An ‘epic night of music’ for an Oregon military hero

Brig. Gen. James B. Thayer earned Silver and Bronze Stars for his service in Europe during World War II. His anti-tank platoon liberated several Nazi forced-labor and death camps, saving the lives of thousands of Jewish prisoners.

But the Lake Oswego resident says he takes just as much pride in his lifelong role as a “citizen solder” — one who served as a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army and who was deeply involved in making his community a better place.