News-Info-Alerts

Re: POw-MIA Flag to Fly

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: May 12, 2002

"Eugene City Beat: POW-MIA flag to fly for Armed Forces Day

By SUSAN PALMER 
The Register-Guard
 
IT'S A BLACK FLAG, with a silhouette of a gaunt young man, a watch tower and barbed wire in the background, and for the first time ever it will be flying over City Hall on Saturday.

The POW-MIA flag honors Americans taken prisoner or missing in action, and a coalition of veterans groups convinced officials to raise the flag at City Hall on Saturday, Armed Forces Day. The flag is meant to remind residents of the sacrifices, not only by the men who were held captive or forever lost, but of families whose sons and daughters didn't return and for whom there has been no closure, said Judi Greig, a Vietnam-era veteran who spearheaded the drive.

Greig said she has been bugging city leaders for two years to fly the flag emblazoned with the words "We Have Not Forgotten," and finally got the word from then-city manager Jim Johnson in December that the request had been granted.

The flag-raising ceremony will begin at 9 a.m.

Armed Forces Day also marks the beginning of a road trip for a couple of area vets who are taking a 20-foot truck filled with household and school supplies to Montagnard refugees set to arrive in North Carolina on May 21.

During the Vietnam War, the Montagnards of Vietnam allied with American troops against the Viet Cong and later suffered persecution that forced many into refugee camps in Cambodia, Greig said.

Local veterans have teamed up with other vets from across the country to help the families settle in. Besides local donations, an Oklahoma veterans group contributed $3,000 toward the donation drive. The truck will also make stops in Illinois and Iowa to pick up more supplies, Greig said.

The plight of the Montagnards has always tugged at Vietnam vets' heartstrings, Greig said.

"These people were our greatest allies, and we kind of just left them behind," she said. Anyone wishing to help can call Greig at 607-3990.

Irkutsk residents visit
Four Russians from the Siberian city of Irkutsk will arrive Monday for a weeklong visit in Eugene, as part of the sister cities exchange program.

The contingent includes Mayor Vladimir Yakubovsky, who'll be welcomed by Mayor Jim Torrey and feted by the Eugene Symphony, with scheduled stops at the Monday City Council meeting (where solid waste, yard debris and recycling ordinances are on the agenda) and the Wednesday budget committee meeting (where amendments to next year's budget will be discussed).

The delegates will also visit the 911 Communications Center and the construction site of the new library, Kennedy Middle School and Lane Community College.

Irkutsk could be considered the older sister in this sibling relationship, said Galena Groza, local coordinator of the sister cities program. The city of 700,000 has been around for 341 years, making it more than a century older than the United States.

While Groza enjoys the visits from Irkutsk residents, what she most loves is taking Eugeneans to Russia.

The prerevolutionary architecture of the city is stunning, she said, but the beauty of nearby Lake Baikal is unsurpassed. The largest lake in Eurasia, geologists believe that it may be the oldest lake in the world, Groza said.

"It's almost like a different cosmos," she said. "I tell people when I take them, `It's going to change your life. I don't know how, but it will.' "

Those who want to learn more about the city from the delegates themselves can meet them at an open house on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St.

Permit user satisfaction
There's been a "slight decline" in customer satisfaction at the city's Permit and Information Center, according to a Eugene City Council newsletter.

The center, which is the point of contact for those seeking building permits, tracks customer satisfaction with a biennial survey of home and business owners, builders and designers.

This year researchers contacted 400 people to learn how well they'd been helped. They gave the Permit & Information Center an overall rating of 3.5 on a 5-point scale.

The declines in customer satisfaction were attributed to reduced counter and telephone assistance hours, loss of experienced staff and changes in land use codes.

For more on how the department stacked up, call Marsha Miller at 682-5224 or Keli Osborn at 682-5288. A copy of the survey is available at the City Council office at 777 Pearl St.

Reporter Susan Palmer can be reached at 338-2571 or by e-mail at spalmer@guardnet.com

Copyright © 2002 The Register-Guard "