A Marine mortar man who dodged hundreds of bullets on Iwo Jima couldn’t escape the deadly pandemic sweeping the world in 2020.
Robin Barrett, a World War II veteran, died at the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon, one of a half dozen veterans to die there during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading
By Oregon Veterans Association,
It’s not every day someone turns 104. This year, Bill Lapschies had another reason to celebrate his birthday—with balloons and chocolate cake. One of the oldest people in the world to beat COVID-19, Bill enjoyed a party with family—fully recovered and holding court at a proper social distance. Continue reading
Congressional lawmakers from Oregon want to name the Veterans Administration clinic in Bend after a World War II Army combat veteran who threw himself onto a grenade in France to save three fellow soldiers.
Robert Maxwell, who died in May 2019 at the age of 98, received the Medal of Honor, Silver Star, and many other awards for his valor that fateful day Sept. 7, 1942, when he and three others defended an observation post from enemy attack. When an enemy tossed a hand grenade among the squad, he threw a blanket and his body on the ammunition to absorb the explosion and protect the other men. Continue reading