By ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
May 23, 2007

Most of the hundreds of people who turned out Saturday to pay tribute to Army Sgt. Jason Shaffer had never met the man, but there were few dry eyes nevertheless.

The Hood River Valley High School gym was filled with dads, moms, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of men and women such as Shaffer, who could imagine what it would be like to lose them and wanted to show support for his family.

Among the supporters were top military and state and local government officials including Brig. Gen. Charles Lee Yriarte, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Rep. Greg Walden, Sen. Rick Metsger, Rep. Patty Smith, Hood River Mayor Linda Streich, Hood River County Commission Chair Ron Rivers and District Attorney John Sewell.

Those who attended the memorial service came through an impressive passageway of comforting hearts: The entrance to the Hood River Valley High School parking lot was lined with members of various veterans motorcycle groups holding flags, and the whole distance from the building entrance to the gym was lined with supporters including members of the Girl and Boy Scout groups, 4-H clubs and Lions Club.

Kulongoski said that Shaffer, who was born in Pennsylvania and died April 5 in Iraq, was one of the many “universal heroes” who have given their lives for a country they loved and who shared an American spirit.

“He did not grow up in Oregon, nor was he laid to rest in Oregon, but he still belonged to Oregon — and Pennsylvania — and many other states in the country,” he said. “His spirit is set free to touch the hearts of his fellow Americans. We can find comfort in the fact that nothing can crush his American spirit.”

Shaffer’s widow, Kathleen, who lives in Hood River, said she met Jason when she was 13, but they went their separate ways until she heard he had gone into the military, and they reconnected. They exchanged many letters, she said, and then he proposed to her in Hawaii.

“I’m very blessed,” she said tearfully. “People search for a lifetime for this kind of love — he was my soul mate — and I found that with him.”