A Veteran’s Long Walk Home
A hungry and penniless soldier, having lost his horse in the Olympics, finds his fellow veterans unwilling to help him reach his home in Klickitat County to cast his vote.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mathew Rom, an old soldier who has been prospecting in the Olympic mountains, dropped into The Herald office on Sunday and said he had arrived in Yakima after walking 140 miles; he was without money and hungry. He was a Republican and trying to get back to his home in Klickitat county to vote, but said his requests for assistance made to people on the streets who wore Grand Army of the Republic badges were refused. He further said that he was not accustomed to ask for aid, but was old, crippled in service, and had lost his horse in the mountains, and he thought some consideration should be shown him by his former comrades.
“He thought some consideration should be shown him by his former comrades.”
This account highlights the precariousness of life for aging veterans in 1890s Washington, mirroring the ongoing struggle to support homeless veterans in Yakima and across the state today. The indifference shown to a 'comrade' in need echoes modern debates about civic obligations to those who have served.
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