Rejected by the Navy, Local Youth Persists in Pursuit of Service
After two medical rejections, a persistent young man finally clears his physical exam for military enlistment.
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.
Vernie Caldwell, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Caldwell, arrived home on Saturday for a short visit. He had made two attempts to join the navy, but was barred each time for a slight physical defect. Last week in Spokane, he passed the final examination and came home from Colfax to wish his parents and friends good-bye before leaving for Spokane to enter the service. He left Tuesday morning.
“He had made two attempts to join the navy, but was barred each time for a slight physical defect.”
The pressures of enlistment during wartime or national crisis often created a sense of civic duty that outweighed personal physical hardship. This story captures the quiet, determined mobilization of small-town youth that would become a standard feature of life in the Tri-Cities as the U.S. became involved in international conflicts.
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