Major Thomas Egan: Why'd you do it? (Originally published 24 Dec 08)

I originally posted this 17 years ago today (24 Dec). And it bears repeating.

This story was in the paper... although, unfortunately, not on the Columbian web.

It is the story of a retired Army Major, one Thomas Egan; a veteran of 2 years on the Korean DMZ, a Master's graduate of the University of Oregon; a retired Oregon Army National Guard officer. He was found dead, apparently frozen to death, next to a bottle of booze, in Eugene, Oregon within the past few days.

Unfortunately, the story speaks for itself. Sometimes, the desire to destroy one's self can overwhelm all other instincts.

I never knew you, Major, but we served in the Army together at the same time. I have no idea what happened to you, but I wish I did... and I wish it could have been fixed.

Tomorrow is Christmas. If you know someone who needs help, take the time and the effort to try and get that help to them. Major Egan had help available, but made bad choices when it came to using it.

As I look outside at the foot of snow, I ask myself: "how many Major Egans are there? Is there more that could have been done?"

Probably not.

But I wish there had been.

Good bye, Major. From all accounts, you served us honorably and well. I never met you, but I won't forget you.

I could have been you.

************************************
Soldier’s death resonates
Homeless veteran froze to death though services were available
By JACK MO (Eugene) Register-Guard

EUGENE, Ore — Thomas Egan was a scholar and a decorated soldier. He was also a homeless alcoholic whose life ended last week when he froze to death in Eugene during an unusually long and harsh cold snap. His body was found covered in snow near the corner of West First Avenue and Blair Boulevard, a bottle of liquor by his side.

News of the demise of the longtime Eugene resident troubled many local veterans — especially those who knew that with some effort and some help, the man they called Major Egan could have had a roof over his head.

Memorial for Maj. Thomas L. Egan ret.

“The whole National Guard community is taking this very hard,” said Bud Dickey, a vocational rehabilitation coordinator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ community reintegration service center in Eugene.

“It’s very disturbing for all of us, because Major Egan was retired and could have been drawing his (veterans’) benefits,” Dickey said. “He had options that he did not access.”

Egan collected monthly Social Security checks, but the amount was a pittance compared with the payments he was entitled to as a retired military veteran. When he turned 60 in July, Egan became eligible to receive $909 each month in National Guard retirement income, Dickey said.

Then Lieutenant Egan

Egan also could have applied for a separate pension check based on unemployability. “That would have gotten him an apartment if he wanted one,” said Jay Rea, a Springfield resident who served under Egan in the National Guard in the late 1980s. “I shed a tear when I heard he died,” Rea said. “It breaks my heart because he was the friendliest guy, and so smart.”

A New York native, Egan joined the Army in 1971 after graduating from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., with a bachelor’s degree in history. He was stationed at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea for two years, and was reassigned to the Oregon Army National Guard in 1977.

Earned master’s degree

Egan earned his master’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1983, and ultimately attained the rank of major with the National Guard.

He retired honorably in 1991, following a 20-year military career during which he was awarded several service medals and ribbons.

Dickey said Egan’s desire to drink made him ineligible for VA housing programs that require sober living.

Egan had declined to enroll in substance abuse treatment programs offered through the veterans agency, Dickey said.

According to those who knew him, Egan worked sporadically. He did some landscaping, and most years helped deliver telephone books.

Sometimes, he found an apartment to stay in for a while. At other times, he lived on the streets. In August, Egan spent two weeks at the Eugene Mission — which is less than one block from the spot where a passer-by discovered his body last week.

Mission officials said Egan never caused any trouble there, and could have stayed any time. Dickey said Egan has no relatives in Oregon, and tracking down members of his extended family on the East Coast has been challenging.

Dickey, who served five years with Egan in the National Guard, is helping to direct an effort to have Egan interred at the Roseburg National Cemetery.

“He will be buried as a veteran in a veterans’ cemetery,” Dickey said. “He was a good soldier, and we’re going to get him the burial he’s due.”

************************************

Isn't it time to stop spending on homeless and to insist, instead, that they begin adulting?

Two articles on my timeline, one directly followed by the next (in just the tiniest bit of irony) that are yet ANOTHER illustration of Portland wasting millions on the homeless.

Article one: KATU - Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said the city is on track to reach his goal of adding 1,500 shelter beds for the homeless.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1F6VgQ3uZS/



Followed by Article two: Willamette Week - Data released by Mayor Keith Wilson’s office last week shows that most of his new emergency shelter locations are struggling to reach 50% occupancy on any given night.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AYSZhU3Uz/



Hopefully... one day... the leftist morons running government on the left coast will wake up one morning and discover that they've failed to do anything but waste billions on a problem they've completely misread and have to get off their concept that throwing truckloads of money at ANY issue, let alone the proven failure of their efforts on the homeless... will, not, work.

Continuing to do the same things, over and over, while expecting a different outcome, is insane.

And the left's example of THEIR insanity continues to vaporize billions with nothing to show for it.

Earlier this month, a report from Portland State shows that the TriCounty area of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas has spent over $730 million dollars on the homeless during the last 2 years.

And during that same time frame? Homeless numbers have skyrocketed over 61%. And of that number, 73% were living in that area before they became homeless, meaning the homeless destination resort Multnomah has built accounts for roughly 1 out of every 4 homeless uprooting from other areas around the country to join the Portland touristas.

PDX City Councilor Eric Zimmerman admits this area is the worst in the country for the homeless blight. And the hundreds of millions they've already wasted isn't enough.

“We’re the 51st out of 51. So we’re including territories now in terms of access to mental health. That is a failure. But that’s not something that right now the city of Portland can solve. I need the state,” Portland City Councilor Eric Zimmerman said. “We, the city of Portland, can work on the affordability, getting our communities more dense, getting more apartments and homes built. But that won’t help if a huge part of our population remains sick and untreated.”

As expected, there's no mention of the primary root causes of homelessness: self-accountability, self-responsibility and a desire to end their own homelessness.

Providing shelter without demanding these requirements does not solve the issue of homelessness... it enables it and increases it.

A blind squirrel could see it in a minute.

But the leftists allowing this insanity at ever-increasing costs to those paying the bills for this obvious failure?

They've got a Homeless Industry(tm) to support, and By God, they intend to support it. Costs be damned, results be damned.

Both Seattle and King County struggle to top each other in the gross incompetence category: contaminate hotel with fentanyl and then abandon the owners.

More fringe-left, "shelter-first" insanity by the leftist scum running both Seattle and King County.

The incompetence of leftist government is not only frightening... it's all-too-frequently deadly.

The last time I live in Seattle was as I was finishing up ROTC at the UW.

Every element of the city and county of my birth... not to mention the pro-terrorist actions of the UW administration make me ashamed I ever lived there or attended school there.

This doesn't just happen there. It also happened in Everett, where I hotel used for the homeless became so badly infested with fentanyl that it was shut down.

It is likely a tale repeated around each leftist enclave feeding the ever growing homeless industry, even more voracious and worthless a bureaucracy as the TVA.

Those running the governments of both the county and the city are provably incompetent and uncaring about their constituencies. And the crowded morgue, overloaded for years, proves it as hundreds of millions are wasted every year and the problem keeps getting worse with no end in sight.

The 800 pound gorilla remains in the room.

For years now, Joe Biden's competence, mental acuity and abilities have been called into question by most honest observers.

And literally, for years now, leftists lied to our faces about his condition. Leftists including Kamala Harris.

Why did they lie to us?

Days ago, every leftist talking head in America lied to our faces. NONE of them questioned his condition, competence, abilities or awareness.

Joe Scarborough assured us not long ago:

"BUT COMPARING THAT GUY'S MENTAL STATE -- I'VE SAID IT FOR YEARS NOW, HE'S COGENT, BUT I UNDERSOLD HIM WHEN I SAID HE WAS COGENT. HE'S FAR BEYOND COGENT.

IN FACT, I THINK HE'S BETTER THAN HE'S EVER BEEN INTELLECTUALLY, ANALYTICALLY, BECAUSE HE'S BEEN AROUND FOR 50 YEARS AND, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE KNOW THIS OR NOT, BIDEN USED TO BE A HOT HEAD.

SOMETIMES THAT IRISHMAN WOULD GET IN FRONT OF THE REASONING, SOMETIMES HE WOULD SAY THINGS HE DIDN'T WANT TO SAY. THIS IS -- AND I DON'T -- YOU KNOW WHAT I DON'T REALLY --

START YOUR TAPE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.

AND EFF YOU IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. THIS VERSION OF BIDEN INTELLECTUALLY, ANALYTICALLY, IS THE BEST BIDEN EVER.

NOT A CLOSE SECOND.

AND I HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR YEARS. THE BRZEZINSKIS HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR 50 YEARS.

IF IT WEREN'T THE TRUTH I WOULDN'T SAY IT.

Indeed. He wouldn’t say it. Yet, he knew he was lying when he DID say it. One wonders: why did Joe Scarborough lie?

Why did they put power ahead of the needs and security of this country?

Who, exactly, has been acting as president since it's clear the one we’ve got has morphed from Chief Executive to Chief Mushroom?

There's so many things democrats have lied to us about. Biden's condition is merely the most recent.

So now, we're expected to shove all of that aside and vote for the liars? The PROVEN liars?

Why?

Democrats, including Harris, have called voters stupid. Jonathan Grubber, architect of the horrific Obamacare plan (If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.) outright made the claim voters are stupid.

Are we?

Voters support candidates for a variety of reasons. Likeability plays a role. Getting that emotional connection. Overt manipulation. Taking the voters for granted, particularly the party of the self-admitted stupid, plays a role. Most importantly, as the democrats have shown, time after time, lying to the voters plays a role.

And as we ramp up to this November, I have to ask:

They lied to us for years. Repeatedly. They're ramming a candidate who never received a single primary vote, ever, down the democrat's throats... and we're now expected to believe them? 

Kamala Harris is a younger version of Joe Biden. She has the mental acuity of a guppy. She used her body in large part to achieve her goals. She is to the left of Bernie Sanders and Karl Marx.

She has lied repeatedly. She has sold herself out repeatedly. She has embarrassed this country repeatedly.

Why?

Why would anyone believe anything they say? Why would anyone believe anything Harris says?

Harris earning her political position the hard way with married California Speaker Willie Brown

Do they have a record of honesty and transparency?

Really?

Where's the Biden-Hur tape? Why do they still refuse to turn it over?

Harris is the candidate of crime, open borders, defunding police, homelessness and drug overdose deaths. She shilled for donations to free terrorist scum arrested as part of the riots which resulted in murders, rapes, assaults, burning, looting and destruction.

Voting for that lends credence to the claim that American voters are, in fact, stupid. We're lazy, we don't dig down, we don’t do the work, and we don't look at the record of what has actually happened on her watch and what will get even worse in the future should we suffer the misfortune of her election.

We have the government we deserve. But no one deserves the horror show about to be unveiled with Kamala's coronation.

Seattle continues to sink into the abyss...

This a quick reminder: Eric Johnson of KOMO was among the first to sound the clarion call with his seminal work "Seattle is Dying" and his follow up effort "The Fight for the Soul of Seattle" tore the cover off the conditions that few outside the King County area know of.

Screen capture for the opening scene of Seattle is Dying.

The "War on Drugs" was a failure. Not because, IMHO, it was the wrong cause.

But because we ignored the roots of the problems that brought us to this point.

Leftist government's response (frequently with the aid of GOP help) has been to legalize all drugs, everywhere.

(Yeah, I know... they eyewashed it enough to make it a misdemeanor. etc. But can anyone explain what difference any of that has made? And in this state, the GOP has been complicit in this abandonment of responsibility to those they would govern.)

As a result of these ongoing, continuing failures... more than 10,000 Americans a month are dying from illegal drugs generally and fentanyl/tranq particularly.

Government generally and leftist government particularly has surrendered. We have and continue to waste billions and the result is the problem gets worse every day.

And yet, we are just doubling down. Every year, we waste more and more money while we do nothing to hold those providing this stuff accountable.

There are some who turn a blind eye to this massacre. They claim that it's thinning out the gene pool or some such.

What would our response be to some foreign country killing 10,000 Americans a month? A slaughter that has been literally going on for years?

Open borders, lax to no law enforcement, weak to no deterrent penalties for the manufacture/distribution of these chemical death traps, inadequate rehab facilities and no emphasis on personal accountability.

We do not have the luxury of fostering such an environment.

We either have the will to address this issue and reduce the need for expanding the King County Medical Examiner's morgue, which is filled to overflowing with OD'd corpses awaiting autopsy...

Or we don't.

And it's pretty clear to me that we're nowhere near the point where we must end the confusion of motion (which accomplishes nothing while looking like SOMETHING is being DONE) and action (which accomplishes what actually needs to be done.)

If you haven't already done so, watch these two documentaries. To me, it represents the finest in journalism, an increasingly all-too-rare commodity.

And keep in mind that since these efforts were broadcasted, billions have been spent and the problems... drugs, mental illness, homelessness, sex trafficking and the other crimes supporting those... have become GEOMETRICALLY worse.

The second documentary is a follow up to the first. And sadly, the title is, I believe, prescient, in that Seattle's "soul" is long gone.

"Seattle is Dying"

"The Fight for the Soul of Seattle"

Major Egan, Why'd you do it? (Originally published here on 24 Dec 08)

(NOTE: I've been posting this for 13 years now... even though it doesn't seem to be that long.

It was a part of why I decided when I retired to stop just talking about veteran issues and to start doing something about it.

Last year (2018-since retired for medical reasons), I became a veteran service officer for the Washington State Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.  And for that organization, I also became Chair of Veteran Benefits Programs for this state.

If you need help, please contact a Veteran Service Officer through the Clark County Veterans Assistance Office at 1305 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA 98660 or make an appointment by calling 360.693.7030.

All charitable organizations need actual hands-on help more than they need money.  Giving donations to these groups is important. Actually becoming involved is even more important.

I urge you to find some group that you can help... and get out there and help them.  The pay is practically nothing if you go to work for them.

But the rewards are incalculable.)

I originally posted this 13 years ago today (24 Dec). And it bears repeating.

This story was in the paper... although, unfortunately, not on the Columbian web.

It is the story of a retired Army Major, one Thomas Egan; a veteran of 2 years on the Korean DMZ, a Master's graduate of the University of Oregon; a retired Oregon Army National Guard officer.

He was found dead, apparently frozen to death, next to a bottle of booze, in Eugene, Oregon within the past few days.

Unfortunately, the story speaks for itself. Sometimes, the desire to destroy one's self can overwhelm all other instincts.

I never knew you, Major, but we served together at the same time. I have no idea what happened to you, but I wish I did... and I wish it could have been fixed.

Tomorrow is Christmas. If you know someone who needs help, take the time and the effort to try and get that help to them. Major Egan had help available, but made bad choices when it came to using it.

As I look outside at the foot of snow, I ask myself: "how many Major Egans are there?"

Is there more that could have been done?

Probably not.

But I wish there had been.

Good bye, Major. From all accounts, you served us honorably and well. I never met you, but I won't forget you.

I could have been you.

Soldier’s death resonates 

Homeless veteran froze to death though services were available

By JACK MO
(Eugene) Register-Guard 

EUGENE, Ore — Thomas Egan was a scholar and a decorated soldier. He was also a homeless alcoholic whose life ended last week when he froze to death in Eugene during an unusually long and harsh cold snap. 

His body was found covered in snow near the corner of West First Avenue and Blair Boulevard, a bottle of liquor by his side. 

News of the demise of the longtime Eugene resident troubled many local veterans — especially those who knew that with some effort and some help, the man they called Major Egan could have had a roof over his head. 

“The whole National Guard community is taking this very hard,” said Bud Dickey, a vocational rehabilitation coordinator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ community reintegration service center in Eugene. 

“It’s very disturbing for all of us, because Major Egan was retired and could have been drawing his (veterans’) benefits,” Dickey said. “He had options that he did not access.” 

Egan collected monthly Social Security checks, but the amount was a pittance compared with the payments he was entitled to as a retired military veteran. When he turned 60 in July, Egan became eligible to receive $909 each month in National Guard retirement income, Dickey said. 

Egan also could have applied for a separate pension check based on unemployability. “That would have gotten him an apartment if he wanted one,” said Jay Rea, a Springfield resident who served under Egan in the National Guard in the late 1980s. “I shed a tear when I heard he died,” Rea said. “It breaks my heart because he was the friendliest guy, and so smart.” A New York native, Egan joined the Army in 1971 after graduating from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., with a bachelor’s degree in history. 

He was stationed at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea for two years, and was reassigned to the Oregon Army National Guard in 1977. 

Earned master’s degree 

Egan earned his master’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1983, and ultimately attained the rank of major with the National Guard. 

He retired honorably in 1991, following a 20-year military career during which he was awarded several service medals and ribbons. 

Dickey said Egan’s desire to drink made him ineligible for VA housing programs that require sober living. 

Egan had declined to enroll in substance abuse treatment programs offered through the veterans agency, Dickey said. 

According to those who knew him, Egan worked sporadically. He did some landscaping, and most years helped deliver telephone books. 

Sometimes, he found an apartment to stay in for a while. At other times, he lived on the streets. In August, Egan spent two weeks at the Eugene Mission — which is less than one block from the spot where a passer-by discovered his body last week. 

Mission officials said Egan never caused any trouble there, and could have stayed any time. Dickey said Egan has no relatives in Oregon, and tracking down members of his extended family on the East Coast has been challenging. 

Dickey, who served five years with Egan in the National Guard, is helping to direct an effort to have Egan interred at the Roseburg National Cemetery. 

“He will be buried as a veteran in a veterans’ cemetery,” Dickey said. “He was a good soldier, and we’re going to get him the burial he’s due.”

Major Egan... why'd you do it? (Originally posted 24 Dec 08)

(NOTE: I've been posting this for 13 years now... even though it doesn't seem to be that long.

It was a part of why I decided when I retired to stop just talking about veteran issues and to start doing something about it.

Last year (2018-since retired for medical reasons), I became a veteran service officer for the Washington State Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.  And for that organization, I also became Chair of Veteran Benefits Programs for this state.

If you need help, please contact a Veteran Service Officer through the Clark County Veterans Assistance Office at 1305 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA 98660 or make an appointment by calling 360.693.7030.

All charitable organizations need actual hands-on help more than they need money.  Giving donations to these groups is important. Actually becoming involved is even more important.

I urge you to find some group that you can help... and get out there and help them.  The pay is practically nothing if you go to work for them.

But the rewards are incalculable.)

I originally posted this 13 years ago today (24 Dec). And it bears repeating.

This story was in the paper... although, unfortunately, not on the Columbian web.

It is the story of a retired Army Major, one Thomas Egan; a veteran of 2 years on the Korean DMZ, a Master's graduate of the University of Oregon; a retired Oregon Army National Guard officer.

He was found dead, apparently frozen to death, next to a bottle of booze, in Eugene, Oregon within the past few days.

Unfortunately, the story speaks for itself. Sometimes, the desire to destroy one's self can overwhelm all other instincts.

I never knew you, Major, but we served together at the same time. I have no idea what happened to you, but I wish I did... and I wish it could have been fixed.

Tomorrow is Christmas. If you know someone who needs help, take the time and the effort to try and get that help to them. Major Egan had help available, but made bad choices when it came to using it.

As I look outside at the foot of snow, I ask myself: "how many Major Egans are there?"

Is there more that could have been done?

Probably not.

But I wish there had been.

Good bye, Major. From all accounts, you served us honorably and well. I never met you, but I won't forget you.

I could have been you.

Soldier’s death resonates 

Homeless veteran froze to death though services were available

By JACK MO
(Eugene) Register-Guard 

EUGENE, Ore — Thomas Egan was a scholar and a decorated soldier. He was also a homeless alcoholic whose life ended last week when he froze to death in Eugene during an unusually long and harsh cold snap. 

His body was found covered in snow near the corner of West First Avenue and Blair Boulevard, a bottle of liquor by his side. 

News of the demise of the longtime Eugene resident troubled many local veterans — especially those who knew that with some effort and some help, the man they called Major Egan could have had a roof over his head. 

“The whole National Guard community is taking this very hard,” said Bud Dickey, a vocational rehabilitation coordinator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ community reintegration service center in Eugene. 

“It’s very disturbing for all of us, because Major Egan was retired and could have been drawing his (veterans’) benefits,” Dickey said. “He had options that he did not access.” 

Egan collected monthly Social Security checks, but the amount was a pittance compared with the payments he was entitled to as a retired military veteran. When he turned 60 in July, Egan became eligible to receive $909 each month in National Guard retirement income, Dickey said. 

Egan also could have applied for a separate pension check based on unemployability. “That would have gotten him an apartment if he wanted one,” said Jay Rea, a Springfield resident who served under Egan in the National Guard in the late 1980s. “I shed a tear when I heard he died,” Rea said. “It breaks my heart because he was the friendliest guy, and so smart.” A New York native, Egan joined the Army in 1971 after graduating from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., with a bachelor’s degree in history. 

He was stationed at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea for two years, and was reassigned to the Oregon Army National Guard in 1977. 

Earned master’s degree 

Egan earned his master’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1983, and ultimately attained the rank of major with the National Guard. 

He retired honorably in 1991, following a 20-year military career during which he was awarded several service medals and ribbons. 

Dickey said Egan’s desire to drink made him ineligible for VA housing programs that require sober living. 

Egan had declined to enroll in substance abuse treatment programs offered through the veterans agency, Dickey said. 

According to those who knew him, Egan worked sporadically. He did some landscaping, and most years helped deliver telephone books. 

Sometimes, he found an apartment to stay in for a while. At other times, he lived on the streets. In August, Egan spent two weeks at the Eugene Mission — which is less than one block from the spot where a passer-by discovered his body last week. 

Mission officials said Egan never caused any trouble there, and could have stayed any time. Dickey said Egan has no relatives in Oregon, and tracking down members of his extended family on the East Coast has been challenging. 

Dickey, who served five years with Egan in the National Guard, is helping to direct an effort to have Egan interred at the Roseburg National Cemetery. 

“He will be buried as a veteran in a veterans’ cemetery,” Dickey said. “He was a good soldier, and we’re going to get him the burial he’s due.”