WE ARE BRINGING BACK THE OREGON MILITARY HALL OF FAME  (OMHF).

The induction ceremony and dinner will be held at Camp Withycombe, 15300 SE Minuteman Way, Clackamas, OR 97015 at 2:30PM on Sunday, April 28th.

 

2007, 2008, and 2009 were the last years we put on this impressive event.

 

“The Oregon Military Hall of Fame ceremonies were the most impressive events honoring veterans I’ve ever seen in Oregon”,  Jim Willis, Air force, Vietnam, Former State Director of Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA).

 

OREGON MILITARY HALL OF FAME 2024 INDUCTEES

 

Category: Service to Country and Community

 

LT. COL.(R) ALLAN R. “DICK” TOBIASON, U.S. Army Vietnam, Master Army Aviator with 20 years’ service including 2 tours in Vietnam, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, 15 Air Medals with V for Valor device, and Purple Heart.  One of his proudest assignments was helping repatriate 27 American POWs in South Vietnam during “Operation Homecoming” in 1973 during his second tour. Personally responsible for getting all 9 border to border highways across Oregon named to honor nearly one half million Oregon wartime veterans and 6,000 Gold Star Families and Medal of Honor Highway Across America on the 3,365 mile US Hwy 20 between Newport, OR and Boston, MA, and many more impressive accomplishments.

 

Inducting LT. COL.(R) ALLAN R. “DICK” TOBIASON – TBA

 

Category: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

 

COL. (R) CAROL BROWN, Army, Nurse, Vietnam. After attending Latrobe Area Hospital School of Nursing, she enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 17, 1968 under the Army Student Nurse Program. Then commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Army Nurse Corps. In February 1970, she reported to duty at the 24th Evacuation Hospital, Long Binh, South Vietnam. After that, she served at the 97th General Hospital, Frankfurt, West Germany as a Medical-Surgical Nurse. After the Army, she worked as a nurse at Physicians Medical Center in McMinnville, OR and earned her BA at Linfield College in 1982.

She joined the Oregon Army National Guard, and during her career served as Battalion Staff Nurse for the 1249 Engineer Battalion, Commander 175th Medical Brigade, and as the State Nurse, Headquarters State Area Command. After graduating from the War College, she was assigned as the  Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, and her last assignment as the State Surgeon until her retirement in 2007. Recognized with numerous awards and decorations.

 

Inducting COL. (R) CAROL BROWN – COL. LARRY BROWN JR.

 

MAJ. GEN. (R) RAYMOND F. REES, West Point, Army, Vietnam, Bronze Star. Served as Oregon’s Adjutant General for 17 years. Many impressive accomplishments including leading the 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment, served as Chief of Staff for NORAD, USNORTHCOM.  Director of the Army National Guard, Vice Chief National Guard Bureau and Chief of Staff. Recognized with multiple awards, notably The Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal and Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.

 

Inducting MAJ. GEN. (R) RAYMOND F. REES – LT. GEN. RUSSELL DAVIS

 

GMS (R) JASON M. BURGER, Air Force, 33 years, Chief Master Sergeant, Retired as of December 8, 2023. Over the course of his career, he deployed 19 times and supported numerous operational, contingency, and humanitarian deployments including DENY FLIGHT, JOINT GUARD, JOINT ENDEAVOR, NORTHERN WATCH, SOUTHERN WATCH, ENDURING FREEDOM, NEW DAWN, RESOLUTE SUPPORT, INHERENT RESOLVE, ENDURING SENTINEL, FREEDOM’S SENTINEL, and ALLIES REFUGE. Additionally, he led around-the-clock efforts to support two efforts directed by the President of the United States.

 

Chief Burger is a Chief Airman Enlisted Aircrew member with more than 27 years of aviation service with qualifications on 6 different US and Foreign Partner aircraft. He has accumulated more than 4500 flight hours conducting Command and Control, Combat Search and Rescue, Airlift, Modular Airborne Firefighting, and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance missions. 

 

He has been awarded numerous major awards and decorations over the course of his career for his lifetime of dedicated service to the defense of his nation.

 

Letter from Jason Burger to R.A.H. “This is essentially a compendium of the sum of my 32.5 years of service. I know that the induction is for a singular event that took place in Afghanistan in 2005 (Rescue operation of Marcus Lutrell, made famous by the Movie “Lone Survivor”). And while that was a momentous mission to have been a part of, it is full of tragedy and loss as well. That operation has been memorialized by others who lived it more desperately than I. The real heroes of that operation, whether part of Red Wings I or Red Wings II, are the ones who remain forever in our memory of who they were. The event, which became Lone Survivor, was just one of 45 separate missions I flew to save lives that summer in Afghanistan.

My career has spanned decades. Almost all of them spent in conflict and war. Whether it was Bosnia, Northern and Southern Watch, Iraq, Afghanistan, or the small wars of Special Operations in Africa, the forever wars of the past 30 years have been all I have known throughout my career. I very much appreciate the consideration of the organization that has determined that I deserve this recognition, it was my honor to serve our nation for so long.”

Inducting GMS (R) JASON M. BURGER – COL. (R) JASON GOLDBERG

 

COL. (R) THOMAS K. HENDERSON JR., Air Force,  33 years’ rated service as a Master Navigator with qualifications on the B-52, MC-130E, and C-130H3 aircraft in support of strategic command, Air Force Special Operations, airlift missions. In the course of his career, he flew more than 100 combat missions in numerous operations supporting NATO in Bosnia and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

Over the course of his career, he served in numerous leadership roles and positions of significant responsibility including the Commander of 302nd  Operations Support Squadron. His career culminated with his assignment as the Command Center Director, USNORTHCOM, which he held from January 2010 until his retirement in June 2015. 

 

Tom was recognized throughout his career with numerous awards and decorations which included the Defense Superior Service Medal, The Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Medal. 

 

At the time of his passing, Tom was a Senior Technical Project Manager with Millennium Engineering and Integration Company

 

Inducting COL (R) THOMAS K. HENDERSON JR – MAJ. GEN. ERIC W. VOLLMECKE

 

MSG (R) CHRISTOPHER SPENCE, U.S. Army Special Forces, 25 years and 3 months of Service, Invasion of Afghanistan, Invasion of Iraq and two additional tours in Iraq. Also served in Germany and Korea, plus deployments in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan.

 

Recognized for taking the picture that SecDef Donald Rumsfeld used to show the world that American Forces were indeed in Afghanistan and riding horses.

 

These pictures and the story of Americans on horseback inspired author Doug Stanton to write the book “Horse Soldiers,” which was turned into the movie “12 Strong” and sculptor Douwe Blumberg to create the “America’s Response Monument.”  Better known as the “Horse Soldier Statue,” which overlooks the 9/11 Memorial Site.

 

Manages the Special Forces Scholarship Fund, which awards merit-based scholarships to 5th Special Forces Group children.  The Scholarship Fund has awarded 602 scholarships totaling  $1,500,000.00 since 2013.

 

“Horse Soldiers” an Alex Quade Film, narrated by Gary Sinise

 

Inducting MSG (R) CHRISTOPHER SPENCE –  CSM(R) TERRY PETERS

 

MSG. JOHN STEINBAUGH, Army, Special Forces Medic who served with the 10^th Special Forces Group and an elite Special Mission Unit at Fort Bragg, NC. During his career, John completed 14 combat tours in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Among his numerous awards, he earned Three Bronze Stars and Three Purple Hearts. VP and Co- Founder of RevMedx (dedicated to saving lives by creating groundbreaking hemorrhage control solutions. Our devices, designed specifically for combat medics and civilian first responders, are transforming the treatment of life-threatening bleeding). Also featured on The CBS Evening News, PBS Newshour, CNN, US Army Homepage, and more. John has traveled to Ukraine 4 times volunteering with a Non-Profit (taskforceantal.org) delivering critical medical supplies and teaching adults and students how to use a first aid kit and tourniquet.  John also founded an Oregon based Non-Profit that takes Oregon and Washington veterans on hunting and fishing trips. (ForwardAssistNW.org).

 

Inducting MSG. JOHN STEINBAUGH –  TBA

 

 

 

CIVILIANS SUPPORTING VETERANS – ABOVE AND BEYOND

 

We have added a new and unique category to the Oregon Military Hall of Fame.

 

Why?

 

We believe this is a very educational and important opportunity. We have been honoring veterans for 28 years and Remembering America’s Heroes mission has been to teach youth and our communities that the value of our freedoms come at a very high cost.

 

For the first 15 years, 97% of all donations to R.A.H. came from veterans (WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War). Without veterans’ tremendous support, we never would have had the funds to keep our mission going. Sadly, practically all of them have passed.

 

But, over the past 14 years, without the tremendous support of just a handful of civilians, we would not be here today.

 

In the late 1990’s, I was constantly told by veterans that “Only veterans care about veterans.” It has been my personal mission to prove there are civilians who do care through their actions and donations. They deserve to be recognized. There has to be other civilians around Oregon who deserve this honor. And maybe this category will inspire more civilians to start supporting veterans around the state.

 

On April 28th, 2024, we will honor, recognize, and induct four civilians whose financial and moral support has literally kept us moving forward. During the induction ceremony, all will learn about their tremendous support.

 

They are:

 

TWIN BROTHERS – RODNEY FORNI and ROGER FORNI

 

BROTHERS – JAN WESTON and JAY WESTON

 

SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO CHOSIN FEW OREGON CHAPTER

 

Bill Chisholm, Army, Korean War, Two Purple Hearts (1^st Purple Heart at 16 years old, 2^nd Purple Heart at 17 years old)

 

Don Mason, Marines, Korean War

 

Bill and Don are the last two active members of the Chosin Few Oregon Chapter and will tell us all the famous Tootsie Roll story.

 

If you are interested in attending the Oregon Military Hall of Fame? A $50 donation  includes admission for one person for the Induction Ceremony and Dinner.

Your donation can be made online on this website (Click on donations) or a check can be mailed to Remembering America’s Heroes, PO Box 586, Canby, OR 9013

Please follow up with an email with your names or names who will be attending so I can assign you a table. kenwaynebuckles@gmail.com

Thank you,

Ken Buckles

Executive Director

REMEMBERING AMERICA'S HEROES

– OUR HEROES ARE VETERANS –

© 2002—2020 Remembering America's Heroes 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Oregon.