Vets Who Served Country Now Serve Community

DAYTON - As Veter- an's Day approaches, the Times is turning the spotlight to two local vet- erans who have served our country and now serve our community with their active participation and patriotism.

Waitsburg veterans will be honored at an assembly at Waitsburg High School at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 9. The Times will have coverage of this event in the next issue.

MARINES, WWII

Local veteran Owen Agen- broad fought with the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a message carrier on the front lines at Iwo Jima.

"I don't consider myself a hero, I did what my country asked me to do," Agenbroad said. "We left the heroes there."

Agenbroad recounted some of his time during WWII after he landed on the island on Feb. 19, 1945. His company was the fifth-wave assault battalion where they fought for 37 days.

Agenbroad, who was 21 at the time, said his company was made up of about 250 people and 65 to 75 percent of the group didn't return home, Agenbroad said.

"I think God had plans for me," Agenbroad said. "That's why I wasn't killed there."

Agenbroad said he didn't see the flag being raised in Iwo Jima declaring the war was over, but he was the first in his company to spot it and pass the message on through his battalion.

"You haven't heard a foot- ball or basketball cheer that could compare," Agenbroad said.

He said he didn't receive any medals or awards for his service in Iwo Jima, and that was OK with him because he got to come home.

"The only medal I got was the best one as far as I am con- cerned; I got to bring home my dog tags," Agenbroad said.

While he wasn't officially awarded for his time on the island, he said he is often thanked for his service by people who notice the back of his baseball hat that says "Iwo Jima Survivor." Agenbroad said sometimes people even buy him meals in restaurants when they see his hat.

Recently, he took an honor flight to Washington, D.C., which is currently available to all WWII veterans and paid for by donations. The veterans on the flight toured memorials on the East Coast and Agenbroad said one of the most impressive memorials he saw was the WWII memorial with plaques for soldiers who were killed in action or went missing in action. There was one plaque for every 100 soldiers who were killed or went missing in action and totaled more than 4,000 plaques.

Agenbroad said he was also impressed by the Iwo Jima flag raising memorial, not only because he was in Iwo Jima, but because the memorial is impressive and massive.

After the war, Agenbroad attended the University of Idaho where he met his wife, Janice Agenbroad at a bowl- ing alley. The couple moved to Dayton in 1958 where they still reside. Agenbroad said he now spends time keeping his big lawn beautiful and in the garden where he grows corn, gladiolas and other miscellaneous vegetables. He also is active in the local American Legion.

AIR FORCE,

VIETNAM

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when two planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, the country was shaken. After the attacks, local veteran Dwight Richter knew just the place in Dayton to remember the people who were killed in the attack and rescue attempts.

Richter, a 67-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran of the Viet- nam War, said he believed a plot of land owned by Brough- ton Land Company near the west end of Dayton would be a great place to show some community pride. Originally, Richter said he wanted to farm "Dayton" into the side of the hill, but after the attacks he thought a show of national pride would be a better use of the field.

"It's not only to remember the attacks on 9/11, it's also a sign of hellip; the whole community's patriotism," Richter said.

Since the attack, Richter said he tries to farm the flag into the field every year al- though some years, because of inclement weather or winter crops, he is unable to. On years when the flag is absent, Richter said people who know he is re- sponsible for the flag ask him why it isn't there.

The flag, coming in at a massive 1,000 feet long and about 600 feet wide, takes up about 12 acres of wheat field.

Richter said it takes him about a day to paint the flag into the field. He starts by measuring the stripes and did so this year with a rolling tape measure.

Many people don't know Richter puts the flag in the field every year and Richter said that's OK with him.

"Notoriety isn't the biggest thing in my life," Richter said. "I (painted the flag in the field) out of love and patriotism."

Richter is now retired, al- though he does help out at Broughton Land Company during harvest by running a grain elevator.

Even though he was born in Minnesota, Richter said his family moved to Eastern Washington when he was an infant.

"I really am from Dayton," Richter said.

Along with his service to the country during the Viet- nam War, Richter served his community by dedicating 27 years serving the rural fire department.

Richter spent a lot of time touring the country while he was in the Air Force, but after seeing much of the country, he decided there is no place in the country he would rather be than Dayton.

"This is God's country," Rich- ter said. "I'll take Eastern Wash- ington (over anywhere else)."