From Oklahoma to Harvard: Letters from the Front
Local soldiers thank Kennewick Red Cross volunteers for care packages during the Great War.
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.
In refreshing contrast to the faked and fanciful stories of Alaska loggers buying Red Cross garments, are the letters of thanks which have begun to arrive here from soldiers who have received articles sent out by the Kennewick Branch of the Red Cross. Two of the letters received are published below. The letters themselves furnish an interesting contrast. One is from an eastern boy stationed in the west and the other from a western boy stationed in the east. Albert Washington, who sends his thanks to the local Red Cross ladies for a Christmas package, writes: 'My Dear Friends: I will write you a few lines to let you know that I am well... I don’t know whether it was meant to be sent to me or not as I know that nobody in the state of Washington knows me, as I belong in the state of Oklahoma. But at that, I don’t know what could have pleased me any more than what I got in the package.' Another letter was received by Opal Bonsall, who attached her name to a muffler she knitted. J. J. Geary, U. S. Naval Radio School, Harvard University, writes: 'At last I have the opportunity to thank you for the best scarf in camp which I was so fortunate to receive from you thru the Red Cross... If you ever get a spare moment, don’t forget that a word from the good old west looks like a million dollars.'
“If you ever get a spare moment, don’t forget that a word from the good old west looks like a million dollars.”
During WWI, civic organizations like the Red Cross functioned as the primary social safety net for soldiers, bridging the emotional distance between rural Kennewick and the front lines. This remains a common thread in how Washington communities maintain morale and support for residents serving away from home today.
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