session, Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, 415 First
Ave.
THURSDAY, Nov. 19
Prom Centennial Planning
Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Seaside Transportation Advi-
sory Commission, 6 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 6 p.m.,
public hearing C-1 zone amend-
ments, City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way.
Seaside Signal
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