Just got word from Des Moines Arts Commissioner and business owner Shaw Dixon that her “favorite” stepson, USMC Lance Corporal Jordan Axelrod-Dixon, has safely returned to his Des Moines family after a 9-month deployment to Afghanistan.
Based out of MCAGCC 29 Palms CA, Jordan has also served a tour of Iraq.
Jordan is the son of proud father Charles Dixon, Asset Manager Aviation Maintenence/Port of Seattle, and favorite stepson of Shaw Dixon, Owner of Baked In Seattle and a Des Moines Arts Commissioner. His family is very grateful for his safe return.
According to Shaw:
After lounging around the Pacific Northwest, he’ll enjoy another homecoming with his East Coast family mid-month.
A pool shark who’ll deny it, for the next week Jordan can be found at the usual Des Moines watering holes. Shake his hand if you see him and thank him for his service.
City Councilmember and Des Moines Historical Society member Carmen Scott sent us a very interesting and significant letter, dated Dec. 18th, 1918 (91 years ago today!) with the topic concerning the flu, hard times and the ravages of war.
“Flu, war, hard times, pride in our country, so much has changed, and yet so much remains the same,” remarked Carmen.
She also tells us:
“The letter was tucked away in my Great grandmother Spencer’s bible.
It is written on December 18th 1918 to my great grandmother Spencer, (who lived in the Kent valley at Christopher, just north of Auburn). That winter the flu epidemic raged, schools closed, our young men were in Europe, fighting in the first World War, and being gassed by German bombs. The WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) was an active women’s organization which crusaded against substances they believed harmful to society. They considered the abuse of alcohol to be America’s #1 drug problem, and spearheaded the drive for prohibition, which became law the following year. They also fought to outlaw the use of tobacco.
“Automobiles had begun to appear in our region during that decade, ending the era of travel by way of the Mosquito Fleet on Puget Sound. Electricity became available to homes about then, (replacing kerosene Lamps). Heat was produced by fireplaces and big cast iron wood or coal ranges in the kitchen. The “accommodations” were often an outhouse, although some bathrooms were being added, usually by enclosing part of the back porch.”
Photo of the Spencer & Hardin extended family celebrating Flag Day in the Kent valley in 1918. Six of the Hardin family are on the right, with Vera standing on the far right next to her mother (the letter refers to them). My mother is the little girl in front on the other side of their mother. Their oldest brother, Ross, is standing at far right in the back row. Ross died at age 21, before there were such things as penicillin and antibiotics. Three of the young children in the photo succumbed to childhood illnesses, which would be easily treatable today.
Here’s the text of the letter:
December 18th, 1918 South Bellingham, Wash.
Dear Sister Spencer:
I received your dear good letter some time ago and now I will answer it so you will get this by Christmas. I hope you and Bro. Spencer did not get the flu. How is Mr & Mrs Hardin and children by this time? I hope they are all well, they certainly must have had a time of it, all down at once but Vera. It is very bad here too. They shut the schools down again here yesterday. We are all well yet, but Fred had to go to the Hospital and his wife was sick in bed at home, they are getting well slowly. Mr. Boddy is working every day but he gets pretty tired.
We received a telegram this morning saying Chester landed in New York yester- day. He will have to stay in the hospital for a couple of months yet. He was gassed on the 3rd of Oct. and was blind for 3 weeks. He was in that last big offensive when they had to march through rain and mud and stand up under the trees to snatch what sleep they gould get. Just as he was standing in a place, a couple of bombs came, and he jumped behind a concrete wall. He was not hurt but his clothes were blown to rags and his gas mask destroyed so the next bomb bursting was gas. He was burned, he did not say how badly, but he says he can see now enough to write and the burns on the outside are well but his lungs and broncheal tubes are not well yet and he has a terrible cough. He is glad to be back in the old U.S.A. The S.S. N.Y. is coming home so he says he will see if Joe & he & his wife cant have Christmas dinner together. We are very thankful their lives have been spared. Poor Chester says he has lost every thing even to his tin helmet and it costs so much to get an officers outfit for the few weeks he will remain in the Army that he cant afford it, so he says he is coming home in a Rookie suit.
It is too bad that the W.C.T.U. is broken up in Thomas & Christopher but I dont see how it could have been avoided there are so few left that used to go to it. I have not hunted them up here, so far I have been busy. We have a Presbeterian church a block away from us and the M.E. church is about as far from us as the Christopher church is from your place. I must close now, give our regards & best wishes to any who may inquire of us.
Love to your own dear selves and a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you both from us all.
Yours,
Susan D. Boddy
| Nov ’09 |
| 10 |
| 7:00 pm |
The Des Moines Historical Society is holding a special “Honoring Veterans” celebration Tuesday night, Nov. 10th, beginning at 7pm downstairs at IOOF Hall, which is located at 728 South 225th Street.
Folks are asked to bring mementos, photos, stories and/or remembrances of those who served in war(s), or to come tell their own stories (or if you’d prefer, written and read by a historical society board member) if they’re a Vet.
Refreshments will be served, and mementos will be on display for all to share.
Here are the details:
| Oct ’09 |
| 31 |
| 10:30 am |
The Des Moines Garden Club has installed a Blue Star Memorial Marker in honor of all veterans with the help of Anette Chameke, John Blackburn, Phil Grader, and Dave McGinnis or the Des Moines Park and Recreation and Scott Willekins of the Marina.
The memorial will be dedicated this Saturday, Oct. 31st at 10:30 am at the South Marina Park (near where the final Farmers Market & Chili Cookoff will be taking place).
The memorial honors all the men and women of the Armed Forces.
The Blue Star Memorial Marker Program of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. began in 1945. The name was chosen for the star on flags displayed in homes and businesses denoting a family member serving in the Armed Forces during WW11. The memorial has since come to honor all service men and women. The Blue Star Memorial Program grew to extend across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.
The Des Moines Garden Club proudly presents this marker to all the veterans of Des Moines.
| Nov ’09 |
| 11 |
| 2:00 pm |
A special Veteran’s Day Commemoration is coming to the SeaTac Community Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11th to celebrate both the history of Des Moines Memorial Drive as well as honor women who have served their country.
Here are the details:
WHAT: Veteran’s Day Commemoration: Women in Service
WHO: Scheduled speakers include:
- Kitty Milne, Highline Historical Society
- Congressman Adam Smith, 8th District
- Peggy Caudill, Intertribal Warrior Society (former Nurse in the U.S. Army)
- Carol Reed, American Legion (former Sergeant in the U.S. Marines)
- Kit Ledbetter, City of SeaTac
WHEN: Wednesday, November 11th from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: SeaTac Community Center, located at 13735 24th Avenue South SeaTac, WA 98168; (206) 973-4680
INFO: The Des Moines Memorial Drive – The Living Road of Remembrance, is an eight-mile stretch of road through the cities of Des Moines, Burien, SeaTac and the Boulevard Park area of unincorporated King County. The Drive was completed in 1922 with the planting of 1,100 American elm trees, each commemorating an individual from Washington state who died in World War I. On November 11, 1963 a memorial wall commemorating the history of the Drive was dedicated at Sunnydale School in Burien.
ABOUT: The Des Moines Memorial Drive Committee, a citizen advisory committee created in 2000, developed a plan for restoring and enhancing the memorial road. The plan outlines how jurisdictions will implement enhancement efforts as part of future road improvement projects. For more information, visit www.roadofremembrance.org.
From their press release:
Community members are invited on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, to celebrate a local historic road which honors the fallen soldiers of World War I. In addition to highlighting the history of Des Moines Memorial Drive, the event this year will honor women who served in the military during World War I and over the decades since that conflict. The event will be held at 2:00pm at SeaTac Community Center, located at 13735 – 24th Avenue South, in SeaTac.
Des Moines Memorial Drive is an eight-mile stretch of road which winds through the Boulevard Park area of unincorporated King County, SeaTac, Burien and Des Moines. In 1922 the project was completed with the planting of 1,100 American elm trees to line the roadway as a “living” memorial to those who lost their lives in World War I. Over time, the impacts of disease, radical pruning and utility installations have decimated most of the elms. Forty-six years ago on November 11, 1963, a memorial wall commemorating the history of the Drive was dedicated.
While held on Veterans Day, the event will also mark the day formerly known as Armistice Day, which is the anniversary of the official end of World War I (November 11, 1918). Elected officials including Congressman Adam Smith and local mayors will honor the historical nature of Des Moines Memorial Drive and the special role that women played in the country’s military history.
An Advisory Committee was created in 2000 with representation from King County, local cities, other interested public agencies, and concerned citizens to develop a coordinated vision for restoring and maintaining the living memorial. The resulting plan, which has been accepted by all the participating jurisdictions, outlines how the local cities can also incorporate similar memorial elements in their future road improvement projects along the Drive.
Des Moines Memorial Drive has national significance on several accounts:
- It is the earliest planned “living road of remembrance.”
- It is the only “living road of remembrance” that uses Elm trees.
- At 10 miles, it is the longest “living road of remembrance.
In addition to the celebratory event, interpretive displays prepared by the Highline Historical Society will be available for public viewing. Local veterans and school groups are expected to take part in the event that will also recognize the ongoing cooperative efforts of the cities and county. learn more about Des Moines Memorial Drive, visit www.roadofremembrance.org.
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