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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Fascinating letter. There was a Malcolm
Bruce Spalding who died </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>31 Dec 1915</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> in Goldendale, 27 days old. Born to Bruce W Spalding and
Beryl </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>McKinney</span></font><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>. I didn’t see anything in the article that would preclude
the letter from being written during WWI. The Washington death records
for 1907-1960 are now online at <a href="http://www.familysearchlabs.org/">www.familysearchlabs.org</a>,
from where I found the death information on the child. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Thanks. </span></font><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Tracy</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> in </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Edmonds</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>WA</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b>
or-roots-bounces@listsmart.osl.state.or.us
[mailto:or-roots-bounces@listsmart.osl.state.or.us] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, November 18, 2008
12:19 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OR List Roots<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [or-roots] Looking for a
Challenge</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Wife's WWII mail still needs delivery</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty Hoag lives in a bit of a time
warp, anyway. He buys old houses and fixes them up. He has been
working the past few months on a house in <u1:City u2:st="on">Goldendale</u1:City>,
<u1:State u2:st="on">Washington</u1:State>, about a two-hour drive from his
home in <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on">Portland</u1:City></u1:place>.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"I think Goldendale is kind of
an up-and corning spot," Dusty says.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The house he bought there a while
back was built in 1880. lt was a wreck.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"People said, 'Why did you buy
that old abandoned place?' Well, it wasn't abandoned. It was just
in horrible disrepair. You name it, it needed it." At this
point, Dusty estimates he's 60 percent done. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Last Friday, Dusty and a helper,
Eric, were working on the kitchen, trying to remove a cabinet and
countertop. When they finally came loose from the wall, "all kinds
of stuff fell out."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There was a fly-swatter, from back
when they were made of cloth. Dusty found six combs, three pencils and an
old buttonhook, used to close tiny buttons on women's shoes about 100 years
ago. There were old buttons, a trivet, a pair or scissors, a single Camel
cigarette and a pamphlet with recipes: "FIAVOR for variety," it sang.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There was a package of Silk brand
waxed paper bags, the kind mothers put sandwiches in before plastic bags
arrived. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>And there was an envelope.
Dusty picked it up. It was the tissue-thin stationery people used long
ago for airmail correspondence. "The envelope is white, arid around
the border it has red and blue stripes," Dusty says. "So that
makes it red, white, and blue."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The envelope was sealed; it had
never been opened.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>He turned it over. "A/CB.
Wayne Spalding, Jr.," it read. A number followed the name. The
address was for some kind of military base in Orangeburg, S. C.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The return address? "Mrs.
B. Wayne Spalding, Jr.," it said, "<u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on">Goldendale</u1:City>,
<u1:State u2:st="on">Wash</u1:State></u1:place>," A letter from a wife to
her husband.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty was amazed. "There
were a lot of cool things about it," he says. Clearly the number was
a military serial number, and the address was probably that of <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:PlaceType u2:st="on">Camp</u1:PlaceType>
<u1:PlaceName u2:st="on">Shanks</u1:PlaceName></u1:place>, the largest Army
port of embarkation during World War II.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty served in the military from
1991 to 2000. “I was a captain in the Marine Corps. I served
in peacetime. I joined up during Desert Storm, when I was attending <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:PlaceName u2:st="on">Arizona</u1:PlaceName>
<u1:PlaceType u2:st="on">State</u1:PlaceType></u1:place>. By the time I
got in it was over.” He spent his nine years in <u1:State u2:st="on">North
Carolina</u1:State>, <u1:City u2:st="on">Okinawa</u1:City>, <u1:country-region u2:st="on">Japan</u1:country-region>
and finally <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on">Pohang</u1:City>, <u1:country-region u2:st="on">South
Korea</u1:country-region>. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty's service means a lot to
him. "Last week (Monday Nov. 10) was the Marine Corps birthday, and
the 11th was Veterans Day. We started the demolition on Veterans Day, and
three days later we found the letter."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty wondered how old the letter
was. How long had it been lying behind the counter in the house in
Goldendale?</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"I immediately stopped working
and sent Eric to do something else," Dusty says, "and I got
online." It took him about 20 minutes to discover when B. Wayne
Spalding Jr. served in the military.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>In the U.S. National Archives, Dusty
discovered the full name of the letter's intended recipient was Bruce Wayne
Spalding Jr.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>He lived in <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:PlaceName u2:st="on">Clark</u1:PlaceName>
<u1:PlaceType u2:st="on">County</u1:PlaceType></u1:place>. He was a <u1:country-region u2:st="on"><u1:place u2:st="on">U.S.</u1:place></u1:country-region>
citizen with a high school degree, born in 1923. He enlisted Feb. 3,
1943, in <u1:place u2:st="on"><u1:City u2:st="on">Tacoma</u1:City></u1:place>,
his previous occupation was carpentry and he was married.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty briefly considered opening the
letter. "But I immediately decided that would be a very bad
idea. It wouldn't be right. I was in the military, and this is obviously
a military letter."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Still, he did a little more
detective work.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The letter felt substantial.
"I have a 500-watt work light and I actually held the letter up to the
light. I couldn't read anything. Clearly she wrote it, folded it,
put it in the envelope, licked it and sealed it, and never mailed it. It
just got lost."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The letter is more than 60 years
old, Dusty figures.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>He'd like to deliver it to B. Wayne
Spalding. "I thought if anybody should open this letter, it should
be him. He might still be alive. He'd be 85. It would be
great if he could open it. Or his kids."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>But a Google search turned up only a
single Seattle area 2006 obituary for a woman named Mabel Marie Wilson who was
"preceded in death by daughter, 'Constance M. Hurlbert, and husband, Bruce
'Wayne' Spalding."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Was Mabel the author of the letter
in the 1940s? If so, does she have any living children who might want a
letter written by their mother to their father decades ago?</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>One thing seems certain: It's not a
"Dear John" letter, written and then not sent after Mrs. Spalding had
second thoughts. Because on the back of the envelope is written
"SWAK."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Someone had to tell Dusty that
means" sealed with a kiss."</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dusty is hoping someone might help
him track down a member of the Spalding family. Until he does, he'll keep
the fragile letter. Unopened. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Margie Boule: 503-221-8450; </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><a href="mailto:marboule@aol.com"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>marboule@aol.com</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>From the Tuesday, November 18, 2008,
Oregonian, page B1, B2.</span></font></p>
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