2009 Memorial Day Events Set Throughout Oregon

A few thoughts on this important holiday, and a complete list of Oregon events that have been brought to our attention.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Events and observances are set to take place throughout Oregon as residents spend a day honoring those who paid the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

In fact it is a day to honor all veterans, but particularly those who are no longer with us.

I remember the service for a Utah National Guard 2nd Lt. named Scott B. Lundell, who was killed in a firefight in November, while I was covering the war in Afghanistan.

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman was actually in Afghanistan with Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski the night that service was held. He told me he remembered shaking Scott Lundell's hand just before his unit deployed.

I recall a 1st Sgt. named Miguel Jimenez, explaining how much everyone in the unit was affected by that loss.

It was in the air. You could feel it. The Lieutenant's rifle and boots were arranged at the front of a chow hall that night near a podium from which several people, including the soldier's Governor, spoke to the group of assembled military.

In addition to hundreds of members of Scott Lundell's unit, the service was attended by visiting Marines and soldiers from all over the war theater.

I'll think about 2nd Lt. Lundell and countless others like him this Memorial Day, and I hope everyone pauses to honor and respect their sacrifice by visiting a resting place for veterans over the special weekend.

For those planning their festivities for Memorial Day, here is a list of locations and times where various events are scheduled:

May 25 – Speaker: Jim Willis, Director, Oregon Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs. 8:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Timber-Linn Park.

10:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Willamette Memorial Park. Free lunches at VFW Post 584, 1469 Timber St. S.E., and at Legion Post 10, 1215 Pacific Blvd. S.E. 2:00 p.m. – Ceremony at Twin Oaks Cemetery Contact: Don Epperson, 541-971-3750

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony at Beaverton Memorial Park on Watson St. Contact: Marv Doty, 503-644-0350

May 24 – 9:30 a.m. – Service organizations, high school NJROTC units will place flags at Pilot Butte Cemetery. May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Flag ceremony, Deschutes Memorial Gardens, N. Hwy. 97.

1:00 p.m. – Ceremony, Deschutes Memorial Gardens, N. Hwy. 97. Open House, VFW Post 1643, N.E. 4th and Olney. Contact: Bob Cusick 541-389-0995

May 25 – 10:30 a.m. – Ceremony, Buck Hollow Cemetery. Location: Willamina Creek Road to Buck Hollow Road. Contact: Kevin Scott 503-474-7275

May 23 (Sat.) – 11:00 a.m. – Parade downtown with marching bands, veterans groups, and community organizations. Contact: Gene Melton, 541-290-4222

12:00 p.m. – Services, Sunset Cemetery, 63060 Millington Road. Contact: Bill Keller, 541-888-6556

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Crystal Lake Cemetery, Crystal Lake Drive. Contact: Nicky Jones, 541-753-4149 2:00 p.m. – Ceremony, Benton County Veterans Memorial, Kings Blvd. Local veterans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Purple Heart recipients honored on “Purple Heart Walkway of Honor.” Contact: Les Whittle, 541-752-3222

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony and Avenue of Flags, Dallas Cemetery, 2065 S.W. Fairview Ave. Speaker: Capt. Bob Bacca. Limited seating. Contact: Al Ratzlaff, 503-623-2591

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – 64th annual Fleet of Flowers memorial honors veterans lost or buried at sea. The fleet departs following an on-shore ceremony at the harbor. Contact: Barbara Leff, 541-270-3839

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Eagle Point National Cemetery, 2763 Riley Road. Guest speakers and military music. Contact: Rick Colclasure, 541-778-7051

May 25 – 9:00 a.m. – Mass, “Salute to Veterans.” Mt. Calvary Cemetery, 220 Crest Dr. Contact: Tim Garrison, 541-686-8722

12:00 p.m. – “Salute to Veterans,” Lane Memorial Gardens, 5300 W. 11th Ave. Contact: Dee Harbison, 541-343-1684

2:00 p.m. – “Salute to Veterans,” West Lawn Memorial Park, 225 S. Danebo Ave. Contact: Randy Wood, 541-342-8281

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Memorial service, Elks Lodge No. 1858, 1686 12th St. Contact: Ted Naylor, 541-997-2610

11:00 a.m. – Joint dedication ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park. Speaker: Val Conley, Oregon Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs, Services Administrator. Contact Bob McGuire, 541-902-7884

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Forest View Cemetery, 1161 Pacific Ave. Speaker: Sgt. Major Mike Bruno. Contact: Jim Craigg, 503-357-3660

May 25 – 8:00 a.m. – Memorial services, Grand Ronde Cemetery, Grand Ronde Road. Contact: Kevin Scott 503-474-7275

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, parade of flags, guest speakers, Hillcrest Memorial Park, 945 N.E. Hillcrest Drive. Contact: John Woods, 541-479-2707

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Service at the Heroes Memorial, Powell and Tribute. Contact: Gail Hanna, 503-667-1623

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Fir Lawn Memorial Park, 1070 W. Main St. Contact: George Anderson, 971-404-7905

May 25 – 9:45 a.m. – Procession with a Color Guard and high school band to march through Idlewild Cemetery. Contact: Patrick Scranton, 541-386-1080

May 25 – 10:30 a.m. – Independence State Airport Pilot Memorial tribute. Speaker: Col. (ret) Stanton Rickey, WWII B-17 pilot/ex-POW. Community picnic at Nutsch Aviation Hangar. Shuttle bus available at Marquis Spas. Contact: Andy Andersen, 503-838-4231

11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Veterans Memorial Park. Speaker: CWO Ron Young, Jr., ex-POW. Veterans with proof of honorable service will be awarded Oregon Honorable Service Medal. Forms at Co. Veterans Service Office, 123 N. 4th St., or at www.klamathveterans.com. Contact: Klamath County Veterans’ Service Office, 541-883-4274

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Services at Community Cemetery, Reed Road off of Hwy. 97. Open house, Legion Post 45, 52532 Drafter Road, at 12:00 p.m. Contact: Pat Cotton, 541-536-1402

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Ceremony, nearly 400 donated casket flags displayed. IOOF Cemetery, on Hwy. 20 and Cemetery Road. Contact: Fred Schaefer, 541-258-7453

May 23-25 – Weekend celebration, Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, Hwy. 18, 500 N.E. Capt. Michael King Smith Way. Ceremony, May 25. Check website: www.sprucegoose.org. Contact: Laura Graham, 503-434-4185

May 25 – 8:30 a.m. – Ceremony, Pioneer Cemetery, north of Waverly Drive on S.E. 17th Ave. Information: www.milwpioneercem.org. Contact: Mark Neubauer, 503-997-9495, email: info@milwpioneercem.org

May 25 – 9:30 a.m. – Memorial service, patriotic music at Calvary Cemetery, Hwy. 214. Mass will be celebrated. Inclement weather services: St. Mary Parish Church, 575 E. College St. Contact: Jerry Lauzon, 503-845-6882

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Memorial Park, 4th and Howard St. Guest speaker: Col. (Ret) David R. Beecroft, USAF. BBQ in Memorial Park after the ceremony. Contact: Don Miller 503-538-6108

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Memorial service, Hilltop Cemetery. 11:30 a.m. – Memorial service, city boat ramp, Snake River Park. Contact: Bill Thomson, 541-889-6649

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Evergreen Cemetery, located on S. Park Blvd.

10:30 a.m. – Services at Sunset Cemetery on Sunset Drive, south of S.W. 4th Ave. Contact: Stephen Farrow, 541-881-1389

May 25 – 9:00 a.m. – Services, Pioneer Bishop Chapel. VFW Post 922 Auxiliary to place flowers at six war memorials. Contact: Gary Ward, 541-276-0308

11:00 a.m. – Services at Olney Cemetery, Avenue of Flags. Contact: John Cook, 541-276-2032

May 22-25 – Portland Rose Festival celebrating spirit–tradition of U.S. military and their families with free admission to Waterfront Village. Information: www.rosefestival.org. Contact: Laura Mears 503-227-2681

May 23 (Sat.) – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – Skyline Memorial Gardens’ Oregon 150th anniversary salute to the Oregon National Guard and to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Location: 4101 N.W. Skyline Blvd. Contact: Colleen Combs, 503-292-6611

May 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington Park across from Metro Park Zoo, 400 S.W. Canyon Road. The names of 801 Oregon service members’ killed during the Vietnam War will be read. Ceremony speaker: Military author, Karen Spears Zacharias. Contact: Ron Cannon, 503-819-4228

10:00 a.m. – Willamette National Cemetery hosts the 59th annual ceremony, 11800 S.E. Mt. Scott Blvd. Ceremony includes: Avenue of Flags, Color Guard, Gladstone High School band. Guest speaker: Don Rinker, Director, Memorial Service Network. Contact: Roger Huntley, 503-273-5250

May 25 – 10:30 a.m. – Parade downtown. Services, Juniper Haven Cemetery Pioneer Section. Contact: Bob Cusick, 541-389-0995

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Memorial observance, Hudson Cemetery Veterans Memorial, 7900 Larson Road. Contact: 503-741-0916

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Ceremony, Redmond Cemetery, Avenue of Flags. Location: Yew Ave. and Old Bend-Redmond Hwy. Contact: Dennis Guthrie, 541-280-5161

7:00 p.m. –29 Palms U.S. Marine Corps Band—free concert at high school. Tickets available atlocal banks.

1:30 p.m. – U.S. Army Green Beret Skydivers will parachute in to the memorial service, Hahn Memorial Park. 29 Palms U.S. Marine Corps Band will perform. Contact: Joe Mirvis, 541-361-9080

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Tribute, Roseburg National Cemetery. National Anthem: Maddie Bright, daughter of Pfc. Dean Bright, who was killed while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Contact: Dodie Blessing, 541-459-1512

May 25 – 11:00 a.m. – Program, City View Cemetery, 390 Hoyt St. S.E. Speaker: Paula Brown, Deputy Director, Oregon Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs. Luncheon: VFW Post 61, 630 Hood St. N.E. Contact: Kerry Wymetalek, 503-364-7997

May 30 (Sat.) – 2:00 p.m. – Ceremony, Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial. Speaker: Jim Willis, Director, Oregon Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs. Names of fallen service members will be inscribed on a granite wall. Location: ODVA grounds, 700 Summer St. N.E. Contact: Robin Steckley, 503-373-2390

May 25 – 10:30 a.m. – Memorial observance at the Veterans Memorial. Speaker: Dave Cooley, Oregon Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs Outreach Manager.

Another important thing you can do is visit IraqWarHeroes.org, a Website that memorializes all casualties of the current conflicts, which is based in Oregon and operated by Q Madp of Portland. Madp regularly photographs services of the fallen for NW families and offers the photos those relatives of the deceased at no cost. Sometimes the families give Q permission to share those images with the media and on those occasions, we try to present them in the most respectful way possible.

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Jim Davis, Veterans-For-Change May 24, 2009 8:46 am (Pacific time)

Tim, Thank you for taking the time to remember our fallen! And it’s a sad day when mainstream media can only cover the bad and the ugly in our world. It’s far to easy to simply forget and ignore all those who’ve made it possible for them to even have a job in the first place, to protect their first amendment rights every day with their lives. Even more sad when every day veterans still have to battle, but this time a battle which Congress and the President didn’t ask them to fight. They have to fight with the Veterans Affairs just to receive a small pittance of a benefit, mediocre medical care, run down and dilapidated medical facilities using equipment bought in the 70’s or 80’s, improperly cleaned and sterilized. They suffer not only this, but medical misdiagnosis, they’re improperly medicated and this just goes on and on with no real end in sight! We lose thousands of our veterans every year for lack of proper medical care and attention, failure to approve the over one million claims and appeals still pending, some claims more than seven years old. To me, and I’m sure someone will point out how wrong I am, but Memorial Day is to remember and mourn the passing of all those whom we’ve lost to battle, and to remember and celebrate those who are still living for their bravery, fortitude, courage, dignity, and honor for having served our Country without hesitation, question or pause. But, unfortunately for all too many it’s simply another 3-day weekend to party, go to the beach, have picnics and forget your every day lives. Either never knowing, or just not caring what it truly means. Not caring how many men and women laid down their lives in defense of our Country! Or to think about all those who are still living and how they live in pain and anguish, waiting for their claims to be approved, to get the care and attention and financial assistance needed just to live from day to day. Too many just waiting to die because our government and our citizens have simply forgotten them. My fathers dream was someday soon there would come a day when our heroes we call veterans won’t come home from battle, beaten up, broken down, wounded both mentally and physically and maimed won’t have to come home and battle any more. There’d be no more mountains of paperwork to prove claims which won’t be honored. They’d simply come home and be cared for as has been promised since Roosevelt. Although I now carry on in dad’s footsteps every day of my life, dad’s dream may never be a reality until veterans unite as one, be vocal, be heard, make your presence known to all 535 members of Congress so they don’t see you as just another statistic on an obscure report they’ll never read. Or to continue to treat you worse than an illegal immigrant or a second class citizen or see you as just someone else with their hand out begging. Take a minute to view this wonderful rendition of Amazing Grace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVxzEueJ6A Then please take time out on Monday to visit the National or local cemetery to pay your respects to those whom we’ve lost and remember them! And to all who can read this from myself and my family, welcome home, and thank you for your service to our country! You will never be forgotten! And if you’d like to become a part of the solution, and you can spend 30-60 minutes a month and not even spend a penny or leave your computer, please visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VETERANS-FOR-CHANGE/ Jim Davis President JDAVIS92840@SBCGLOBAL.NET

Scott May 22, 2009 9:33 am (Pacific time)

Tim, thank you for your dedication to military men, women, and their families.

Tim King: Thanks Scott

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