11:00; 11/11

November 11. "...a temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill to change the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to honor all America's veterans for their patriotism and willingness to serve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day

Heroic Presidential Candidate

I'm sharing a few photos from a visit to central Oregon. This plaque sits unassumingly under some majestic Ponderosa Pines in Drake Park in Bend, Oregon. Mr. Johns' was nominated by the Socialist Labor Party. (Herbert Hoover won the 1928 election.)

And a personal hero. My Dad at 4 and 84, standing in the same place.

I miss you Dad.
3/2/1917 - 10/21/2004

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Walk of Flags

Dedicated in 2005, the circular Walk of Flags (funded through private donations) on the west of the state capitol, consists of a flag for each of the 50 states.



By each flagpole is a small copper plaque set in marble recognizing the sponsor.



Because the plaques are made of copper, a number of them have 'disappeared'-thirteen in one night. Metal theft is rampant here. Is metal theft a problem where you live?

Governor Tom McCall

The statue of Former Gov. Tom McCall was hoisted into place today along the Willamette River in Riverfront Park. The sculptor Rip Caswell fashioned the bronze statue after a photograph taken by John Daniel Callaghan of the former Governor wading from the North Umpqua River with his flyrod in one hand and holding a very nice steelhead in the other.

Gov. McCall served 2 terms (1967-75) and, says son Tad McCall, "his administration was neither "red" nor "blue." He is remembered among other achievements for the 'Beach Bill' which granted the state government the power to zone Oregon's beaches, thus protecting them from private development, and the 'Bottle Bill' which was the nation's first mandatory bottle-deposit law, designed to decrease litter in Oregon.

The dedication is planned for Friday September 26 at 10:30 am. Gov. Ted Kulongoski and former Gov. John Kitzhaber will be at the ceremony.

8:46 a.m.

At the south end of Riverfront Park, overlooking tranquil Willamette Slough, this humble plaque states a simple message.

Oregon Firefighters

Governor Ted Kulongoski ordered all flags at public institutions to be flown at half-staff from sunrise Monday, August 11, 2008 through sunset Friday, August 15, 2008 in memory of the eight Oregonian firefighters and crew who lost their lives August 5th in the helicopter crash in northern California.

“Year after year we depend on these committed individuals to protect our homes, our communities and our forests in the face of an unpredictable, unrelenting Mother Nature. Their dedication to this precarious job serves us all,” said Governor Ted Kulongoski. “For the families and communities that have lost a loved one, our thoughts and prayers are with you. We are forever indebted to you and to those who gave their lives bravely helping others.”

The helicopter crashed while on duty fighting the Iron Complex of fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The crash claimed the lives of seven Grayback Forestry employees and injured three others. The two pilots, employees of Carson Helicopters, also were Oregonians. One was killed and the other injured. A U.S. Forest Service employee from California also died in the crash.

Photo at the Marion County Corrections facility on Aumsville Hwy. SE.

Memorial to the CCC Workers

When the 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933, he was faced with the challenge to immediately begin a revitalization of the nation's economy after the "great depression". His plan was not to dole out aid, but to create jobs to give back to American workers their pride in their ability to earn a living. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was part of President Roosevelt's "New Deal." Roosevelt proposed to recruit thousands of unemployed young men to battle the erosion and destruction of the nation's natural resources. More than any other "New Deal" agency, the CCC is considered to be an extension of Roosevelt's personal philosophy. My own father as a teenager, worked for a time with the CCC in my home state of Ohio.

You can read more <here>.

Located on the State Department of Forestry campus, E. State Street.

Flag Day and Father's Day

June 14 is designated Flag Day in the U.S., to commemorate the adoption of the flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. June 15 is the U.S. celebration of Father's Day (traditionally the 3rd Sunday of June). With this photo I honor both. This is the pall flag presented to the family by the military chaplain at my father's burial, after a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps by a veteran bugler. He served in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of World War II. He received his discharge shortly after VJ Day and thankfully returned home to live a long life. (The flag is held by my oldest brother and shows my youngest brother's reflection on the metal plate.)

Veterans

At any gathering honoring their comrades, local veterans can always be depended upon to show up, especially Vietnam vets on their 'hogs'. The occasion this day was to honor the fallen at the Afghan-Iraq Memorial.

Five More Names

A ceremony Friday honored Oregonians who have died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately five names have been added to the 99 already on the granite wall of the Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial, located north of the Oregon Dept. of Veterans Affairs building on Summer Street NE along with memorials of other wars.

Remember.