Pave Sacrifice, Keep a Dirt Parking Lot

Inyo County Supervisors talk a great game when it comes to honoring veterans. 

But in practice, it appears that only Supervisors Jennifer Roeser and Will Wadelton walk the walk.

Supervisors Orrill, Marcellin and Griffiths, when pressed, are more concerned about the burden and sacrifice honoring vets might involve. Will a memorial force our county employees to have to park further away from the Mothership? Will another project to maintain prove burdensome and require more work!

Clearly these are more important considerations than honor, courage, sacrifice and service above self. 

The issue at hand at the Supervisors regular meeting on Tuesday in Independence was a proposal by the Independence Civic Club’s Memorial Park Committee to install a small park on a dirt lot just down the street from the courthouse. The park would honor two native sons, the late Major General John “Jack” Singlaub and the late Captain James Birchim. 

The project has the support of the Special Ops Assn. of America, which is “all-in” on the Memorial according to SOAA past-president Rick Estes, who was in attendance. 

Singlaub, for the uninitiated, was born in Independence in 1921. He served in three different wars during his 35-year career in the IU.S. Army from 1943-1978, working in the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) during WWII, embedded with the French resistance. 

Singlaub was a founding member of the CIA. His list of military honors can be found on the jump page to this story. 

Captain Birchim was declared MIA and is presumed dead following a combat mission in Laos in 1968. He made sure all his men had been removed from the area before he fell to his death trying to hold onto a rope from a transport helicopter. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. 

Birchim grew up in Independence and attended the Owens Valley Elementary and High Schools. 

Lone Pine resident Travis Powell, who owns the Best Western, was a member of the Memorial Park Committee. 

He pushed back against comments by Supervisors who suggested the memorial should honor all veterans and not just single out two for special mention. 

Powell served as a medevac pilot for eight years in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

He was unconcerned with the larger vet population needing any particular award or recognition, and thought that a generic memorial was politically safe. It’s okay, he opined, if not everyone gets a trophy. 

“These guys did something unique,” he observed. A small town producing this type of talent (Singlaub and Birchim), he added, is rare and should be lauded. 

In his presentation before the Board, committee member Don Bright noted that Maj. Gen. Singlaub actually already has his own memorial – in South Korea. That’s what the South Koreans thought of him. 

Committee member Nancy Masters said “We weren’t asking ing for one penny.” And that the goal is not to use county resources. 

The location, she said, was chosen because it’s been decades since the old jail was torn down and it’s been an eyesore since. Local school superintendent Rosanne Lampariello describes it as the “ugliest spot in Independence.” 

And as Bright said, when the jail was there, it wasn’t used as a parking lot, so … you’re not really losing a historical use. Besides, the memorial will look a lot better. 

But … we don’t know exactly how it will look, outside of a hand drawing by Masters. As committee members explained, they need a verbal okay from Supervisors regarding the site in order to be able to fundraise and hire an architect. 

Griffiths wasn’t sold on the site. He thinks the County is having a hard enough time as it is maintaining existing parks in Independence. Why not tuck this idea into an existing pair versus create a whole new one?

In concept, I celebrate vets, but I want a lot more information before I accept the location, echoed Orrill. 

Roeser, however, was just fine going a little bit on faith. 

And Wadelton said the main intersection in town is framed by the post office, two empty buildings and this dirt lot. Surely, we’re not satisfied with that. 

Inyo’s $225,000 man, CAO Nate Greenberg, whose special ops experience is limited to securing raises for county staff, broke the logjam by promising to refine the idea further (i.e. kick the can down the road for a spell) before bringing it back to the Board. 

That way, everyone can stick a thumb up their ass and then wave it in the air to determine which way the wind is blowing. 

After Greenberg’s diversion, Board Chair Marcellin prattled on about his family’s military history, so folks would know it wasn’t personal. 

Which one can be sure didn’t assuage Veteran Randy Short, who summed it up simply: “If we can’t recognize this gentleman [Singlaub] … then we’re missing something. I’m personally offended by the pushback.”