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Public Comments - Media
From the Publisher's Desk: Evans returns home - for now
Polk County Itemizer-Observer
February 24, 2005Dave Weston
July 06, 2005
From the publisher's desk
Paul Evans is back in town. At least, briefly. Paul has spent the last four years in uniform as part of the Air National Guard.
As we sat and talked at Rick's Place in Monmouth, the former mayor, reporter Craig Coleman and I chatted about the changes in the community since Paul had left. Of even more interest was to hear about Paul's latest tour of duty at Balad Air Base in Iraq.
Paul notes that today the Balad base is the busiest military airport in the world. He was part of the ground crew that keeps the base running and the planes landing and taking off successfully.
He was assigned to the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing. A proud unit that carries the nomenclature made famous in World War II as the Tuskegee Airmen. Today their insignia notes that and adds "The Legend Lives On."
Paul notes, "My grandfather used to say, `We're up to our necks in alligators -- and we were sent to drain the swamp.'"
Sometimes the alligators are pretty obvious. While at Balad, a little over 40 miles north of Baghdad, he counted 55 different attacks on the place. Mortars and rocket propelled grenades were the favorite devices as they could go over the top of the concrete walls and metal fencing on the base perimeter.
On the base, buildings and bunkers housing equipment and personnel are generally surrounded by concrete and sandbags. It is obvious from his pictures that the enemy's firepower is respected.
When Craig asked about meeting the locals, Paul commented that it's a lot less common now than during his first tour of duty there. He cited a time that he and another American in uniform were at a hospital.
A little girl had been injured by some insurgent activity. Her mother, in a very non-Iraqi manner, rushed out and hugged Paul's companion for all that had been done to help her daughter.
The future for this lifelong Monmouth resident, former mayor and two-time student body president at Western Oregon is filled with "opportunities," he says.
Some of the opportunities may allow his return while others may find him across the country.
If the latter, that may be good as Paul's wife, Joan Mooney, is Chief of Staff for Representative Darlene Hooley in Washington, D.C.
This weekend, Saturday from 2 to 7, Paula and Joan will be greeting all who stop by the Gentle House. He even promises there may be a wiener or two on the barbecue.
