Connect with a local veteran
For people who have visited my home, it doesn’t take long to realize that I’m a student of history.
Scores of history books fill bookcases both upstairs and downstairs. When my wife and I are thrift shopping, and I’m seeking an addition to my collection, she frequently asks me if I really need any more books. In response, I usually ask her if she really needs any more shoes, which ends the conversation, but I digress.
I enjoy reading history. I relish the stories — both heroic and tragic — of people who have lived it. And if there’s any single thing that I’ve learned, it’s that the more I know about history, the more I realize there’s so much more that I don’t know.
That’s why our Salute to Veterans section is unique. Each year, we highlight a handful of veterans representing the many communities served by Pamplin Media Group. The stories shared by these veterans span decades of service — from 1941 to the present day.
From careless youth to honored service. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps veterans who served our country and continue to give back to the communities they live in and, in many cases, their fellow veterans.
Of course, sharing these stories wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Weston Kia stepped up to be this year’s “hero sponsor,” joined by “partner sponsors” Hillside Chapel & Funeral Services, Fir Lawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Mt. Hood Community College, Caring Places, and TEC Equipment.
I never served in the military, but I have the utmost respect for those who did. It would be nice to think that perhaps someday, the need for a military would no longer be there, but as a student of history, I know it would be naïve to do so.
Edmund Burke, an eighteenth-century statesman, once said, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
Like all preceding it, this year’s Salute to Veterans publication is filled with stories about good men and women who came together to serve when our country called. Men and women, black and white, rich and poor, friends, family and neighbors joining forces for a common cause.
I encourage you to read these stories, absorb what they tell you, and perhaps in the process, get to know one of your neighbors just a little bit better.
– Vance Tong, Pamplin Media Group, Director of Operations
2022 SALUTE TO VETERANS
PROUD SPONSORS
PRESENTING SPONSOR
VETERANS HERO SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSORS
COMMUNITY SPONSORS
ALOHA
Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District
BANKS
Quail Valley Golf Course and West Tuality Habitat for Humanity
BEAVERTON
Grove Cookie Company
CANBY
Willamette Egg Farms
CLACKAMAS SPONSOR
SBDC – Small Business Development Center
CORNELIUS
Ace Hardware and City of Cornelius
ESTACADA SPONSOR
Weston Dealership
FOREST GROVE
Forest Grove Beehive Assisted Living and Hawthorne House Memory Care
FOREST GROVE
Van Dyke Appliance and Robert Groves Minuteman Mortgage
GRESHAM
Gresham Ford
HILLSBORO
On Site Tire Pros
LAKE OSWEGO
Marcia Kies, Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty
MADRAS
Madras Body & Glass
NEWBERG
Washington Roofing Company
OREGON CITY
Orgon City News
PORTLAND
Global Solarium
PORTLAND
American SaniCan
PORTLAND
Portland Tribune
PORTLAND
TEC Equipment
PRINEVILLE
Gary Gruner Chevrolet Buick GMC
SANDY
Gresham Ford
SANDY
Mt. Hood Community College
SCAPPOOSE
Scappoose Sand & Gravel Co.
SHERWOOD
New Smiles Dental
SHERWOOD
Sherwood Gazette
ST HELENS
Michael Ismert Insurance Agency
TIGARD
Crescent Grove Cemetery
TROUTDALE
Weston Dealerships
TUALATIN
Broadway Furniture
WEST LINN
Oswego Hills Vineyard and Winery
WILSONVILLE
Republic Services
WOODBURN
Woodburn Independent