Sisters vets combine 188 years of birthdays

Two of Sisters elder military veterans celebrated a joint birthday party at Sisters Coffee Company last Saturday afternoon.

Leland Chase and Bob Taggart, both World War II veterans, took advantage of the close proximity of their birthdays - which fall only a couple of weeks apart - to celebrate with local folks. A constant stream of guests came to enjoy the special time with the aging soldiers.

Chase was the youngster at the day's event, only managing to account for 90 years of birthdays. Taggart held court with his 98 years of experience.

"I told everyone to take their cards back and bring them to me next year as I am planning to stay at 98 years old," said Taggart.

Chase and Taggart became friends here in Sisters after they both moved to the area a little less than 30 years ago.

"It was after our wives died that we became fairly close," said Taggart.

Chase was in the Pacific Theater during the war, serving in the infantry in both New Guinea and the Philippines.

"I got to serve in the warm war. It was pretty hot where I was, but Bob (Taggart) got to have the cold war. He was in Europe and Korea. And Korea was really a cold war," Chase said.

Taggart chimed in: "It was 35 below in Korea, and that was the high for days. It was brutally cold there."

Taggart was with the 45th Infantry Division and saw action across North Africa and then up through Italy and France and into Germany.

"It was pretty cold in Europe, too, but not like Korea," he said.

Taggart is concerned that people may forget the realities of the war.

"We were chosen to go and free the concentration camp at Dachau. There are people now who claim that it never happened, but I was there, and it was really bad. I don't know how anyone can deny that it happened," he said.

After the war on European soil was won, the troops headed to Japan.

"We were on a ship headed toward Japan, and we were going to be the invasion force. Then, they dropped the two atom bombs, and they turned the ships around and headed home. Everyone was happy to head home. We all had families and had been gone a long time," said Taggart.

Taggart served on the front lines for a long time and thinks the length of his service might be a record.

"Our unit was on the front lines for longer than anyone. We were on the front lines for 511 days straight, so we knew what it was all about," he said.

Both of the veterans weighed in on the community's ongoing flag controversy.

"I agree with the mayor (Brad Boyd). We should have one nice veterans memorial with a good flag, but it is important not to upset the people who set up the first memorial, and they need to be a part of the process," said Chase.

Taggart agreed but would like to see the memorial in the Village Green Park.

"I would like to see one really nice memorial with the flag over it. We have our services on Memorial Day in the Village Green Park with the fly-overs, and that would be a good place to have it. Where it is now is a little hard to get to, and there is no room to hold a ceremony," he said.

The proximity of the coffee shop is an important factor as well in determining the location of the memorial, according to Taggart who has a wry wit.

"After the Memorial Day service we always come here for coffee. It would be good to keep it close to the coffee shop," he said.