Gallery of Pictures



1. BG Norm Hoffman, AUS (Ret), left, the MOAA Oregon State Council of Chapters president, presents a plaque for “Best Web Site” nationally for chapters up to 300 members to outgoing Portland Chapter President LTC Gary Brink, USA (Ret).  LTC Brink accepted the award on behalf of the chapter web liaison, LTC Bill Kroger, USAR (Ret), and Web Master Tracy MacEwan.  The event was at the June chapter meeting at the Gray Gables Estate in Milwaukee.



2. Chapter President Col Mary Mayer, USAF (Ret), accepts a plaque for “Best Newsletter” nationally for chapters up to 300 members from BG Norm Hoffman, AUS (Ret), the MOAA Oregon State Council of Chapters president.  Col Mayer is editor of the Chapter’s  Brass Bulletin newsletter.  BG Hoffman was an invited guest at the June Chapter Meeting.



3. Portland Chapter member LTC George Peters, USA (Ret), presents to University of Portland Army ROTC Cadet Jessica Trautwein a $500 scholarship from the Chapter, a certificate and MOAA ROTC ribbon and medal at a recent ROTC ceremony.



4. Portland Chapter member Lt Col Roger Crabbs, USAF (Ret), presents to University of Portland Air Force ROTC Cadet Brandan Figuly a $500 scholarship from the Chapter, a certificate and MOAA ROTC ribbon and medal at a recent ROTC ceremony.



5. CAPT Rick Williams (USN, ret.), second from left, is the guest speaker at the May meeting of the Portland Chapter of MOAA.  With him, from left, are Portland Chapter member CAPT Chuck Dimon (USN, ret.), a former naval instructor (NROTC) at Oregon State University and Williams’ instructor, Mary Jean Williams and Beverly Dimon.  The guest speaker was an Aquanaut and worked with deep diving and research submersibles (SeaLab).  In the submersibles, he dove to 20,000 feet under the ocean.  He also commanded a nuclear attack submarine.  Williams spoke of his career and assignments at the well-attended meeting.  It was held at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas.



6. Portland Chapter members and guests greet each other prior to the May chapter dinner meeting at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas, where Chicken Monarch and roasted pork loin were on the menu.  From left are: Jan Brink, Ann Roberts, Chapter President LTC Gary Brink (USA, ret.), Col Mary Mayer (USAF, ret.), president-elect, and CAPT Larry Roberts (USNR, ret.), board member and chapter legislative chair.



7. The April meeting keynote speaker, 1LT Sabrina Vasquez, ORARNG, second from left, a board member of the Portland Chapter of MOAA, joins with COL Mary Mayer (USAF, ret.), from left, chapter secretary and nominee for the next chapter president, COL John Hill (USA, ret.), former chapter president, and MAJ Geoff Vallee, ORARNG, commander of C-7158 Aviation of the Oregon National Guard.  Vallee is Vasquez’s commander.  Vasquez is a “dust-off” medevac helicopter pilot who recently spent a year on deployment to Iraq with her unit and spoke of her experiences there, frequently facing hostile fire, dust storms and other trials.  The well-attended meeting was at the Gray Gables Estate in Milwaukie.



8. Steve Enyeart and his wife, Gay, are greeted by MOAA Portland Chapter President Gary Brink (LTC, USA, ret.), standing, at the March chapter dinner meeting at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas. Enyeart, the speaker, is an official with Bonneville Power Administration and talked about wind-generated power.



9. LTC Gary Brink (USA, ret.), right, president of the Portland Chapter of MOAA, presents a certificate of appreciation to the February chapter meeting speaker, Jim Willis, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  Brink also made Willis an honorary chapter member and gave him an MOAA “One Powerful Voice” pin.  Willis spoke on “Veterans Issues in Oregon.”  The brunch meeting was at the Stockpot Broiler in Beaverton.



10. Members of the Junior AROTC Honor Guard from Oregon City High School did an exemplary job in posting the colors to kick off the December dinner meeting of the Portland Chapter of MOAA.  The meeting was held at the Gray Gables Estate in Milwaukie.



11. MG Curtis Loop (USA, ret.), left, a Portland Chapter Board Member, and COL John Hill (USA, ret.), immediate past Chapter President, greet each other before the December meeting at the Gray Gables Estate in Milwaukee.



12. Donald Malarkey, a former Army noncommissioned officer of the 101^st Airborne Division (E Company, 2^nd Battalion, 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment), speaks to members of the Portland Chapter of MOAA at the November dinner meeting at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas.  Malarkey was featured as a character in the “Band of Brothers” film, which in part was about the D-Day landings in Normandy during WWII and the harrowing events that took place there.  Malarkey, of Salem, was able to return to Normandy several years ago when Actor-Producer Tom Hanks brought a number of soldiers featured in the film to the shores there.



13. Gen. Richard Neal (USMC, ret.), left, the national MOAA chair of the board, presents to LTC Gary Brink (USA, ret.), president of the Portland Chapter of MOAA, a five-star streamer to go on the Chapter flag to denote the top status award for the Portland Chapter for 2009.  Each year, chapters in various categories enter into competitions for the four and five-star status awards, which denote the best chapters nationally and the most active.  This is the second five-star award from the national MOAA for the Portland Chapter in the past few years.  The award was presented during the MOAA annual national meeting recently at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort in California.



14. MAJ John Sampson (USA, ret.), 1st VP of the Portland Chapter, salutes a recipient of the Veterans of Oregon Honorable Service Medal, a homegrown way of saying "thank you" for your military service. Sampson helped arrange for a number of the medals to be presented on Veteran's Day. Since the medal's inception, hundreds have been awarded throughout the state. Sampson arranged to have scores of the medals presented to MOAA Chapter members in recent months.



15. Bill and Diane Savage speak to a well-attended Portland Chapter dinner meeting in October at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas. The two are founders of “Water Africa,” an organization that is working to build bore-hole wells in villages in Africa, primarily Namibia. They spoke of the need for these wells, the training needed for a village to successfully operate a well, and the benefits the villagers accrue with clean drinking water.



16. Brigadier General Bruce Prunk, commander of the Oregon Air National Guard, and his wife, Jan, pause a moment during the June meeting of the Portland Chapter of MOAA at the Gray Gables Estate in Milwaukee, OR.  General Prunk was the keynote speaker and told the well-attended dinner gathering about both the Army and Air Force Oregon Guard, whose combined membership is more than 8,000.  Currently, the Air Guard has two bases in Oregon and one training site, while the Army Guard has 38 armories around the state.  There are five Guard training areas in Oregon.  More than 2,000 members of the Army Guard currently are deployed to the Middle East, many for the second and third times.  General Prunk said the Oregon Air Guard’s 142^nd Fighter Wing, based in Portland, is one of three such wings on the West Coast that provide air defense for the United States (one also in Alaska and the third in Fresno, CA).  General Prunk also discussed his recent tour of duty in Iraq.



17. VADM Norbert R. Ryan, Jr. (ret.), (left) president of the national MOAA, presents a 50th year chapter anniversary commemoration plaque to CDR Ron Youngman, USCG (ret.), then outgoing president of the Portland Chapter of MOAA. The dinner ceremony was held in 2006 at the Portland Air National Guard Base club. Some 150 chapter members and guests attended. The Portland Chapter was chartered in 1956.