thedrifter
02-21-07, 07:37 AM
Military's top general to meet families of fallen
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
DEAN BAKER Columbian staff writer
The nation's top military leader will deliver the Gen. George C. Marshall lecture in Vancouver on Wednesday and meet families of some of Southwest Washington's fallen soldiers and Marines.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the speech at 11 a.m. before some 5,000 students and members of the public in the Hudson's Bay High School gym.
As Marshall lecturer, Pace will follow in the footsteps of such federal officials as Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright, both former secretaries of state. Other speakers have included U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw.
Pace's private meeting with families of the soldiers and Marines killed in action in Iraq is to be private and low-key. Family members said they've been invited to meet after the lecture with the general and U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver.
"He tries to visit with families whenever he is able," said Elson Strahan, president of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust, sponsor of the event. "When he is in his office, he tries to set aside one day a week to visit soldiers who are being treated medically. It's just part of his character."
Strahan said he expects protesters at the event, just as there were when Powell and Albright spoke here. Protesters will be asked to stay off the school grounds but may demonstrate nearby, he said. "They will be here, and that is fine. That's what it's all about: the exercise of free speech," he said.
Pace himself is outspoken. While supporting the Bush administration's decision to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, the general has questioned some administration statements about the war.
In Baghdad, for example, senior U.S. military officials said that the Iranian government had ordered the smuggling into Iraq of high-tech roadside bombs that have been killing American soldiers. Pace said it wasn't clear that the Iranian government was involved.
"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran," Pace told a Washington Post reporter earlier this month. "What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se, knows about this."
And, while some members of Congress argued that debate around the U.S. stance in Iraq would damage U.S. troop morale, Pace disagreed. He said spirited debate only strengthens the United States, including its troops.
The lecture will be taped and televised. It is designed to honor the values and exemplary character that George C. Marshall personified.
Pace was sworn in as the 16th chairman of the joint chiefs on Sept. 30, 2005. He is the main military adviser to President Bush, the secretary of defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. He and his wife, Lynne, have a son, Peter, and a daughter, Tiffany Marie.
The lecture was established in 1988 to honor Marshall, who was a Vancouver resident from 1936 to 1938 when he commanded Vancouver Barracks and supervised the Northwest's Civilian Conservation Corps. He later became a five-star general of the Army, chief of staff and secretary of state. The author of the Marshall Plan for reconstruction of war-torn Europe after World War II, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 and twice was named Time magazine's Man of the Year (1943 and 194 .
The Vancouver event is sponsored by the Bank of Clark County, the City of Vancouver and the Celebrate Freedom branch of the reserve trust.
If you go
What: Gen. George C. Marshall lecture.
When: 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Where: Hudson's Bay High School, 1206 East Reserve St.
Cost: Free tickets are required for attendance; contact the trust at 360-992-1800 or www.vnhrt.org.
Ellie
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
DEAN BAKER Columbian staff writer
The nation's top military leader will deliver the Gen. George C. Marshall lecture in Vancouver on Wednesday and meet families of some of Southwest Washington's fallen soldiers and Marines.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the speech at 11 a.m. before some 5,000 students and members of the public in the Hudson's Bay High School gym.
As Marshall lecturer, Pace will follow in the footsteps of such federal officials as Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright, both former secretaries of state. Other speakers have included U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw.
Pace's private meeting with families of the soldiers and Marines killed in action in Iraq is to be private and low-key. Family members said they've been invited to meet after the lecture with the general and U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver.
"He tries to visit with families whenever he is able," said Elson Strahan, president of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust, sponsor of the event. "When he is in his office, he tries to set aside one day a week to visit soldiers who are being treated medically. It's just part of his character."
Strahan said he expects protesters at the event, just as there were when Powell and Albright spoke here. Protesters will be asked to stay off the school grounds but may demonstrate nearby, he said. "They will be here, and that is fine. That's what it's all about: the exercise of free speech," he said.
Pace himself is outspoken. While supporting the Bush administration's decision to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, the general has questioned some administration statements about the war.
In Baghdad, for example, senior U.S. military officials said that the Iranian government had ordered the smuggling into Iraq of high-tech roadside bombs that have been killing American soldiers. Pace said it wasn't clear that the Iranian government was involved.
"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran," Pace told a Washington Post reporter earlier this month. "What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se, knows about this."
And, while some members of Congress argued that debate around the U.S. stance in Iraq would damage U.S. troop morale, Pace disagreed. He said spirited debate only strengthens the United States, including its troops.
The lecture will be taped and televised. It is designed to honor the values and exemplary character that George C. Marshall personified.
Pace was sworn in as the 16th chairman of the joint chiefs on Sept. 30, 2005. He is the main military adviser to President Bush, the secretary of defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. He and his wife, Lynne, have a son, Peter, and a daughter, Tiffany Marie.
The lecture was established in 1988 to honor Marshall, who was a Vancouver resident from 1936 to 1938 when he commanded Vancouver Barracks and supervised the Northwest's Civilian Conservation Corps. He later became a five-star general of the Army, chief of staff and secretary of state. The author of the Marshall Plan for reconstruction of war-torn Europe after World War II, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 and twice was named Time magazine's Man of the Year (1943 and 194 .
The Vancouver event is sponsored by the Bank of Clark County, the City of Vancouver and the Celebrate Freedom branch of the reserve trust.
If you go
What: Gen. George C. Marshall lecture.
When: 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Where: Hudson's Bay High School, 1206 East Reserve St.
Cost: Free tickets are required for attendance; contact the trust at 360-992-1800 or www.vnhrt.org.
Ellie