Veterans to be honored July 4 during patriotic drive-in celebration at Volcanoes Stadium

Emily Hills, a retired Army helicopter pilot who attended McNary High School, will be among those honored Saturday during the 13th annual Patriotic Tribute at Volcanoes Stadium.

She flew Apache attack helicopters for 10 years and lives in Huntsville, Alabama. Her brother Mark Hills, coincidentally, played two seasons for the Volcanoes in 1998 and 1999. He was a pitcher.

The Patriotic Tribute will look different this year, but the mission remains the same — to thank, honor and salute military veterans.

It will be a drive-in event with people allowed out of their cars to visit the concession stand or use the restroom. Social distancing and COVID-19 protocols will be followed, according to officials with the Salem-Keizer minor league baseball club.

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The organization has been honoring veterans at the ballpark every Fourth of July since 2008, recognizing anywhere from four Oregon Army National Guard soldiers on the field the first year to more than 200 veterans for the 10th anniversary tribute in 2017.

This year's event had to be scaled down and moved from the field, since there's no game, to the stadium balcony and parking lot. The 2020 season was cancelled this week because of the pandemic.

"We made adjustments to do the very best we can," said Jerry Howard, the Volcanoes' senior marketing director and mastermind of the event. "It's better than us saying we're not going to do it."

An Air Force veteran who served from 1961 to 1966, Howard dedicates countless hours organizing the tribute each year and personally inviting the honorees. He even spent $1,000 out of his own pocket this year to bring Emily Hills home.

Cost to attend the Patriotic Tribute is $20 a carload, and limited tickets will be sold and must be purchased in advance through volcanoesbaseball.org. 

Using every other space to ensure social distancing, the parking lot can accommodate about 600 vehicles. The club reported more than 400 cars came for each fireworks event held on back-to-back Fridays in June.

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The gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Saturday with a concert by JT and the Tourists starting at 6 p.m. The Patriotic Tribute is scheduled from 8 to 9:45 p.m., followed by fireworks.

Twenty-five veterans, more than half from the Salem-Keizer area, will be honored. They'll walk from the skyboxes to the balcony landing facing the parking lot and acknowledge the crowd before descending the stairs and exiting to their vehicles.

The honorees and their tributes, provided by the Volcanoes, in order of planned introduction:

Army Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Curt Loop: He is a graduate of Oregon State University who served in Vietnam. He was a platoon leader and executive officer for an infantry company in 1967-68, then for an aviation company in 1969-70. His last assigned was as deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army Pacific. He holds two Distinguished Service Medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars and 41 Air Medals.

Army Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Dennis Klein: He served 40 years active and reserve duty and was deployed in 1989-1990 to Panama and 1991 to Bangladesh and served in Korea from 1996 to 2004. He holds the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service Medals and nine Army Commendation Medals.

Col. (Ret.) Stan Hutchison: He served 39 years for the Army and has been deployed to Panama, Bosnia, Iraq four times and Djibouti twice. He also served in the Pentagon in 2015-16. He holds the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Star Medals, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals and four Army Commendation Medals.

Col. (Ret.) Karl Wright: He served 35 years in the military, retiring as the chief of joint staff at the Utah National Guard in 2018. He was the commander of a battalion that deployed to Iraq in 2007. He holds the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters) and Army Commendation Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters).

Col. (Ret.) George Lanning: He retired as deputy adjutant general for the Oregon National Guard after 35 years of service. He served in Desert Shield and was commander of a transportation detachment in Saudi Arabia and an area support group in the Balkans. He holds the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Bronze Star.

Col. (Ret.) Forest Lanning: He is the brother to Col. George Lanning and served two tours for the Army in Vietnam. Due to an illness, he is unable to attend the tribute.

Capt. (Ret.) Harold Tiernan: He retired after serving from 1965 to 1995 in the Navy. He was a supply officer aboard the USS Kretchmer in Guam and also served in Vietnam. He holds the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Susan Schenk: She was active duty as a finance officer in the Oregon National Guard and later public affairs and arts, monuments and archives officer in the Army Reserve. She currently volunteers as the public affairs officer of the Oregon Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

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Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rob Fraser: He served in the California National Guard before transferring to the Oregon National Guard, serving in many command positions. He holds the Combat Action Badge, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards) and Army Commendation Medal (2 awards).

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steven Forster: He was deployed to Bosnia, Croatia and Iraq while a full-time Oregon National Guard member. In 2004-05, he served at Guantanamo Bay as a personal representative for detained enemy combatants. He holds two Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, three Army Commendation Medals and the Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Stars.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bill Myers: He has commanded two infantry companies, a landing support company, recruit training company, NCO school and battalion during 23 years of service (1970-93) in the Marine Corps. He also served three years as the Marine Officer Instructor at Oregon State University Naval ROTC. He holds the Vietnam Campaign and Vietnam Service Medal, Navy Achievement Medal and two Meritorious Service Medals.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Judy Fromherz: She was commissioned through the Oregon State ROTC program and commanded at company and battalion levels. She served in Germany, Korea and the Pentagon. She holds the Meritorious Service Medal w/2 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Army Commendation Medal w/5 Oak Leaf Clusters.

Maj. (Ret.) Dan Foster: He retired after 26 years in the Montana and Washington National Guard. In Washington, he was commander of the 146th Field Artillery and the 133rd Army Band, executive officer of the 420th Chemical Battalion and brigade chemical officer of the 66th Aviation Brigade. He holds the St. Barbara for Field Artillery, Federal Meritorious Service Medal and the Washington State Meritorious Service Medal.

1st Lieutenant Austin Parr: He joined the Oregon Guard in 2014 and just returned from a 10-month deployment to Jordan. He holds two Army Achievement Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terror Service Medal.

Sgt. Maj. Scott Stimpson: He has served in the Oregon Army National Guard since 2000.   He has enjoyed helping young men and women make career choices as a Recruiting and Retention NCO.    He has enlisted over 200 Soldiers every year. In 2011, he earned Top Recruiting Honors, and was selected as the State’s Recruiter of the Year.  He presently is the President of the Columbia River Chapter of the Association of the United States Army. He holds four Meritorious Service Medals, five Commendation Medals, six Army Achievement Medals and two Outstanding Volunteer Medals.

Past coverage:Salem-Keizer Volcanoes fight to retain Major League affiliation

Sgt. (Ret.) Allen Truesdale: He served in the Marine Corps from 1970 to 1975 and was a combat veteran in Vietnam. He also served in Cambodia, Laos and the Mediterranean. He holds the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Cpl. (Ret.) Darrin DeCoster: He served in the Marine Corps from 1990 to 1994 and deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Shield/Desert Storm. Received a Meritorious Mast for the setup, operation and security of unit armory while deployed. He holds the Pistol Expert Badge, Rifle Sharp Shooter Badge, National Defense Service Medal and the Southwest Asia Service Medal w/3 Bronze Stars.

Cpl. (Ret.) Craig Loney: He served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992 and was stationed at Okinawa, Japan as a range coach. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He holds the Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with two Bronze Campaign stars, Rifle Sharpshooter Badge and Pistol Expert Badge.

Boatswains Mate 3 (Ret.) Clyde Staiger: He served in the Navy from 1962 to 1964 and is a Vietnam veteran. He was aboard the USS Grandville S. Hall, which operated off the coast of Vietnam and experimented with atomic, biological and chemical warfare tests. 

Cpl. Matthew Zeller & Army Cadet Rionna Zeller: A father-daughter team, he served from 1987 to 1992 in Panama and the Gulf War, then in the Oregon National Guard until 2003, and she's in the Guard and Western Oregon University Army ROTC. After graduating and being commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, she plans to enter the Army's Physician Assistant program.

Sgt. 1st Class Phil Maas & Staff Sgt. Tonja Maas: A husband-wife team, he served in the Army and Oregon National Guard, and she served in the Army. He was a Military Policeman with multiple deployments. He was injured three times in the line of duty and holds the Order of St. Barbara, Jungle Expert Badge and French Commando Level 4. She was a parachutist with multiple deployments and holds the Commandant’s Graduate from two Leadership Schools, Joint Services Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal and four Army Achievement Medals. She's currently the director of Veterans Employment & Training Services for the Department of Labor.

Command Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) Jerry Glesmann: He served 29 years in the Army and National Guard, with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a member of one of the most decorated units Oregon National Guard history, a unit featured in the documentary "Shepherds of Helmand." He is the president of the National Infantry Association and 6th Region president of the Association of the United States Army. He holds the Legion of Merit Medal, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal 2nd Award and Army Commendation Medal 9th Award.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 (Ret.) Emily Hills: After a troubled childhood, during which she got pregnant at 15 and dropped out of high school, she obtained her GED and enlisted in the Army as a mechanic. She served two tours in Bosnia and one in Iraq. She graduated from officer candidate school, then was accepted into flight school for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. She graduated No. 1 in her class and flew the Apache for 10 years, including many combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, she shares her message of overcoming adversity and mental health issues, as well as the struggles of transitioning out of the service. She holds the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Combat Action Badge and Army Achievement Medal.

Capi Lynn is the Statesman Journal's news columnist. Contact her at 503-399-6710 or clynn@statesmanjournal.com.