News about the veteran community, for the veteran community.
Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garcia Family and Their Legacy of Service
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15), the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs will be sharing stories from the state’s and nation’s military and cultural history, including profile individual Hispanic American service members and veterans. See our earlier entries in this series here, here, here and here. Santos Garcia will never forget the week he received his draft notice, near the waning days of the Vietnam War. He had just bought a 1965 Plymouth Fury, and when he returned home from his military service, the car was gone. His family said they didn’t know what happened to it. “I never
In One’s Element: The Value of Being On the Water
By Robert Smith, Oregon State Parks I don’t know when it started, young I guess, like most things. My favorite memories always involved water. Vacation often started with a ride on the ferry to Whidbey Island. Then there was grandpa’s house overlooking Puget Sound. Maybe it was fishing trips with my dad to Lake Leland – eating tomato soup warmed on an old Coleman stove. Dad would make sure I was safe and warm and, based on the abundance of tomato soup, would continue to grow. There were smells and sights and sounds that I still remember and that I
What Dis-ability? The Healing Power of Boating
By Ashley A. Massey, Public Information Officer, Oregon State Marine Board A day in 1969 changed the trajectory of Craig Withee’s life. A car accident left him a paraplegic, but that has not slowed down this retired Civil Engineer from Bend. In 2018, Craig Withee was appointed to the Marine Board and brought with him not only his 38-years of experience in facility engineering, operations and management for the Department of Army and the Federal Aviation Administration, but a perspective from an avid mixed-use boater and angler who happens to live with physical limitations. Withee offers his perspectives around the