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Memorial Day 2004: Reflecting on lost comrades |
Although the weather was chilly, more than 150
people turned out for the ceremony |
By Schellene
Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
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Retired Lt. Col. Hubert “Hub” Mardock was once a member of the
Oregon Field Artillery 218 Battery C, based in Newberg.
He’s a home-grown boy, spending most of his life in Newberg, except
for the time he spent overseas defending his country, said wife
Shirley Mardock. Hub doesn’t talk much about his decorations,
standing quietly at ease in his well-pressed army greens. Instead,
Shirley, bursting with pride over her husband, does it for him.
The Meritorious Bronze Star, Cross of Gallantry, Good Conduct and
Staff Services medals, among others, decorate his uniform, just
below the left shoulder.
“He served two tours in Vietnam,” and was released from duty just
before the fall of Saigon, she said. “He won’t tell you about it,
but I will.”
Hub served as a military adviser for Vietnamese troops, a position
that placed him on an assassin’s list while he was in Vietnam. But
he emerged to return to his wife.
“The lord was with him,” she smiled.
Hub also helped train the first general in charge of the mission in
Iraq, Tommy Franks. “In that unfortunate mess,” Shirley called the
Middle Eastern conflict.
Memorial
Day was a time for Shirley to show how grateful she was that her
husband — unlike the tens of thousands of men and women who have
died serving in the military — was returned to her whole.
She and Hub, like the more than 150 people who attended services in
Memorial Park Monday morning, came to mourn lives lost.
A young boy of about 6 asked his mother what the color guard, made
up of Newberg police officers, was at the event for, except to shoot
their guns in salute.
The Rev. Bill Larson, chaplain of the VFW 4015 and Newberg Fire
Department, gave the invocation, “a humble tribute to honor these
people who gave their lives.”
Led by NPD Sgt. Tim Weaver, the NPD color guard then filed past in
dress blues and white gloves, black bands of mourning over their
badges, to raise the flag up the flag pole, only to lower it again
to half mast. Members of the guard included
Officers Gwen Johns, Mark Cooke, Tom Perritt, Del Linck, Drew Boggs
and Heather Corum.
Flags waved gently in breeze. Few sounds — save that of young
children playing in the park nearby — could be heard, and even those
voices stilled for the moment of silence during the ceremony.
Two Newberg High School students read the poem, Flanders Field, and
its response.
Retired Lt. Col. Richard Lightfoot of the United States Air Force,
read the address.
“The right to assemble, the right to bear arms, the right to free
speech and the right to worship as we choose have been obtained and
are being maintained by bloodshed,” he said. “Someone once said that
evil prevails when good men do nothing.”
Lightfoot reminded those in attendance that we must remain
vigilant, protect our freedoms and when we see the wretchedness of
war, we must remember the sacrifices of the people who gave their
lives for the country.
From “Four score and seven years ago today ...” to ...“and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth,” Weaver presented the Gettysburg address,
from memory, just as he has done for the last seven years.
“I believe Memorial Day is for the veterans and their families, not
about some guy reciting a speech ...,” he said. “The vets are out
working in the cemeteries for weeks before Monday’s
service, cleaning up headstones and placing flags at vets’ markers.
They’re out placing flags along the businesses and showing a lot of
pride in their country and, in their way, showing respect for their
comrades.”
Officers Cooke and Johnson then read the roll call of dead from the
area, beginning with World War One, then, one by one,
representatives from the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, Girl
Scouts, Daughters of the American revolution and members of the VFW
and the American Legion, solemnly presented flowers, along with a
few words.
A volley of gunfire by the firing squad echoed throughout the park.
Weaver said the presentation is the way NPD gives thanks to
veterans. “It’s an honor to be involved,” he said.
He said the older he gets, the more meaningful these days have for
him, especially now that the country is at war.
“Its sobering,” he said. “(It’s) good to have a day to reflect.”
Everyone startled by shots fired, quieted at the mournful sound of
Taps played by a NHS student.
Larson returned to the podium to give the benediction, “no greater
love has any man than who has given his life for a comrade.”
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From
June 2,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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