William Morehouse, WWII veteran from the Buffalo Soldiers Pacific Northwest Chapter, salutes as he marches in the 28th Annual Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver on Nov. 8, 2014.Photo Gallery
It’s been all over the news in recent years that military veterans — who face the ultimate test on the field of battle — also face major challenges when they get home.
Veterans are a disproportionate number of the overall homeless population. The health care they’re owed can be prohibitively hard to get. Lack of access to mental health care in particular has become a scandalous national issue.
“These invisible wounds of war can be with veterans for many years,” one of Washington’s own U.S. Senators, Democrat Patty Murray, said about a new report from the Government Accounting Office that details the ongoing problems.
“The VA has a duty to provide the services and foster a culture that actually serves our veterans. However, I am deeply concerned that despite all of our efforts over several years to address gaps in access to mental health care services, the VA is not making the changes that are needed –and that they have been required to make. As far as I’m concerned, that equates to failing our veterans,” Murray said.
And even those who don’t emerge from military service with intensified mental or physical health needs tend to agree: civilians don’t really understand what they’ve seen, what they’ve endured, how it’s changed their lives.
All of which is why Clark County, a caring and patriotic corner of the world if there ever was one, is brimming with Veterans Day activities, all aimed at proving how proud and grateful — and concerned — we are.
A parade, a fun run, serious remarks from soldiers, a down-home country grange gathering and a concert featuring rousing all-American tunes are on tap for this weekend — which is just a little ahead of schedule. On Veterans Day itself — that’s Wednesday, Nov. 11 — there will be a formal ceremony at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in east Vancouver.
Here’s the whole rundown. You’ll know when it’s all begun because of the cannon salute.
THIS WEEKEND
• Race to Remember. Sponsored by a local nonprofit that exists simply to “honor our past and present military heroes,” Race to Remember also collects and ships military care packages, thank-you cards and books to soldiers. Its ultimate goal is a college scholarship for someone who lost a parent during military service.
This Race to Remember will lead the way for the traditional parade to follow; registration opens at 9:30 a.m., and the race gets underway at exactly the same moment as the parade — when the cannon fires — at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.
Runners will gather on the curving driveway between Officers Row and E. Fifth Street, come north and head west — so they’re just ahead of the parade as it marches in from its staging area to the east. (That’s the idea, anyway.) Choose the 5K route or the 11K route, both of which are out-and-back runs, starting at Fort Vancouver and heading over the land bridge to the waterfront. There’s also a Little Hero 1K run at 1 p.m.
The cost is $45 per individual for the 11K, $35 for the 5K and $15 for the 1K. Visit racetoremember.com and click on “events” to start signing up.
• Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver. The 29th annual outing, is hosted by the Fort Vancouver National Trust and presented by the “Lough Legacy.” (Frank Lough spent 22 years in the Navy, and a gift from the estate of Frank and Joanne Lough supports the parade in perpetuity; other sponsors this year are Creekside Mortgage and The Vancouver Clinic).
Festivities begin with a 10 a.m. Saturday keynote speech by Col. Paul Fitzgerald, commander of the 142nd Fighter Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard. That’s the group of screaming F-15 Eagles that can drown out performances in Esther Short Park; most locals take the interruption in patriotic stride, considering it “the sound of freedom.” Fitzgerald has 1,000 people working under him and is an F-15 command pilot himself.
The ceremony will feature local veterans and honor Pat Jollota, former Vancouver City Councilwoman, local historian and author, activist for many community causes — and the Grand Marshal of this year’s parade.
The parade gets underway at 11 a.m. It begins on the east end of Officers Row, at East Reserve Street, and heads west.
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All are encouraged to attend what’s billed as one of the largest Department of Veterans Affairs-sanctioned parades on the West Coast.
• North County’s Community Celebration of Veterans, co-hosted by the North Clark Historical Museum at the Mountain Valley Grange in Amboy. Dessert social served by grange members from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday for $3 per adult, $1.50 per child 12 and younger.
Singer/guitarist Wayne Hoffman performs at 6:30 p.m. Formal program begins at 7 p.m. with Color Guard from Scout Troop 349. There’s also a welcome to honored guests, special presentations and awards to local students who created art and essays on this year’s museum contest theme, “Farming the Land by Hand and by Machine.” Other activities include listening to the keynote speaker, quilt raffle drawing, door prizes, pie auction. Raffle tickets will be sold right up until the drawing.
The event takes place at the Mountain Valley Grange Hall, 40107 NE 221st Ave., Amboy. Call 360-247-5800.
All area veterans and their families are welcome to come be recognized for their service.
• Westwinds Community Band, a wind ensemble, performs a free concert of patriotic favorites, including “Americans We,” “Lest We Forget” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Safe Harbor Nazarene Church, 8100 E. Mill Plain Blvd. Donations accepted but no ticket required. Call 360-892-7197.
• Chelatchie Prairie Railroad “Patriots Weekend Runs.” Actually, these are the regular runnings of the Chelatchie Prairie Tourist Train between Yacolt and Moulton Falls. Leave from Northeast Railroad Avenue in Yacolt at noon and 2:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8. Parking is on the north side of Yacolt Road. The drive to get there is about 20 miles east of Interstate 5.
If you’d like to include a little wine with your train trip, try the “wine run” at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 only.
To learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.bycx.com.
VETERANS DAY, Nov. 11
• Ceremony at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in east Vancouver, hosted by the Community Military Appreciation Committee. The keynote speaker will be Maj. Gen. Karen LeDoux, commander of the 88th Regional Support Command, who is responsible for base operations support for all Army Reserve soldiers, civilians and their families in the northern United States, from the Ohio River to the Pacific Coast. She has been a commissioned officer in the Army and Army Reserve for more than 30 years.
Also speaking will be Lt. Col. Jeffrey Croy, deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade, 95th Division of the U.S. Army Reserve; U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas; and state Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars will provide a rifle salute, taps and color posting. Music will be provided by the 204th Army Band. Vancouver Police Department Officer Rey Reynolds will sing during the ceremony, and retired Col. Larry Smith, co-chairman of the Community Military Appreciation Committee and a Vancouver city councilman, will emcee.
The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at 15005 N.E. 65th St., but doors will open at 9:45 a.m. for refreshments and other activities. Veteran-related information booths and an Iwo Jima display will be there, too.
The public is encouraged to attend. The Community Military Appreciation Committee is a private civic group that’s open to everyone as it plans and hosts communitywide veterans events. Learn more at www.cmac11.com.
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