If you ever wondered whether it was worth keeping old paperwork, a Gold Star wife in Tenino is proof that some receipts are probably good to keep.
Mary Dowling, whose story we told in this space last week, is at an impasse with the U.S. Army. For 56 years Dowling has held tight to a promise from the military that she could be buried alongside her husband, a war hero who was killed in Vietnam and laid to rest at Fort Lewis. Dowling and her husband both grew up in Centralia. They raised their children in Chehalis until he was deployed. Mary, 83, never remarried. She now lives in Tenino.
Last November she went to visit her husband and found that someone had been buried in the plot that was long promised to her.
Army officials said they believed her, but didn’t have any paperwork to substantiate her claim. In any case, they said, they will not move the soldier who had been buried in her plot. They offered several alternatives, but none of them really solved the problem.
Recently at the urging of her children, Mary Dowling dug deeper into her files and discovered old letters from the Army that completely backed up her side of the story, according to a story in The News-Tribune.
A 1966 letter from a mortuary officer confirmed her cemetery plot.
“The carbon copy is for your files,” he wrote. “It would be a good idea to keep it with your important papers, as it is a record of your reservation in the Fort Lewis Post Cemetery.”
The director of the Office of Army Cemeteries is apparently reviewing her documents.
In the meantime, I’m heartened to learn that two members of Congress are looking into the matter.
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat who represents the JBLM area, has submitted an inquiry to the Army.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican who represents eastern Washington, was told about the matter by a staff member who is a Gold Star family member. Newhouse is also looking into it.
The family hopes that the congressional inquiries will help resolve the matter and fulfill our nation’s promise to the widow of a highly decorated war hero.
More About Mary
After writing about this issue last week, I received a message from Carol Ponder, who has lived in Centralia all of her 89 years. She wanted to share a bit of Mary Dowling’s family history.
“It's 4:15 and I haven't even finished reading the paper yet. I just want to say, after reading the story about Mary Dowling, nowhere did it mention that her father Mr. Garrison was a prominent Centralian who was a pharmacist and owned Garrison Drug Store located at the corner of Main and Tower.”
Thank you, Mrs. Ponder. I’m glad to share that bit of information.
Dad Joke of the Week
Here’s one my 17-year-old son and I came up with while driving across the state.
Guy 1: “Boy, those beavers sure did a number on all those trees I planted. They’re all ruined.”
Guy 2: “Yeah, there’s a lot of ... dammage.”
Coming in the Next Column
Chris Guenther, the “honky tonk drifter” himself, has released a new studio album, his eighth. It’s called “American Outlaw: Volume II.”
I’ll give it a listen and bring you the latest news from this popular and prolific local musician.
Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmai.com.
