Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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ST. JOHN - A long-time third generation St. John farmer and veteran was recognized for his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, receiving a Quilt of Valor. Louis White, 91, of Spokane Valley, received a quilt honoring his time served from the Greater Spokane Valley Quilts of Valor group. Born and raised in St. John, Wash., White joined the United States Army ROTC program in college in 1952. "I graduated as a commission officer from Eastern Washington College of Education," said White,...
COLFAX - William (Bill) Rodgers, 84, and his wife Julia met in the Navy. Born in Colfax, Mr. Rodgers went into the service in 1957, serving for four years in the Navy in Japan, China, and the Philipines as a mechanic. "My dad was Navy, and it looked to me like a good deal," he said, "I didn't have to get out and wade around in the mud you know." Rodgers said his job was to work on the ship, "What would you call it mother?" he asked Julia, "She does more of the memories than I do," he said. "I th...
PALOUSE — Born at the old St. Ignatius Hospital and raised in Colfax, Ronald “Ron” Harder , 79, of Palouse, joined Washington State University ROTC to learn how to fly helicopters, going onto serve in Vietnam. Harder said during his military service he had to take two years training at Washington State University ROTC “They promised to teach me to be a pilot, so I went two more years ,” he said. Becoming a second lieutenant after training, Harder then went to his next training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as an armor officer. He married his wife...
COLFAX - Colfax Chief of Police Bruce Blood, 69, started his service in the Air Force in 1977. Blood explained at the time he was in college at the University of Washington with a biology, chemistry, and psychology major in 1977, his senior year. "I didn't see anything that interested me at that point," he said, adding that his dad was in the Army during World War II, "so I decided to try that option." Blood went for testing and qualified for an officer position and as a navigator, after which...
COLFAX - During the Korean War, local Norman Teitrick joined the Navy on November 29, 1950. Having spent his entire life in Colfax, Teitrick explained that when he joined, he was 17 and had just graduated. "I joined up in Lewiston, Idaho," Teitrick said, adding that he was sick and tired of trains due to riding them for two days when he got to San Diego. "I had a brother that was on a destroyer," he said, adding that his brother had written about his service. "I was going to serve with him on...
PULLMAN - Local, and Commander of the Garfield American Legion Post Number 24, Penny Martinez, joined the Army Reserves in 1986 when she was 17. Martinez shared that she was part of the 104th training brigade in Spokane, the Timberwolves. "I did two drills before I even went to basic training," Martinez said, adding that she went to Fort McClellan in Alabama in July 1986. "I turned 18 on the day I got to my unit," she said, adding that it was her basic training unit at Fort McClellan. After...
COLFAX — Jerry Coker grew up in a small farming community in north Missouri, and like his wife, he explained that there were only a few opportunities there. “Most of the kids went to college or stayed and got a job,” he said. Mr. Coker noted that during the early 60s, college money was hard to get back then, and his parents had lived through the Depression and weren’t about to sign a loan for him to go to school. “I waited until I was nineteen, and they wouldn’t have to sign for me and joined th...
COLFAX - Local Veteran Tom Carmody served as a Navy Corpsman E-6 Petty Officer 1st class during the Vietnam Era. “I went to boot camp in 1957,” Carmody said, after which he would go to Great Lakes Naval Station. “I went to hospital corpsman school in Great Lakes, Illinois,” he said. After completing his training at Great Lakes, Carmody was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina were he spent over a year. Carmody explained that after the Naval Hospital he went to Portsmouth Virginia for a while before going on his first...
