The Welcome Home Project

There will be what looks to be a powerful ceremony for and by American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this evening at the Angus Bowmer Theater in Ashland, Oregon. Doors open at 5:30.

The Voices of Veterans program will be created by veterans at the retreat who express their memories and feelings through poetry, visual art and theater. There will be about 30 people on stage including some family members and a set of parents, Meade said. "We want to give the veterans a voice," McMillan said. Often that voice is expressed through poetry, which the veterans will perform on stage. Meade and Rubin will teach the audience welcome songs from different traditions and lead them in singing. "It's an old tradition from other cultures to welcome back the warriors by singing them into the community," Meade said. Meade will be telling stories from different cultures that relate to battle, and homecoming.

WASPS: Women Airforce Service Pilots

Kay (Chaffey) Gott, author of Women in Pursuit, was the featured speaker at Eagle Point National Cemetery yesterday.

She had a lot of stories to tell, was funny, joyful, sometimes forgetful, and humble. In other words - perfect.

And we learned something yesterday didn't know: There were some Native American representatives there, with feathered poles to offer along with the wreaths, and Kay Chaffey Gott mentioned the Navajo Code talkers, and a division made up of many tribes in Europe - that liberated Dachau.

It was a bit of exxageration, but not much. The 45th Infantry Division - The Thunderbird Division. Here's a book about them.