News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Robert “Chubs” Lawson and Antonio Guzman work on the memorial at Rotary’s new Veterans Park.
The Rotary Club of Sisters will mark Memorial Day weekend with the dedication of a new Veterans Park at the west end of Sisters.
The park, which hosts the stone “Welcome to Sisters” sign created by the club, will have a veterans memorial and a flag that will fly over Cascade Avenue.
The dedication ceremony will be held on Friday, May 26, at 11 a.m. at the park, which is located nearly adjacent to Space Age Gas. The ceremony will feature keynote speaker Robert Maxwell, a World War II recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Maxwell was cited “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 7 September 1944, near Besancon, France.”
The citation reads:
Technician 5th Grade Maxwell and three other soldiers, armed only with .45 caliber automatic pistols, defended the battalion observation post against an overwhelming onslaught by enemy infantrymen in approximately platoon strength, supported by 20mm flak and machinegun fire, who had infiltrated through the battalion’s forward companies and were attacking the observation post with machinegun, machine pistol, and grenade fire at ranges as close as 10 yards.
Despite a hail of fire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell aggressively fought off advancing enemy elements and, by his calmness, tenacity, and fortitude, inspired his fellows to continue the unequal struggle.
When an enemy hand grenade was thrown in the midst of his squad, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell unhesitatingly hurled himself squarely upon it, using his blanket and his unprotected body to absorb the full force of the explosion.
This act of instantaneous heroism permanently maimed Technician 5th Grade Maxwell, but saved the lives of his comrades in arms and facilitated maintenance of vital military communications...”
Sisters Boy Scouts will raise the flag over the park. The creation of the park is an Eagle Scout project of Derek Alderman and it has become a true community effort, led by Sisters Rotary.
Rotarian Mike Bidasolo noted that Lynn Johnston of Sisters donated the flag pole; the Sisters Garden Club provided $4,500 in cash.
“We had lots of help from the Forest Service and the City of Sisters,” Bidasolo said. “(Public Works) Director Gary Frazee has been a great help through this thing.”
Bob Aitken of SisterScapes did the landscape design and Tim Clasen installed irrigation.
Bidasolo also thanked Rod Morris of Sisters Rental for equipment use and Ted and Mary Fowler of Sisters Motor Lodge for helping with water and power and putting up with construction activity near their establishment.
Sisters Christian Academy has agreed to take on maintenance of the park landscape as a community service project, Bidasolo said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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