100 years ago — 1922

Killing a flock of Germans and routing five machine gun nests during the war is heroism enough to entitle Hursey A. Dakin of Freewater, a student at the college, the honor of being Oregon’s representative in the “Living Hall of Fame,” Corvallis ex-servicemen believe. The hall will be created at the convention of the Disabled Veterans of the World War at San Francisco. Each state will be permitted to name a member for the position, choosing the ex-serviceman who has been most outstanding in heroic service during the war and whose qualities of patriotism and bravery entitle him to the honor. The distinguished service cross is worn by Dakin and he also carries a French citation. He served in 11 divisions during the war, fighting most of the time with company F of the first gas regiment. He enlisted in June 1918, waived disability for previous service, and sailed overseas the same month.

50 years ago — 1972

Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Bad Rock Two-Days Trial will be held in Weston. It is an amateur motorcycle event, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Trials Association which headquarters in this small community. The trials is one of seven held in the United States as qualifying rounds for the International Six-Days Trial. Considered to be the “Olympics” of motorcycle trials, the international trial is scheduled for this fall in Czechoslovakia. The Weston event will qualify riders for the American team and will be run on international rules. Basically, the event consists of riding a designated course on highways and unimproved roads at a given average speed. The difficulty lies in the fact that the riders must travel nearly two hundred miles each day and arrive at predesignated check points on time, or receive penalty points. Special tests are interjected along the route to further test the competitors’ ability. None of the major parts of the motorcycle may be replaced and any repairs that are required during the event must be made using only the tools and spare parts the competitor carries with him. No outside assistance is allowed.

25 years ago — 1997

Raj Malhotra said at a Monday night’s meeting of the Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission the Army has given the Raytheon Demilitarization Co. full authority to proceed with construction of the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Malhotra and Raytheon Project Manager Sam Kasley spoke before the commission about their respective organizations’ internal structures, employment possibilities for local residents and their plans for building and running the incinerator complex. Work under a limited notice to proceed has included $700,000 in purchases from local businesses, including vehicles and computers.