OREGON Died March 15, 2007, from Wounds Sustained in a Oregon Was Home to World War I Veteran George A
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Legend EVERY DEPARTMENT HAS A STORY Legion posts OR Legion Department Headquarters The American Legion of n American Legion Post 43 in La Grande dedicated its new annex in 2016 in memory of Sgt. 1st Class John Scott Stephens, who OREGON died March 15, 2007, from wounds sustained in a Oregon was home to World War I veteran George A. White, roadside bomb attack while a leader of the Paris Caucus that led to the creation of he was on patrol in Opera- OR Legionnaires The American Legion. The Sons of the American Legion tion Iraqi Freedom. also owes its beginning to a resolution passed at the George A. White, longtime adjutant general of the 14th National Convention in Portland in 1932. The state Oregon National Guard, served on the Western Front n In 1941, construction of in World War I and helped lead the Paris Caucus that has been called upon to host World War II Army Air Corps the Umatilla Army Ord- created The American Legion in 1919. White was first training bases, Cold War radar installations, and the nance Depot began west of national vice commander of The American Legion and Umatilla Army Weapons Depot that ultimately became Hermiston. The 20,000-acre first editor of The American Legion Magazine. When he the site of an extensive chemical weapons disposal site stored Army muni- died in 1941, he was commanding general of the 41st tions in 1,000 bunkers and Division. American Legion Post 192 in White City, Ore., is initiative. And the Oregon National Guard is frequently supplied U.S. forces during named after him. summoned to pull injured climbers off Mount Hood. In World War II, Korea, Viet- 2016, Charles M. Schmidt was elected to serve as the nam and Operation Desert Legion’s first national commander from Oregon. Storm. The area also served Charles Schmidt was elected national commander of as a chemical weapons The American Legion at the organization’s 98th National depot from 1962-1969. The Convention in Cincinnati in September 2016. Schmidt facility later converted to a served in the Air Force from 1965 to 1983, with duty chemical weapons disposal stations ranging from Oregon and Montana to the facility where 12 percent Philippines and Vietnam. A member of Harney County of the nations chemical Post 63 in Burns, he has led at every level in the Legion, weapons are stored. including Department of Oregon commander and National Executive Committee member. Beaver State Attractions Judy Johnston was among the first enlisted women Oregon Coast Aquarium – to be deployed to a combat zone when she went to Located in Newport, this world- Vietnam with the Army in February 1967 to work in class facility once was home communications. Johnston went on to a career with to Keiko, the killer whale who the National Guard from 1975 to 1993. She has also Boys State starred in the film “Free Willy.” It given years of service to The American Legion. She was features an array of plants and the first female commander of Frederick & John Ravin animals of the Oregon coast. Post 134 in Portland, which she joined in 1975, and has across the street served as district commander nine times. hen American Legion National Commander Dale W Barnett visited Salem for his veterans walk in December 2015, he took notice of how fortunate Oregon T. Les Galloway was a World War II Navy veteran and youth are that Willamette University is just across the street member of The American Legion in Oregon starting in from the Oregon State Capitol and the chambers of the state Nez Perce National Historic n Prairie City Post 106 was 1946, having served as National Executive Committee Legislature. That’s just one reason Oregon’s American Legion Park – Includes more than three chartered in 1922 and grew to member for the Department of Oregon for 28 years. Boys State program stands apart. Not only does proximity Mount Hood – This dozen sites in Oregon, Idaho, the point where a meeting hall He also served as commander of Clatskanie Post 68, give Boys Staters an authentic setting, it opens the door to spectacular volcanic peak Montana and Washington that was needed in the early 1930s. department commander, and on national committees rises 11,250 feet and is home celebrate the history and culture “The snow was deep, but the men including Americanism, National Security, Legislative visits from state elected officials and leaders who are happy to 11 glaciers, six ski areas of the Nez Perce Tribe, including were determined,” one historian and Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation. to share their knowledge of government and the democratic and the historic Timberline the Nez Perce War of 1877 and said of the need to cut logs and process. Each year, high school students from Hawaii also Lodge, built by the WPA the flight of one of the tribe’s haul them with horse teams to participate in Oregon Boys State. during the Great Depression. best known figures, Chief Joseph. the desired location, still in use. 1919 1921 1932 1942 1943 1945 Fourteen Oregon American The U.S. Public A resolution Henry J. Kaiser opens a major shipbuilding Construction of Camp White Portland native Hazel Ah Ying becomes the first Chinese- The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion – a Legion posts apply for Health Service establishing the Sons operation in Portland and nearby Vancouver, – named for George A. White, American to join the Women Air Force Service Pilots. Ying segregated unit composed entirely of black soldiers – is temporary charters on July opens a hospital for of the American Wash., that goes on to build Liberty ships, one of the founders of The earns her pilot’s license in 1932 but is turned away by both stationed in Pendleton. By the end of the year, the so- 28. This includes American veterans in Portland, Legion passes at the Victory ships, attack transports, troop American Legion – begins near the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Chinese Air Force before called Triple-Nickel participates in 36 firefighting missions Legion Post 1 in Portland, which later becomes 14th annual American transports, LSTs and tankers. By 1943, Kaiser Medford. It trains engineering, joining the WASPs in September 1943. She dies of injuries involving more than 1,200 individual jumps in Oregon, which begins with more the Portland VA Legion National shipyards are producing one Liberty ship medical and artillery units sustained in an aircraft collision near Great Falls, Mont., the California, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Canada. The than 5,000 members. Medical Center. Convention in Portland. every 42 days, on average. during the next three years. last of the 38 WASPS to die in the line of duty. 555th is later absorbed by the 82nd Airborne Division. Highways of Honor Two Legionnaires from Stevens-Chute Post 4 in Bend know how to put veterans on the map. In addition to a 451-mile stretch of U.S. OREGON Highway 20 from Newport eastward to the Junior Idaho border dedicated as the Medal of Honor Highway, Bob Maxwell and Dick Tobiason Youth Programs have worked to persuade the Legislature to SHOOTING name five other Oregon highways in honor of The American Legion Department of Oregon has long been military service, including the World War II known around the state as a presence of mentorship for children. Veterans Historic Highway, connecting eight Programs include holiday parties, student award programs and wartime training sites in the state; the Vietnam bookmarks American Legion posts donate to schools with the Veterans Memorial Highway; the Persian SPORTS “ Pledge of Allegiance on one side and the American flag on the Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans Memorial There are so many good shooters other. Oregon also provides direct help for military and veteran Highway; and the Purple Heart Trail along in the country, and these are the top 15. families with minor children at home through the Legion’s Interstate 5. Temporary Financial Assistance program. Vortex 1: Legion-inspired No taxpayer funds have gone toward the These“ are the top dogs. You just have to n n n concert for protesters six highway designations. The Bend Heroes have confidence. The American Legion Department of Oregon received its first Foundation raised $110,000 to pay for the Taylor Gibson of Salem, who won the American Legion Junior 3-Position National Air Rifle Precision Frank N. Belgrano Jr. Trophy in 1951 for outstanding support of 79 highway signs along what is now 2,500 Championship in 2016. Gibson was fairly new to competitive shooting when she took the Legion title, clash between Vietnam War protesters and veterans seemed Boy Scouts of America. Oregon earned the award again in 1952 miles of roads recognizing Oregonians’ but the years since then have been little short of astounding: in addition to returning to Legion and 1954. A inevitable when newspapers announced The American Legion’s military service. Drivers crossing the state will national competition in 2018, she holds the Legion precision final score record, three Army JROTC national convention was heading to Portland in the fall of 1970 with n n n encounter a highway sign honoring veterans records and the Junior Club precision final score record. The 2019 North Salem High School graduate President Richard Nixon as the keynote speaker. Some 25,000 Legionnaires about every hour, Tobiason says. This includes signed a letter of intent to shoot for the University of Memphis’ NCAA rifle team, and has a goal of In 2015, The American Legion Department of Oregon were expected to attend the convention. The FBI told then-Gov. Tom approximately 500,000 Oregon veterans who shooting at the Olympics.