I was watching a documentary on the SeaBees, Naval personnel that operated as construction people with a shovel and hammer in one hand and a gun in the other.  I thought of my friend Clay.  Clay served as a SeaBee in Viet Nam.

Clay came to work with us in the mid-80’s.  He had been working at the Aluminum plant when it closed.  We hired him as a Correction’s Officer where he did a very good job, but where he really shined was as a Marine Deputy.

The Sheriff’s Office had a contract with the Marine Board to provide additional service on the waterways of Wasco County.  They provided boats and paid the salaries of the deputies assigned to this work. 

When I came on board it was a hit or miss assignment.  Deputies would be assigned, sometimes, and there was no consistency, direction, or real procedures on how the deputies assigned were selected or how they did their job.  As a consequence we often did not allocate someone and the job went undone, we didn’t fulfill the contract.  When it was done, it was treated more of an outing on the river by the deputies than a duty to enforce the law.

We had another contract with the forest service to patrol parks and areas within the National forest of the county, it too was underused.  One time the Undersheriff tried to double bill both departments for the same deputy doing ‘both jobs at the same time’ telling me that it was okay, they were in the forest and checking the lakes.  I put a stop to that.

Because of my contacts with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office operation, overseen by my brother-in-law, Chris, I knew what a good program looked like.  Ours wasn’t even in the same book, let alone same page.

I was frustrated with the lack of patrol in these areas and knew that it was an excellent way to obtain not only additional funds for the Office, but better contact with the public since it freed up the other deputies to concentrate on the main duties of our Office. 

And just as important it gave us presence in the areas where the public often felt they were away from their homes, out in the wilderness and could do pretty much what they wanted.  Being there reminded them that it was not the case and enforcing the law help keep lawlessness down.

I was frustrated, but had a lot of other things on my plate and these issues would have to wait.  But it was always in the back of my mind.

Then an accident on the Columbia River.  Two young men who had recently graduated from high school got caught in the turbulence of wind, waves and current that makes the river dangerous.  The wind came up suddenly and they were too far from the launch site to get back quickly.

It was an older boat and didn’t have a lot of the safety features the newer boats had.  In addition the men had placed their life vests in the forward hatch and we believe they couldn’t get to them when they were overturned.  They were both 18; they both died.

We had our deputies checking out the shoreline and Klickitat County (Washington) deputies were doing the same, the Coast Guard and a deputy searching the water, a plane from the CAP program overhead and many local boaters out in the water helping.  One of those local boaters was Clay.  As long as it was a search for rescue we could use the additional resources, but once it became a search for bodies we lost the Coast Guard and CAP plane.

Long after the rescue part of the search was over, we still had people helping us look.  I would look out and see in his off-duty hours Clay was out in his own boat trying to find two young men that were friends of his son.

I noted his dedication and handling abilities and decided that we were going to have a Marine deputy that knew the water and what he was doing.

The Marine deputy was not funded for the full year, only about 3 to 4 months as I recall.  After talking with Clay and getting his approval to a change in status we took him out of Corrections during the boating season and put him full-time on the water.

It wasn’t long before I started getting complaints.  For the first time, boaters were being inspected and the law was upheld with citations issued.  A revolt by the boaters in Wasco County was threatened; I told them he was doing his job.

Clay carried extra vests which he had purchased himself.  He would loan these to people who did not have enough vests for their occupants – after citing them.  However, they didn’t have that bad of a day since they could continue with their recreation.  I hadn’t realized he was doing that for a long time, no complaints, just returned vests.

Clay set up a couple of days in the spring where he would do boat inspections at the local docks; that way people would know if they had problems before they hit the water.  I had one State Police Game officer – who had been issuing citations for boating violations for years – tell me that Clay was the expert; even he went to Clay with his own boat and any questions.

Because of Clay’s dedication we went from 3-4 months to half a year to a full-time position.  To make sure we didn’t have anyone claiming they should have first rights to that position we ‘advertised’ it in house (I think that was Gary’s idea) with a test to follow.  Clay was the only one to apply and he passed the test with flying colors.

Clay was extremely well-respected by the Staff at the State Marine Board and was instrumental in many rule changes and at least once in getting the Legislatures in Oregon and Washington to agree on boating laws for the Columbia River.  Clay was frustrated because the Oregon laws could not be enforced on those from Washington who launched on the Washington shores, he got it changed.

He had contacts that allowed us to start a very successful Sea Explore post and obtained a couple of boats for their use.  He also got the Marine Board to finance the purchase of a Boat house and the local Port Authorities to allow him to place it in the marina for no charge.  That way he didn’t have to tow a boat to get into the water and was better able to respond to emergencies on the River.

Due to his expertise and abilities the Marine Board agreed to have two boats built specifically for the Columbia River, one for the adjoining Hood River County to our west and for our county.  Clay’s input was not only sought but a major contribution into the specifications.

The Columbia River is dangerous; prior to the new boat being built we had a jet sled, which was good for the Deschutes and a small runabout for the small lakes – neither of which was safe in the Columbia, particularly in rough water.

I can remember when we were assigned the boat.  It had cost roughly $40,000 plus.  We would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep.  I told the Budget committee about the boat and one member seriously asked if we really wanted to take on that responsibility for such an expensive boat.  The rest supported our involvement and we went forward.

I know of at least a couple of occasions and there were probably a lot more, that our County Commissioners had received angry phone calls about Clay’s diligence, he was interfering with their fun – not once was I asked if I could have him back off – not once.  Part of it might be because they knew I wouldn’t and most of it was because of their respect for the safer conditions for the citizens.

Clay could also handle the boat.  One day we received a call of an over-turned boat in extreme weather.  Two people were hanging on for dear life, but they appeared to be growing weaker.  Both of us were in the office, as I recall, so I went out to the boat with him.  We were met by the EMT’s at the dock.

We took them on board.  Clay made us all put vests on.  I will never forget Larry, a huge 6’5” well over 300 pound EMT putting his vest on, it was like a little kids vest and he couldn’t tie the front together.

We reached the boat.  For those of you that have never experience the Columbia River in a dangerous wind it will be hard to appreciate what I am saying.  The swells are closer together than ocean swells and the river becomes treacherous. 

What Clay did forever sealed him in my mind as one of the greatest boat operators I have ever come across.  He back our boat up to the small over turned boat.  The EMt’s go one man off and Clay pulled forward to keep from crashing into the other boat.  Once the first victim was secured in the boat he backed in again and the second victim was saved.

Only two times; in a raging wind and high swells, and he never endangered either boat.  Without him at least one, if not both men would have drowned.  No big thing to him, he was just doing his job.

Wasco County’s program became the jewel of the state.  Most counties had some kind of a program funded by the state, but none of them had the quality of enforcement that we had.  He was honored several times as the Marine Deputy of the year.

While not entirely to the diligence of Clay, but a large part, we didn’t have any drowning on the Columbia River – and only a couple in the other parts of the county that weren’t even boating accidents - on his watch.

Through the years we have kept in touch.  He is a trusted Christian friend who is unashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

²¹ Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In going about our daily activity, particularly that which involves our relationship with God, it is easy to forget that the goal should be perfection through Christ for the Glory of God and not that of self – even though we want to reach perfection as a servant of Christ.

Man, today, has to be patted on the back for everything they do, whether or not it is expected of him and whether or not it was done correctly.

American society wants to award and give accolades for people just showing up.  It is true in our youth sports as well as our schools.  It doesn’t matter that you didn’t participate, it doesn’t matter if you even suited up; we give them compliments and awards for showing up.

That may be okay for young children, but by the time they reach the age of 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 they should be treated with more respect – they can be motivated without having to bend over backwards to award mediocracy – by that age they know the difference.

Then they reach the real world.  They get upset because their boss isn’t patting them on the back for getting to work on time.  They get upset because just showing up for work is the least expectation of their employer.  They do haphazard work and expect to receive bonuses and promotions, they have earned it because they showed up.

Even manger’s get caught up in that praise no matter what mentality – of course many of them were raised the same way.  They overlook the shoddiness of the work and place their companies in danger of going out of business.

Then you have ‘right to employment’ so entrenched that it doesn’t matter if you do the job correctly you are entitled to step increases and it is very difficult to discharge you without having to go through years of ineptness to prove you can’t or won’t do the job.  Unfortunately that attitude is most prevalent in government employment.  Businesses soon find that allowing these attitudes tends to lose them customers and if not corrected can close them down.

We are taking that same attitude into our spiritual life.  “I am here, God, reward me.”  “I read your Word today, reward me.”  “I helped out a person today, reward me.”  God doesn’t respond with a ‘way to go’ and give us a good feeling so we get discouraged.

It can become all about self, and not about doing the work for God’s Glory, not our own.

We want to serve God, for His sake, not ours.  We want to make sure that our pride and ego do not get in the way of His work.  And we sure don’t want to take credit for something knowing that it was only through God that the work was done.

What helps in avoiding that mentality is to rededicate ourselves to God each day.  Taking a few minutes in praising and worshipping God, puts His role in the world and our lives into proper perspective and helps us focus on service to Him, not awards for us.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again