veterans day 2011

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Iwas a young lad, of what specific age Ido not recall, but I remember the feel-ing it gave me when I watched it on tel-

evision and the emotion I felt, even whenI didn’t fully understand.No, I wasn’t watching the funeral ofJohn F. Kennedy or anything that dealtwith a national disaster. Instead, I waswatching the Red Skelton Variety Hour.It was a special time for my family whenwe would watching the program. Wewould all gather around the old black andwhite RCA television set at the time theprogram would come on. The room wasoften filled with laughter as we watchedRed Skelton entertain his audience.This particular day, though, his antics in-stilled a different feeling in me than justhumor.I distinctly remember, toward the end ofthe program, Skelton telling the audiencethe title of his upcoming pantomime. Thetitle meant very little to me. In fact, foryears after, even though that particularskit stayed with me, I didn’t understandthe title until I could fully understand thereasoning behind it.In his skit, Skelton portrayed an old manwith a fedora-style hat and a long trench-coat standing at the side of a street andwaiting for a parade to begin. Skelton’s an-tics in the pantomime were so perfect youcould almost see the American flag as itpassed by and the old gentleman removedhis hat and saluted the flag.He stood tall and straight with his handover his heart as the flag passed by. Afterit had passed, he put his hat back on andbegan to enjoy the parade. You could seethe expression on his face as the childrenin the parade would go by, then princesses,horses, automobiles and floats.Then came a group from a branch of the

military. Again, the old manstood tall and one could al-most see the memoriesstreaming through his mindabout the days he served hiscountry. He waved, as hepulled the lapel away fromhis coat with his thumb andforefinger to show themedal he proudly wore andearned by serving his coun-try.As the group passed, you

could see the man was visibly saddenedthat he was not noticed.Then came another group, and another.Each passed and with each he became ex-cited with the same glee of waving andshowing his medal.But, alas, each passed without noticingthe old veteran standing proudly by theside of the road wanting them to know hehad served in the same capacity as they,but many years before.As each group passed, the man becamemore and more saddened until, finally, thelast military group of the parade was insight. Again, the old man stood straightand showed off his medal. Again, thegroup passed and the man’s headdrooped.Suddenly, as though the last man in thegroup had taken notice, the old man’scame up. With a surprised look and hold-ing his hands to his chest, the old man wasthrilled as he was invited to join the pa-rade. The final bit of the clip was the oldman marching off stage with the membersof the parade, with all his pride returnedto him as he served his country.Several years later, I happened to seethat skit again. I was drawn to it and Icried as I watched the emotion of the man

who had once served his country.Skelton’s rendition may not be a true in-terpretation of every veteran who hasserved this country, but it made me under-stand how much I appreciate and respectthose who have served. These men andwomen have put their own lives on holdto be in the armed forces and answer thecall of duty at any time. Those who havegone off to war, those who haven’t. Allhave served. I appreciate them, each andevery one.And today, as the flag passes by in a pa-rade or any other event, I stand proudly,remove my hat and salute the flag as muchin honor of our country and for our veter-ans who have served in the past, who areserving now and those who will serve inthe future. I thank you all for being trueAmericans. I thank you for protecting thefreedom that I enjoy. I thank you for beingwilling to protect those who live and growin the greatest country in the world, theUnited States of America.

LARRY HURRLE is the editor of the Argus Observer andIndependent-Enterprise. The views and opinions expressed in thiscolumn do not necessarily represent those of the Argus Observer

3SUN., NOV. 6, 2011 ARGUS/ W

ED., NOV. 9, 2011 INDEPENDENT ENTERPRISE/THUR., NOV. 10, 2011 TREASURE VALLEY REMINDER

IT’S JUSTMETALKIN’

Larry Hurrle

Never forgetting those who have served

Inside:Dewayne Mayer....................................4

Charles Chapin....................................6

Mobile Vet Center ..............................8

Nick Massoth .....................................10

Ron Hawkins......................................12

Roger Guernsey ................................14

Justin Davis.........................................15

Glen Crosby........................................17

Chick Keim .........................................18

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R4 LARRY MEYER

ARGUS OBSERVER

NEW PLYMOUTHHe looks normal to people

around him but Dewayne Mayer

is one the those people who will

contend with the wounds of war

for the rest of his life, wounds

from his deployment in Iraq in

2004 and 2005 which have

changed his life and the lives of

his family.

Mayer has traumatic brain

syndrome, brain damage which

has left him with short-term

memory loss and hearing loss.

He also has sleeping disorders,

which, even though he sleeps

through the night, he does not

have a deep sleep and often

drops off during the day.

Before Iraq, Mayer had cometo the Treasure Valley at the en-couragement of a friend and

had worked at Champion HomeBuilders, at Weiser, and atSchwan’s Foods in Fruitland. He

joined the National Guard andwas first attached to the unit inPayette and then transferred toOntario.In May of 2004, Mayer wentfull-time in the Guard to pre-pare for deployment to Iraq,which came the followingDecember. His assignment,along with his unit, includedsearch and seizure and helptrain Iraqi police.In May 2005, the first in a se-ries of incidents which markedMayer’s experience in Iraq oc-curred. A Humvee, in whichMayer and John Ogburn, andothers were riding was movingalong a street and a dump truckdarted out in front of them, forc-

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LARRY MEYER | ARGUS OBSERVER

Dewayne and Jeanette Mayer share a moment at Internet Truckstop in NewPlymouth wear she works. He has traumatic brain syndrome from his serv-ice in Iraq which has changed his life and that of this family and the companygiver her the time she needs to take care of him.



ing the Humvee’s driver to try

and take evasive action to pre-

vent an accident. The Humvee

overturned, killing Ogburn.

Mayer sustained a concussion,

banging against the door.

“Everybody was wearing seat

belts,” Mayer said. “That was

one thing they told us.”

There were three incidents

where improvised explosive de-

vices went off ahead or behind

Mayer’s Humvee over a short

period of time. In another inci-

dent Mayer was guarding the

fuselage of the downed helicop-

ter from which things were re-

moved. As this was being done,

ammunition still inside explod-

ed. All these left Mayer with

headaches and ringing in his

ears.

Then, on Oct. 2, 2005, Mayer

was riding in a Humvee whenan IED exploded underneaththe common seat where he wassitting. It totaled out the Humvee andMayer was knocked uncon-scious and he took shrapnel inhis right calf, some of which isstill there. It was several days be-fore he regained consciousnessand was aware of his surround-ings. “Head wounds are not under-stood,” Jeanette Mayer said.“Brain injury issues still need to

be looked into.”When Dewayne Mayer cameback to the states, he was in theFort Lewis medical programand then back home in NewPlymouth, and was put in ahome-based health care pro-gram that did not prove to bewhat was needed.“The doctors did not under-stand what he had gonethrough,” Jeanette Mayer said.“They later got him into the ElksRehabilitation and there wereappointments three days per

week.”In the meantime, Mayer wasput on temporary medical dis-ability and transferred to theBoise Veteran’s Hospital, andwas later put on full disability re-tirement. “Boise VA is a wonderfulplace,” Jeannette Mayer said.“He has a wonderful team ofdoctors and specialists.Appointments are down toonce or twice a month.”Dewayne Mayer also spentnine weeks at the TransitionalLearning Center in Galveston,Texas, in a trauma brain injuryrehabilitation program, “ProjectVictory for Veterans.”“It was a very nice program,”Jeanette Meyer said. “It wasgood for him to be around otherveterans, helping him to accept

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(Project Victory for Veterans) was a very nice pro-gram. It was good for him to be around other veterans,helping him to accept his brain injury, accept strategiesto help to be successful.

— Jeanette MayerWife of veteran Dewayne Mayer’

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

LINDSEY PARKERARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIO Some people give everythingfor their country without ques-tion — including their mobility.Charles Chapin, Ontario,was unaware of the severity ofan injury when he slipped andfell while de-icing a plane dur-ing the Cold War. The fallbroke both knee caps. Theknee caps eventually had to beremoved and the wear and tearon his knees made it impossi-ble for knee replacement sur-gery.For Chapin, though, it wasjust part of doing his job and

serving his country. Even withthe injury he never missed aday of work.When he was a young man,Chapin said he was the blink ofan eye away from getting draft-ed.“My draft papers were in themail. The next day I got the no-tice. I was 1A. The lady was agood friend of my mom’s. Shesaid she mailed my draft pa-pers. I went and signed up forthe Air Force. I came home andsaid, ‘Well honey, I’m in theAir Force,’” Chapin said. For Chapin, it was either AirForce or be drafted into theArmy.

“It was a scary time. You can’timagine what a scary time itwas in the Air Force,” Chapin

said. “You can not imaginehow big that airplane was. We

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Chapin armed warheads while in flightInjury cost veteran his kneecaps later in life

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Charles Chapin, Ontario, is a former crew chief who was in charge of a B-36Peacemaker and arming warheads. Chapin armed the warheads at 52,000feet altitude. Chapin lost both of his kneecaps and most of his mobility aftercomplications from an accident where he fell 21 feet off the wing of a B-36Pacemaker.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7



were expendable. It was myjob, and I had to do it. I neverthought about being killed.”He was pushed to the limits.When he and his men were as-signed missions, they had to go. Chapin was the crew chiefaboard a B-36. There were 17of this specific model of air-craft and Chapin had sevenmen who worked under him.As the crew chief, Chapin wasresponsible for everything. Chapin crawled inside thewings of the B-36s to checkthat everything was all right.The planes were huge. Hecould stand up inside the wing,in the fuselage. The propellerswere 21 feet in diameter. It was required that at leastone bomb be in the air at alltimes. The planes did not getrefueled in those days. It car-ried everything with it. Theplanes held 33,716 gallons of145 octane fuel when the tankswere full. They could fly for 50hours, but most missions lasted48. The B-36 had 28 cylinderengines, with six engines on it.There were four J47 engines.The crew said, “Six a turnin’and four a burnin’.”

The missions lasted 48hours each, and Chapin was re-quired to have a certainamount of flight hours loggedeach month. The B-36 was called thepeacemaker. It had the namefor good reason. Bombs werestored within the wings. Thebombs could only be armed ordisarmed in the air and helpedkeep the Russians at bay, andkeep the peace on the ground. The bomb itself, the warhead, had big bolts and nutsthat fit together. They eachweighed 42,000 pounds.There were 15 holes that wentdown into the bomb. The war-head covered them up, and thewarhead was part of the bomb. “We snugged the bolts, butdid not tighten them. After Icrawled into the wings, I’d putthe warhead on when we wereat 10,000 feet,” Chapin said.“Then the plane was pressur-

ized to go up to 52,000 feet.The flight crew was eight mileshigh. “We lived at 52,000 feet. Wedid it to keep the peace. Thebomb held the peace. What wedid then, we saved the peace.” Chapin worked with hydro-gen bombs. The bombsweighed two tons each. Theweapons officer would carrythe war head, and Chapin at-tached it, and attachment ofthe warhead made the bombsatomic. The men were toldthere was more explosives in

that one bomb, than had beenused in all of WWII. Onceejected, the bomb came out ofthe airplane with parachutes,to slow down the fall. The crewhad to hurry to get away. Thebombs were set to go off at10,000 feet. They always wentdown, to get away because themushroom cloud went up. Chapin did not realize hehad broken his knee caps whenhe fell while de-icing an air-plane one day. He did not havethe cut stitched up, and nevermissed a day of work. Hisknees always bothered him,but he chalked it up to spend-ing hours on his knees in thewings. He had no idea, that be-cause he broke both kneecaps,he would end up with a disabil-ity accompanying him into his

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6You can’t imagine what a scary time it was in the Air

Force. … We were expendable. It was my job, and I hadto do it. I never thought about being killed.

— Charles ChapinFormer B-36 crew chief’


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SCOTT FORDARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIOThe Department of VeteranAffairs Vet Center programhas launched a mobile counsel-ing service for all military vet-erans. The Vet Centers wel-come home war veterans withhonor and provide qualityreadjustment counseling in acaring manner. “The Mobile Vet Center be-gan our mission in 2009 withour first visit to Vale for theOregon Military FamiliesAppreciation Day on May 8,2009,” MVC ReadjustmentCounselor Dennis Udlinek LC-SW said.The readjustment counsel-ing is a wide range of psycho so-

cial services offered to eligibleveterans and their families inan effort to make a successfultransition from military tocivilian life. They include indi-vidual and group counselingfor veterans and their familiesfor a variety of different needssuch as PTSD, depression, anx-iety, substance abuse, etc., andfamily counseling for military-related issues. It also includesbereavement counseling forfamilies who experience an ac-tive duty death — post-9/11,military sexual trauma coun-seling and referral, outreachand education includingPDHRA, community events,etc., substance abuse assess-ment and referral, employ-ment assessment and referral,

VBA benefits explanation andreferral and screening and re-ferral for medical issues includ-ing TBI, depression, etc. TheVet Center Mobile Counselingservice includes psychologicalcounseling for traumatic mili-tary-related experiences andfamily counseling when need-ed for the readjustment.The Vet Center’s goal is toprovide a broad range of serv-ices to eligible veterans so theycan make a satisfying post-warreadjustment to civilian life.“Our widespread distribu-tion of this fleet from coast tocoast marks a new chapter inVA’s innovation to reach ruraland under-served veteranswith high-quality readjust-ment counseling,” Secretary ofVeterans Affairs Dr. James B.Peake said in a press release.The Vet Center MobileCounseling service vehicle is a38-foot motorcoach, which hasspaces for confidential counsel-ing and will carry Vet Centercounselors and outreach work-ers to various events and activi-ties to reach veterans. The pro-gram is geared to provide non-

medical readjustment counsel-ing in an accessible, consumer-oriented facilities addressing thesocial and economic concerns ofpost-war needs. Any familymember of combat veterans areeligible to access the mobilecounseling service for any mili-tary-related service since 1979.For information about the coun-seling service, those interestedcan contact the local or nearestVet Center.Udlinek said the MobileCounseling service has beenvery successful. Currently thevan goes to Twin Falls, Ontarioand Baker City and there areplans to add one or two morecities in the future.“The response has been verypositive,” Udlinek said.“Anytime you can make a dif-ference in a veteran’s life,you’ve been effective. Literallythousands of veterans havebeen reached throughout ourcountry, and if even one oftheir lives have been savedthen I would say ‘mission ac-complished.’”The vehicles will also be used

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for events typically staffed bylocal Vet Center staff.While most of their use willbe in Vet Center’s delivery ofreadjustment counseling serv-ices, the local manager mayarrange with VA hospitals orclinics in the region to provideoccasional support for healthpromotion activities such ashealth screenings.The normal counseling lay-

out can be converted to sup-port emergency medical mis-sions, such as hurricanes andother natural disasters.The 50 vehicles are beingmanufactured for VA byFarber Specialty Vehicles ofColumbus, Ohio.“All I know is I feel veryblessed to be able to do thiswork,” Udlinek said. “I’m re-minded every day how gratefulI am for what I have, and what

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SHERI BANDELEANARGUS OBSERVER

NEW PLYMOUTHWorld experience. Life expe-rience. That is what NickMassoth was hoping for whenhe joined the Marine Corps in2003.Massoth had done about ayear of college and was livingon his own and going to schoolfull time.“I had realized I hadn’t beenable to experience any of theworld and it felt like I was wast-

ing my time and I wanted to geta lot of life experience andhopefully get paid to do it,”Massoth said. “My dad was aMarine and both sides of thefamily had long histories of be-ing in the military, so I wentand talked to my dad.”His father told him that withthe Marine Corps he could seethe world, but he would do iton foot. He would get to see theworld and get a lot of life expe-rience. His father also told himhe would make a lot of connec-

tions that will last his entire lifeand it would help him mature. It seemed like a good idea atthe time, so Massoth joined theMarines in Lacey, Wash.From there, he was shippedout to boot camp in San Diego,

Calif., which is where theyhave the Marine Corps RecruitDepot. The Marine Corpsboot camp is one of the longest,hardest and the most rigorousand lasts for three months.

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SHERI BANDELEAN | ARGUS OBSERVER

Nick Massoth holds a plaque he received from the Marine Corp for his timeserved at Yuma. Massoth enlisted in 2003 and ended his active duty in 2008.He was deployed to Iraq two times.



ED., NOV. 9, 2011 INDEPENDENT ENTERPRISE/THUR., NOV. 10, 2011 TREASURE VALLEY

“It was very intense, veryphysical and very draining,”Massoth said.At the end of the threemonths, recruits graduate andthat is when they earn thename Marine, Massoth said.While in boot camp membersare only recruits. They mustearn the title of Marine.After boot camp, Massothwent to his MilitaryOccupational SpecialtyTraining.There was a 10 day break be-fore he went to infantry train-ing at Camp Pendleton for onemonth and then was shippedto Pensacola, Fla., where hewas trained on Harrier air-crafts to learn how to work onthe electronic parts, cockpitparts and basically trou-bleshoot and repair electronicissues.“They crammed a year and ahalf worth of education in sixmonths,” Massoth said.He was shipped back to SanDiego to the Miramar Air Basewhere he went for some morein-depth training and then gotto his final duty station ofYuma, Ariz. He stayed in for all

five years of his original enlist-ment, except for when he wasdeployed.Once in Yuma certain peo-ple were assigned to go to Iraq,but they were also looking forvolunteers.“I volunteered and threeweeks later I was in Iraq,”Massoth said.So, for his first deployment,he went directly to Iraq.Most Marines deploy am-phibiously via the Navy towherever they are going, butbecause of the situation in Iraqin late 2004 Massoth flew di-rectly over and was there forexactly six months. For Massoth’s first deploy-ment, he wasn’t assigned to dowhat he was trained for andwas assigned to be a ThirdCountry Nationals guard du-ties, and at his post he was as-signed to protect Pakistanimetal workers.“I was just a lance corporal soI was assigned the less desir-able jobs,” Massoth said.The workers that Massothwas assigned to protect wererepairing buildings, structureand different things within thecountry.

“In our briefing we were toldthe Iraqi people were not toofriendly to Pakistani people andso they needed to be protected,”Massoth said. “Rebuilding thecountry wouldn’t make the ter-rorists to happy.” During the first deploymentfor the first week Massoth saidthey were under indirect fireand it brought things to realitythat they were in a war zone,and people wanted to killthem.“It sounds worse than it was,so thankfully no one was

hurt,” Massoth said.There was a language barrieramong the Marines and thePakistani workers and causedproblems at times. Accordingto Massoth, because of the lan-guage barrier, there was almosta mistake with the individualsthey were guarding. One night,the Mariners tucked thePakistani workers in for thenight in their living quartersand then they went about theusual routine. Massoth thenheard a yelling match in the

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The worst case scenario ran through my mind and achambered a round which means I put my rifle in thestage when all I have to do is pull the trigger and it’s live.

— Nick MassothU.S. Marine Corps’

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ARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIORon Hawkins says every boywants to be a soldier and a cow-boy when he grows up, and hecan say he’s been both. Being a cowboy, however,was a lot more fun he said. Hawkins, 70, Ontario, was23 when he was drafted toserve in Vietnam in 1966. Hewas a lot older than some of theyoung men who were draftedat the time, plus he had beenmarried for a year and a half.“They weren’t taking anymarried guys, so I thought Iwas pretty safe,” he said. That changed, however, andHawkins said he was put into awhole platoon of married menand sent to basic training inFort Bliss, Texas and then tochemical training school atFort McClellan, Ala. Followingtraining, he was sent to FortBenning, Ga., and assigned tothe 98th Light CombatSupport Company, which at-tached to the 199th InfantryBrigade, and notified he would

be deployed to Vietnam.Before that he went to CampShelby, Miss., for jungle train-ing. After a short leave,Hawkins flew from his homein Phoenix to Oakland, Calif.,and boarded the USS JohnPope on a 22-day trip toVietnam. Once the soldiers dis-embarked at Qui Lon, the 98thand the 199th separated. The98th went to the Chi Rang val-ley and built camp. Hawkins said, although hisMilitary Occupation Specialtywas to perform chemical equip-ment repair, he never did thatin Vietnam. In Vietnam, he dideverything from perimeterguard work to convoy truckdriver. “We were kind of a unit thatwhenever (the Army) needed,they would come pull out peo-

ple to fill in holes,” he said.Hawkins said when he toldpeople familiar with theVietnam War he was situatedChi Rang Valley and alongHighway 1, a highway he said aperson didn’t want to travel atnight, he said they frequentlycommented on the danger inthat area. Hawkins said itdidn’t feel any more dangerousthan anywhere else in Vietnamat the time, although therewere a few close calls, such asthe time he was driving a vehi-cle carrying 500 pound bombson a mission and the tires wereshot out. “A lot of times, you just don’tknow how close you came,”Hawkins said. Looking back, Hawkins saidmost of Vietnam was actuallyquite beautiful, although,

every day during the monsoonseason it would pour from 3p.m. on and then the sun wouldshine bright the followingmorning.At night, if there was auto-matic weapon fire, he could goto sleep. If it stopped, he wouldwake up.“You never slept long,” hesaid. “You were always alert.”One of the most distinctthings that stands out, evennow, about Vietnam was thesmell, Hawkins said.Everything was wet andmildewed from the rain. Theirclothes, he said, smelled likeham because Vietnamesewomen used to burn a nativewood to dry them. And, ofcourse, there was death,Hawkins said, the smell ofwhich was so pervasive he cantaste it to this day.Hawkins said not all ofVietnam was bad though. Hesaid he had a lot of goodfriends with whom he sharedmany laughs. Much of it wassick humor, for sure, he said,

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Hawkins reflects on time in VietnamWe had a reputation of being crazy, and it followed us

home, and that kind of made it hard to get back intocivilian life — particularly if you were in ’Nam.

— Ron HawkinsVietnam veteran’




and most of it wouldn’t havebeen funny under normal cir-cumstances, but those werenot, he said. The soldiersfound laughter where theycould. Hawkins said in his timespent in Vietnam — almost ayear — he and his unit didn’tget much news about the out-side war — he didn’t learnabout the 5-Day War in Israeluntil two weeks after it wasover. One person had a televi-sion, and they were able to pickup a French television station.They’d also listen to the radio,but the station they receivedwas Radio Hanoi, featuringHanoi Hannah, and they’dhave to listen to anti-Americanpropaganda. He said, at the same time, thesentiment about the soldiers inAmerica was taking a darkturn. “We had a reputation of be-ing crazy, and it followed ushome, and that kind of made ithard to get back into civilianlife — particularly if you werein ’Nam,” he said.Hawkins said he isn’t sayingthere weren’t some crazy sol-

diers who committed atrociousacts, but most were just regularmen serving their country whodidn’t deserve the disdain oftheir countrymen. He said when he returned tothe United States in Novemberof 1967, it was an awkward ad-

justment for him. He said,while he didn’t experience anyoutright bigotry, he always felthe was looked at differently. “You got to hate being askedhow many people you killed,”Hawkins said. Hawkins said, at the time, he

didn’t question serving. Hisuncle served in World War IIand a great-uncle who servedin the Civil War. “It was just duty called, andyou went,” he said. He said, now, however, whenhe contemplates the actual war,all he can think is “what awaste.” He said he admits thathe is among the many Vietnamvets who are bitter about theirexperience although he doesn’tmind talking about it so muchnow. He thinks many Vietnamvets don’t talk about Vietnambecause they either don’t wantto remember or because, whenthey first returned to thiscountry, nobody wanted to lis-ten to them and hear what theyhad to say.And, although he didn’t suf-fer any serious physical injuriesin Vietnam, Hawkins was af-fected mentally. For a long timehe used to have terribledreams, he said. Things gotbetter until about five yearsago, when he contracted WestNile virus, which aggravatedthings. He said then he startedhaving terrible nightmares andanxiety attacks, and it got to

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Ron Hawkins, 70, stands in the sun room of his Ontario home holding a U.S.Forces manual on traps and dangers soldiers might encounter while inVietnam given to him after he was deployed in 1966. Hawkins said soldiersserving in the military now are much better prepared the he and otherswere back then.



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ARGUS OBSERVER

PAYETTENearly 70 years after joiningthe armed forces and fightingin the European Theater inWorld War II, Roger Guernsey,91, still doesn’t necessarily liketalking about his wartime ex-periences.

But he does.“I don’t really like to talkabout it,” Guernsey said. “ButI feel like I need to. I must tellpeople about this war. I need toshare these experiences withthe younger generation. If theydon’t hear about it from some-body who was there, theywon’t know what it was

about.”Guernsey entered the Armyin 1943, participating in theUniversity of Idaho’s ArmyROTC program and then mov-ing on to see action in the waras a second lieutenant.“I figured if I was going intocombat, I wanted to be an offi-cer,” Guernsey said. “The suc-

cess I’ve had is attributed tothe University of Idaho andthe war.”By the time he left the war,Guernsey had been promotedto first lieutenant, but neverquite made captain.“They weren’t handing outany more promotions because

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Guernsey shares his WWII experiences

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGER GUERNSEY

Roger Guernsey, Payette, salutes the grave of Gen. George Patton during arecent visit to the Hamm, Luxembourg cemetery. Guernsey was amongthose in the Race to the Rhine with Patton in World War II.




SCOTT FORDARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIOOntario resident and formerU.S. Army soldier Justin Davis,28, remembers all too wellwhere he was the day the TwinTowers fell. Davis was in basictraining at Ft. Knox, Ky., outon the shooting range.Davis was part of the 96Romeo-Military Intelligence,

in which the ground surveil-lance systems operator super-vises or operates ground sur-veillance systems engaged in in-telligence and informationgathering. Davis spent time in SouthKorea, Germany then in Iraq.He spent one year in SouthKorea then did a 15 monthtour of Iraq. The remaining

time of his four year duty werespent in Germany and in ini-tial training.“While in South Korea, I wasnot stationed in the DMZ zone,but did have to go there fromtime to time,” he said. “In Iraq,Davis said his unit went intothe country just after the endof declared major combat oper-

ations, but says he saw plenty ofaction.“I was in a very one sidedfire-fight, was shot at constant-ly and did have bombs, mortarsand rockets blow up in front ofme,” Davis said. “I was shot atmore times than I can count,but only ever identified people

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Local soldier makes transition back into civilian life

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUSTIN DAVIS

Justin Davis, Ontario, served a 15-month tour of Iraq as part of his enlist-ment in the U.S. Army. Davis has served in several countries and is now get-ting used to civilian life again.

CONTINUED ON PAGE18

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the war was almost over,” hesaid. “I never quite made it tocaptain.”One highlight for Guernseywhen he was in Europe was thefact he was able to shake Gen.Dwight Eisenhower’s hand ontwo separate occasions.Guernsey was quickly givencommand in the war. In thefirst town he came to inFrance, St. Mére-Eglise,Guernsey commanded twocompanies and was a mortarplatoon leader. Of the 160-plusmembers in his companies, hesaid only 12 are still alive to-day.Guernsey said it didn’t takelong for him to become battlewise once he hit the ground inEurope.“You became battle wise intwo or three days, or you weredead,” he said.While Guernsey was in-volved in the “Race to theRhine,” he said one of his mostmemorable experiences in bat-tle came on the Siegfried Line,when his unit, the 94thInfantry Division, or the“Fightin’ 94th” as Guernseycalled it, was up against the

“Feared 88” German division.It was in January 1945 andGuernsey said his unit was as-signed the task of taking outfive “pillboxes.”Guernsey said his unit wastaking heavy fire from theGermans, including mortarfire.“I heard grown men cryingfor their mothers,” he said.In order to get better posi-tion, Guernsey and another

soldier moved to another area.There, he said, he could see thelocation of the pillboxes, butcould not see the Germans.“They could see us, though,”he said.He said he and his buddywere getting shelled, until hispartner had to return to theunit, which left Guernseythere alone.“They were lobbing mortarsat me,” he said. “If you could

hear them go off, you were OK.With the smaller ones, youcould hear them coming.”Guernsey said at one point,he heard a shell traveling in hisdirection.“I could hear it coming and Iprayed,” he said. “I thought thisone could have my name on it.”Guernsey said the mortarlanded directly behind himand exploded, but the shrapnel

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGER GUERNSEY

Commanding officer Roger Guernsey (in helmet) speaks to members of his troop in Company D while inCzechoslovakia in 1945. Guernsey started World War II as a second lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenantbefore he left the European Theater.




LARRY MEYERARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIO More than 50 years afterserving his country in theKorean War, Glen Crosbythought he had put those expe-riences behind him and gottenon with life, but he has re-turned to the classroom toteach high school and middleschool students about warfrom the perspective from aperson who has been there.Crosby was a Marine in theKorean conflict and fought insome major battles, include oneat Chosin Reservoir whereU.S. forces, including Marinesand Army, numbering about25,000, were pinned down inthe valley by Chinese forces,numbering about 120,000, ontop of the surrounding moun-tains. About 1,000 Marineswere lost, and 1,500 to 2,000Army troops were lost, butabout 96,000 South Koreansjoined their march to the sea toescape the Chinese forces. After he returned home,Crosby obtained a college de-gree, taught more for than 20

years at Ontario High Schooland decided to put Korea be-hind him, which he did formore than 40 years.But in 1996, a former com-rade living in Bend contactedCrosby and invited him to jointhe “Chosin Few,” veterans ofthe Chosin Reservoir battle,which one of the major battlesof the Korean War. It was in

joining the Chosin Few thatCrosby was asked to speakabout Korea at a high school.“I kept going back,” Crosbysaid. “I saw a need to do that.History books don’t cover mil-itary history.”Beside going to schools in thePortland metro area, he has al-so been to Redmond andPendleton schools multiple

times.

“The reception has been so

great,” Crosby said. “We ought

to have something here in the

valley.”

Last year, Crosby began

working with Dave Eyler, at

teacher at Vale High School, to

to set up a program.

He was not sure how many

veterans would show up, but

19 veterans showed up for

breakfast, 55 veterans showed

up for the main program and

20 veterans spoke to the stu-

dents, “telling them like it was,”

Crosby said.

Crosby has also been to

Ontario Middle School and

will accept other invitations.

“I’ve done my research very

carefully,” he said, and has

compiled a large file of infor-

mation.

He does not see himself as

one of the heros, Crosby said.

“I’m a survivor,” he said.

Crosby said he believes it is

important for young people to

understand about war, the mil-

itary and that there is a cost for

freedom.

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Crosby gives students first-hand perspective on war

LARRY MEYER | ARGUS OBSERVER

Glen Crosby, a Korean War veteran, looks over pictures from the war he hascollected. Crosby has been sharing his experiences in Koreas to studentsaround Oregon.

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to shoot back at three times."Davis said with the thoughtsof war and death, he felt veryfortunate to have never seenany of the men and women hewas serving with die in combat.“We all know there is deathin war,” Davis said. “But I amlucky to have not experiencedthat.”Even though he did not haveto deal with many fire-fights orthe death of a member of hisunit or soldiers he knew, Davissaid the memories are stillvivid in his mind.“As a citizen of America, Iam proud that I served in thearmed forces,” Davis said. “Inno way, shape or form do I re-gret my decision to leave thearmy. But I am a soldier andsometimes I do miss being a

soldier.” Following his tour of duty,Davis said he still, six years lat-er, is relieved when he sees orhears about veterans cominghome. He said when his tourwas over the relief of not beingin a war zone was almost over-whelming.“It was nice to be able to relaxfor the first time in 15months,” Davis said. “Thewhole time you are there youare on edge.”Today, Davis feels he has suc-cessfully made the transitionback to the civilian life and cur-rently works as a sports corre-spondent for the ArgusObserver.“Going to a TVCC game orOntario-Vale football gamebeats carrying a rucksack inthe streets of Baghdad,” Davis

said. “Being a civilian again isdefinitely a change of pacefrom the military,”Davis said the thing he enjoysthe most now that he is not inthe military is seeing the sunrise everyday.“When I was in Iraq, I didnot know if each sun rise I sawwas going to be the last one,”Davis said. “Now, I really ap-preciate all the little things inlife like watching football onTV or hearing the voices of myfamily and friends.”Davis says being selected tobe able to tell his military storythrough the print of a VeteransDay special section is an honor.“I am truly honored to beapart of this and surprised Iwas asked,” Davis said. “Iwould love to give a shout outto all the guys in the 501st.”

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WILLIAM ANDERSONARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIOThe first time Charles“Chick” Keim flew in an air-plane, he needed to jump outof that plane as part of histraining as a paratrooper, pri-or to being sent to theEuropean Theater duringWorld War II.The last time Keim flew inan airplane, he was returningfrom Washington, D.C., aspart of the Honor Flight ofEastern Oregon.Keim and a group of other

Keim’s servicesaluted inHonor Flight




World War II veterans weretreated to a week in the nation’scapital, as a way to honor veter-ans from the great war.While in Washington, Keimsaid he was treated like a king,he was put up in a nice hotel,treated to fancy dinners anddriven around the city to differ-ent monuments, including theWorld War II Memorial.“They treated me so good, Icouldn’t believe it,” Keim said.Keim also said there were acouple of senators from Oregonthat came and spoke to themduring a meal.Keim was selected as part ofthe Honor Flight for his serviceduring the war, after he wasdrafted to serve his county inthe United States Army, whilein Ontario High School.From being drafted, Keim wassent to Salt Lake City, where hespent a couple of weeks on “KP”or kitchen duty, basically wash-ing dishes.Wanting to get out of thekitchen, Keim volunteered forparatrooper training, and wassent to Georgia, where he wentinto jump school.After completing training,

Keim traveled across “ThePond” to train even more inLondon.“We trained for quite a while,”Keim said.As the Allied Forces ofNormandy approached, Keimsaid he and the other membersof his regiment were briefedquite a bit, before Keim took hisfirst combat jump — into Nazi-

occupied France. Keim was just one of 13,000paratroopers involved in the D-day invasion of France.Before the initial invasion,Keim said he had the opportu-nity to shake hands with Gen.Dwight Eisenhower.The day of the jump came andKeim escaped the jump withoutinjury, but had a memorable

jump, as his C-47 plane was onfire and going down when hejumped.The 501st parachute infantryin the 101st Airborne Divisionwas Keim’s regiment, and theirobjective of the mission was tocapture and control the cause-ways near the target beaches tokeep the enemy from floodingthe beaches and to knock off theanti-aircraft weapons.Following the D-day mission,Keim said he was reported miss-ing in action and actually takencaptive by the Germans for atime after jumping intoGerman-occupied Holland.Keim said the Allied Forces,mostly the English, were able tobreak through and free him andthe others that were taken cap-tive, as the Germans ran off.Then it was time for a littletime off, or so Keim thought.Keim said after the series ofevents, he was given a three-daypass to go to Paris.Unfortunately for Keim, beforehe could make it to Paris, he wassent of to another battle — theBattle of the Bulge.Keim spent 52-days fightingthe Axis Forces in a major battle.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICK KEIM

Ontario resident Charles ‘Chick’ Keim displays a Nazi flag in Holland inSeptember of 1944. Keim fought at Normandy during D-day in June of 1994and also at the Battle of the Bulge later that same year.


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missed him.“I could reach the edge of thecrater, that was about 6-feetacross, without moving,” hesaid.He said fighting on theSeigfried Line was a “miser-able” experience because of thewinter. Many soldiers, he said,were having troubles withtheir feet.“Trenchfoot caused more ca-sualties than the enemy did,”Guernsey said. “Gen. Pattonwas not happy.”After the war, Guernsey be-came a state forester and even-tually ran for and was elected

to the Idaho House ofRepresentatives in 1978,where he served as the District15 Representative for oneterm. That, he said, was a greataccomplishment as a Democratin Ada County.Today, Guernsey continuesto correspond with membersof the 94th Infantry Divisionthrough a newsletter he beganwriting in the 1960s. Guernseysaid the numbers of those whoserved in the 94th are down toabout 1,000, so he is now tak-ing “honorary” members andincluding them in the newslet-ters.He spends time speaks togroups about his experiences

in WWII. He said he has spo-ken to more than 4,000 people,including 1,400 in one group.Recently, Guernsey was ableto take a trip to revisit some ofthe sites where he was duringthe war. Though the landscape hadchanged, Guernsey visited the

battlefields of the SeigfriedLine, including the area wherethe mortar landed behind him.He also visited Gen. Patton’sgravesite.Of the 25 people who tookthe tour, Guernsey said, onlyfive were “warriors” whofought in the war.

Along with fighting and sur-viving many of the more notablemoments during the war, Keimwas also able to keep a piece ofhistory during the process. While on one of his missions,Keim and his regiment made in-to Hitler’s Nest. While there,Keim took a cane from AdolfHitler’s Cane Rack, thinking hewould never need to use it.“I didn’t think I would everhave to use it, but I do,” Keimsaid.The cane is one piece of manyin Keim’s Ontario home thatdisplay his service to his county.Also on display are hisNormandy France Medal forparticipating in the D-day inva-sion, American and Britishparatrooper wings, a PurpleHeart and a Bronze Star.

The Purple Heart was award-ed to Keim when he was injuredby shrapnel in his buttocks,thigh and knee. After being in-jured, Keim asked “is it badenough to send me home?”As for the Bronze Star, Keimsaid he and his regiment waspinned down as Tiger Tankswere closing in on them. Hiscommanding officer asked himto climb under the tank andshoot out the radiator, as theironly chance to make it out. Keimclimbed under and shot out theradiator. As a result, the tankstopped, and all the doorsopened to let those inside out.His regiment was able to takeout the tank, and the crew, sav-ing their lives.Keim said he was awarded theBronze Star for his actions, whilehis commanding officer was

awarded the Silver Star, for mak-ing the order.While serving in the 501stparachute infantry in the 101stAirborne Division, Keim servedwith a man who helped inspirea 1998 movie, “Saving PrivateRyan”. The movie is based loose-ly on Sgt. Frederick “Fritz”Niland, who was also a para-trooper with Keim, and was senthome after two of his brotherswere killed during the invasionof Normandy, and his thirdbrother was missing and pre-sumed dead. While going through some ofhis books from his regiment,Keim displayed the story aboutNiland and the inspiration be-hind the movie.Since the war, Keim has raiseda family and has seen his grand-children grow as well.

For his 80th birthday, Keimjumped from a plane for the lasttime, taking in that thrill one lasttime.Only five years ago, Keim re-ceived a tattoo that he had beenwaiting for, for more than 60years, as he received a patch ofthe 101st Airborne tattooed onhis upper arm.Keim said he had planned to geta tattoo while he was in Londonwhile in training, but an air raidsiren sounded, as he and some ofhis buddies had to go to a bombshelter, putting off the tattoo.Keim keeps newspaper clip-pings from getting the tattooand from other articles thathave been written about hisservice. All of them mix wellwith the collection of WorldWar II memorabilia and photosfrom his time in the service.

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the point where his wife,Dianne, told him he needed toget help. He was then diag-nosed with post-traumaticstress disorder and began a reg-imen of pills, which he forcedhimself to stop taking afterawhile. Hawkins said his symp-toms are now down to 30 per-cent. He knows, however, oth-er Vietnam vets have not beenso lucky and have still not over-come their personal demons.Alcohol, he said, was and re-mains a big problem, for many.“I knew guys who neverdrank in their lives come backalcoholics,” Hawkins said ofleaving Vietnam. For a long time, Hawkins said,if he talked about the war, it waswith other Vietnam vets. Evennow, every two weeks, he goes tothe VA Hospital in Boise andchats with a couple of men whowere in Vietnam to talk aboutthe war and life now. “It helps,” he said. “It reallydoes.”Hawkins said, once he gotout of the military and assimi-lated back into civilian life, hethought he was done with themilitary for good, and, really,

didn’t want much to do with it.It wasn’t until the 1980s that,when the economy took a turnfor the worst, he joined theIdaho National Guard, firstpart-time and then full-time,training new recruits, beforehe retired for good. He said heenjoyed that part of his mili-tary career, took comfort in thephysical activity required ofhim and taking on the respon-

sibility of training the youngmen in his charge and teachingthem how to survive war. He said the young men hetrained and the soldiers now areso much better prepared for any-thing they may encounter in warthan he was when he firststepped on Vietnam soil with apocket guide on Vietnam and aU.S. forces manual on varioustraps he may encounter. He said,

even the National Guard mem-bers who just returned fromIraq, in addition to their regulartrainings and Guard responsibil-ities, had almost a year’s worthof training packed into half thattime before they left. “We were not well-trained,”Hawkins said. “We were stupidwhen we went in there. Weknew how to dig fox holes, andwe knew how to shoot.”

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PHOTO COURTESY RON HAWKINS

A U.S. Army helicopter lands at the base camp of the 98th Company Light Combat Support in the Chi Rang Valleyof Vietnam. Ron Hawkins, Ontario, took this photo on his almost year-long deployment to the country during theVietnam War in 1966 and 1967.

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barracks so he sent in his ADuty, or assistant, to see whatwas going on. All of a sudden,Massoth said, heard his ADuty’s rif le hit the ground,which is never a good thing be-cause Marines are trained thatthe rifle is everything.“The worst case scenario ranthrough my mind and I cham-bered a round which means I

put my rifle in the stage whenall I have to do is pull the trig-ger an it’s live,” Massoth said.Massoth then ran in andkicked in the door and saw hisA Duty on the ground in thecorner of his eye and he then tar-geted his weapon, and took thesituation into his own hands.Thankfully the A Duty jumpedup and explained that he hadjust slipped. The Pakistanis were

instantly on the ground takingcover. The translator said it wasa personal dispute.“Miscommunication almostturned into a loss of life.Thankfully it didn’t,” Massothsaid.Massoth came back to Yuma,but was deployed for a secondtime, this time for nine months.The second deployment wasan amphibious deployment. Hewas deployed with the Navyand he said he got to see moreof the world. He went to India,Singapore, Australia and thenended up in Iraq. Two monthswere on the boat there. Fivemonths in Iraq and then twomonths on the boat back theUnited States.This time Massoth said hewas actually assigned to dowhat he was trained to do andgot to work on aircraft. “I got to do what I was trainedfor, working on the flight lines,working on aircraft and workingwith pilots and such. It was veryrewarding,” Massoth said.Massoth got to see what thepilots were doing, who theywere helping and protecting.“It was motivating to see ourwork was going towards some-

thing,” Massoth said. At this time Massoth was acorporal waiting to be promot-ed to sergeant and was incharge of other Marines.“I got to see other guys ma-ture and kind of grow intotheir own. I was in charge ofsix and was able to see theirsuccess and take pride in whatthey came into the MarineCorps to do, that was very re-warding,” Massoth said.After this deployment hecame back to Yuma and he end-ed his active duty in January of2008. He settled down andmarried Kari and both of themlive in New Plymouth.Would Massoth ever serveagain?Massoth said he would stillproudly serve his country ifthere is a need but now that heis married, family comes first.“A lot of my fellow Marinesthought I would continue mycareer in the military, but Iwanted to start a family and Iwas going to give my wife thebest of who I was and not shortchange her. It wouldn’t be fairto her to go into a marriage ask-ing her to not be in the fore-front,” Massoth said.

Thank you, to our fallen soldiers!

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his brain injury, accept strategiesto help to be successful.“Our family lifestyle is differ-ent,” Jeanette Mayer said. Life for her husband is aboutkeeping a routine to keep himfocused — which includes post-ed notes for reminders all overthe house, keeping him apprisedto things he needs to do orplaces to go. A Plexiglass boardin the kitchen is where hisschedule is. “It’s our command center. It’sa nice set-up,” Jeanette Mayersaid.The center was provided byNorth 40 Cabinetry which washired to replace kitchen cabi-nets which had to taken out.Dewayne Mayer does get outof the house on his own, but it is

his call as he feels able. JeanetteMayer works nearby at theInternet Truck Stop and is ableto work around her schedule asneeded. Their daughter alsokeeps an eye on things when sheis a home, and transitions wellbetween caregiver and daugh-ter, Jeanette Mayer said.The Mayers want people tounderstand about traumaticbrain syndrome. The country is seeing more ofit because with greater technol-ogy troops are surviving injurieswhich would have killed themin earlier conflicts, JeanetteMayer said. They have beentalking before groups and arewilling to accept more invita-tions. “We just want people to beeducated about what TBS is,”she said.

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golden years. Not only did he put his life

in danger for every mission heflew, but he lost his mobilitywhen his kneecaps were re-moved. They were damaged,and by the time replacementknees had been invented,Chapin did not have enoughtendon left to make a artificialknee replacement feasible.Today he gets around via anelectric wheelchair, in a handi-cap accessible house. Like many servicemen of hisgeneration, Chapin did not dis-cuss his activities in combat,for years after the events.“None of my family knew Iworked with the hydrogen

bomb,” Chapin said. “I toldthem I was a B-36 crew chief.That’s where it stopped. I car-ried this since I got out. Wewere taught that you didn’ttalk about it. I couldn’t talkabout what I did until now.Nobody knows about it.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7None of my family

knew I worked withthe hydrogen bomb. Itold them I was a B-36 crew chief. That’s where itstopped. I carried this since I gotout. … I couldn’t talk aboutwhat I did until now.

— Charles ChapinFormer B-36 crew chief

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