Good Samaritan of Eastgate identified

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CHRISTY LATTIN
CHRISTY LATTIN, clattin@lahontanvalleynews.com
April 17, 2006, 12:05 AM

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Sometimes the answers just come walking through the door.

Friday's Lahontan Valley News featured a story about a young hitchhiker who received a ride and a night's stay from a rancher in Eastgate 35 years ago. Steve Robinson, the hitchhiker who remembered the rancher as "Lee Fortay," asked for help in locating him so he could pass along his thanks.

Lynn Davis stopped at the LVN Friday morning and said the rancher was her uncle, Lee Raphun, and the two boys in the car were his stepsons, Randy and Rick Forte.

She said Raphun had been in town visiting his pregnant wife, Joyce, when he picked up Robinson. He took Robinson back to Eastgate, stopping along the way to assist a stranded family. Raphun was kind enough to offer his home to Robinson and the stranded family for the night.

The next day, Robinson continued on his cross-country journey with the stranded family. But he always wondered, and said he wanted to thank, the kind rancher who offered him a ride and a place to stay his first night on the road, she said.

Davis said Raphun died last year, as did Joyce. She said Randy died in 1995 from AIDS.

When Rick was contacted, he described the hitchhiker and his idyllic childhood out in Eastgate.

"Those were the best days of my life. It was secluded, you could roam wherever you wanted to. It was just me and my brother playing out there in the middle of nowhere," he said.

He said he was 8 or 9 years old when Robinson came through Eastgate. Raphun adopted Rick and Randy when they were 9 and 10 years old.

Rick, who now lives in Oregon, said they didn't get a lot of guests out at Eastgate, but his dad would pick up hitchhikers, sometimes giving them odd jobs so they could earn a little money to be used down the road.

Rick said that Raphun "was the toughest man I've ever met in my whole life."

He said he obtained his father's military records and learned he was a pilot during World War II. Raphun flew 169 missions, was shot down behind enemy lines and even flew Gen. Douglas MacArthur once.

"They didn't give him the credit he deserved," he said.

Rick said Raphun earned numerous medals and even received a medal of honor from the French for his efforts during the war.

Raphun battled cancer and had a bad heart toward the end of his life. He died in New Mexico in 1995. When Rick contacted Raphun's wife to ask for his father's medals, he learned she had sold them, he said.

He's consoled by the fact that he can order replacement medals, but said "she can't take those memories."

Rick said he met his biological father when he was 13 years old, but "he never was my Dad." He had a new respect for Raphun after that.

Rick's e-mail address and phone number have been sent to Robinson.

Rick said he'd like to return to Eastgate someday to get away from all the pressures modern life presents today. It's a place he can remember his Dad, his loving and sacrificing Dad, Lee Raphun.



Christy Lattin can be contacted at clattin@lahontanvalleynews.com