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By Chelsea Duncan
CANYONVILLE — Gov. Ted Kulongoski slowly made his way into the Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort convention center Tuesday, meeting with any veteran who passed by and offering him a hand to shake.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski talks with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5714 of Canyonville color guard members, Bob Garcia, left, and Robert Van Norman at the Fourth of July Celebration to Honor Veterans at the Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort convention center Tuesday. JON AUSTRIA / N-R staff photo
As a guest speaker at the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians’ seventh annual Fourth of July celebration and dinner to honor veterans, the former Marine paid tribute to his fellow servicemen.
“My most important thank-you goes to our veterans and their families,” the governor said after applauding the Cow Creeks for hosting the event. “It is your sacrifice that we salute today as we celebrate the 230th anniversary of America’s independence.”
Kulongoski said he appreciates how Oregon’s American Indian tribes understand the need to honor those who serve their country.
Per capita, American Indians make up the largest group participating in the military, said Sue Shaffer, the tribe’s chairwoman, while introducing the governor.
“That is from earliest times, to present day,” she said.
The Cow Creeks, she said, hold the annual event to honor all veterans who serve for America’s sake.
Kulongoski and others line up for meals at the Fourth of July Celebration to honor veterans at the Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort convention center Tuesday. JON AUSTRIA / N-R staff file photo
“Isn’t it great that here in America, we can all stand together,” she said. “We’ve melded together with strong ties and friendship.”
She said her friend Kulongoski has shown the greatest respect for servicemen and women by traveling the state to remember fallen soldiers alongside their families. In the past week, the governor attended two funerals for state victims of the war in Iraq.
“In showing his respect, he has made it a point to attend every funeral of Oregon veterans … lost in Iraq,” she said.
Kulongoski spoke of the necessity to care for veterans once they’ve left active duty.
He credits his career and position as the state’s chief leader, for example, to the GI Bill that allowed him to attend college out of the service in the 1960s.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2468 member Christopher Lanham of Roseburg salutes during the singing of the national anthem at the Fourth of July Celebration at Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort Tuesday. JON AUSTRIA / N-R staff photo
“We must make sure that when our brave troops in Afghanistan and Iraq complete their service, they receive the medical care they need, the education or job training they want and the economic opportunity they earned,” he said.
Failure to do so, he added, sends the wrong message to young potential recruits.
“America must always have men and women who are willing, in times of great national peril, to walk away from the comfortable lives they knew, the families they loved and the futures they planned,” he said.
Fred Steiner, a Vietnam Navy veteran from Winston, said he agreed with the governor’s points. When he returned from the war, he didn’t receive a welcome home.
“They treated us like dirt,” he said. “People are not doing that now.”
Clyde Marriotte of Canyonville agreed. The World War II Air Force veteran said it’s important to have a governor who shows respect for those in the military.
“They’re all out trying to maintain the freedoms of our country,” he said.
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