Tualatin always goes all out to honor its veterans every year for Veterans Day, and this year was no exception.
Mayor Frank Bubenik, a U.S. Army veteran himself and master of ceremonies at the Veterans Recognition Breakfast 2025 held at the Juanita Pohl Center on Nov. 7, welcomed about 130 community members and veterans and expressed his thanks and gratitude for their service.
All branches of the military service were recognized, and following a delicious breakfast catered by the Tualatin Kiwanis Club, Bubenik introduced the three speakers.
Sandra Spatz Wiszneauckas had the unique opportunity of serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1969.
“Not all of the military women who served in Vietnam were nurses,” she said. “I was one of 35 female non-nurse Marines, and none of us were weapons-trained. In 1966, women were not authorized for weapons training, and there was a big debate going on about it.”
Following her training, Spatz Wiszneauckas was stationed at the primary Marine Corps headquarters in the Arlington, Va., area and interfaced with Marine casualties, which grew exponentially during the Tet Offensive. She met with the hospitalized Marines and recommended them for awards.
When her two-year stint was up in August 1968, she was asked to stay on for another year and go to Vietnam. “I flew from Travis Air Force Base to Honolulu and was the only woman on a plane full of male servicemen,” said Spatz Wiszneauckas, who was stationed at an airbase on the edge of Saigon.
“I was no longer in a hospital full of suffering, I was in a land full of suffering,” she said of working with the wounded in hospitals.
Spatz Wiszneauckas was provided with a .45 caliber pistol through a back channel but never trained how to use it. “That’s still on my bucket list,” she said.
The second speaker was Navy veteran Dale Potts, one of the city’s biggest volunteers who among his many efforts organized Tualatin’s annual Memorial Day ceremony for many, many years. He also is a Vietnam War-era veteran, serving as the public affairs officer of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. He provided some inside information about the North Korean capture of the USS Pueblo on Jan. 23, 1968, in international waters. One crew member died and the other 82 were held hostage for 11 months until being released in December 1968.
“The CEO had to give a confession before being released but wrote instead ‘We pee on North Korea’ and ‘We pee on the North Korean leader’ since the North Koreans didn’t understand English,” Potts said. Also, the prisoners of war prominently displayed their third finger in photos, telling the North Koreans it was a sign of friendship.
After active duty, Potts remained in the reserves, retiring as a Navy captain.
The final speaker was Jon Carleton, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who served in the military from 1971 to 1993. In 1968, Carleton was in a fraternity at the University of Wisconsin, and with the military lottery in place, he knew he would be drafted. To avoid the draft, some of his fraternity brothers joined the military reserves or the National Guard or moved to Canada, and one dropped his weight below 90 pounds.
Carleton tried to join both the Army and Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps or the National Guard, but all were full. He went to the Air Force and was asked, “Do you want to fly?”
His affirmative answer led him to basic training at the Little Rock, Ark., Air Force Base. After two years of ROTC, Carleton was sent to the Grand Forks, Wis., Air Force Base.
At the Juanita Pohl Center, Brad Davis played the National Anthem and “Taps” at the beginning and end of the event, and Pat Lach led the pledge of allegiance.
Sara Shepard planned the event with Dale Potts and Marilyn Brault-Binaghi, and she was in charge of the door prizes.
Table sponsors were Freestone Senior Connect, GrayHarp, LLC, Jurgens Park Senior Living, Medicare Mark Fuchs, Medicare Solutions, Oasis Senior Advisors, Prestige Care, Tualatin Chamber of Commerce, Tualatin Life, Wanker’s Corner Saloon & Café, and Washington County Disability, Aging & Veteran Services. The corporate volunteer sponsor was Lam Research, and the rose donation was by the Flowering Jade.
