By Scott D. Johnston
For the GH Newspaper Group
Armed Forces Day was observed Saturday afternoon at the Lake Quinault Museum with an informal talk by author and retired Daily World editor and publisher John Hughes. About 30 people were on hand as Hughes discussed and signed copies of his book, “Washington Remembers World War II.”
Also on hand was one of the subjects of Hughes’ book, Ocean Shores resident Arnold Samuels. Hughes says Samuels’ life story is “probably the most extraordinary” he has encountered in a 50-year career as a writer.
In Hughes’ book, Samuels recalls how his family escaped the Nazis in 1937 and how he returned as an Army GI, helping liberate those imprisoned at the concentration camp at Dachau. After the war, Samuels served with the Counter Intelligence Corps and searched for military criminals. During this time, he worked with a 22-year-old sergeant named Henry Kissinger, who later became the U.S. secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Noting that “there are only 800,000 World War II veterans left,” Hughes said, “It’s a pretty sobering thing to lose the Arnold Samuelses of the world, so it’s my job to record their history.”
His meticulously researched volume documents the lives of a dozen Washingtonians who served in the conflict, including the late Robert Graham, longtime state auditor, who grew up at Copalis Crossing, and Regina Tollfeldt, a Boeing ‘Rosie the Riveter’ who headed the Vocational Rehabilitation office in Aberdeen for years.
Hughes also introduced someone who will be profiled in his next book. Jim Evans, who lives north of Hoquiam in the New London community. Evans was a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded during the Korean War in 1950. His story will be part of Hughes’ forthcoming book, “The Forgotten War Remembered: Korea.”
Hughes’ writing comes as part of his role as the chief historian for the Secretary of State’s oral-history program. All profits go to the Washington Heritage Trust.
The Lake Quinault Museum is open daily, 12 to 5 p.m., from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It is staffed and maintained by volunteers and funded by donations and memberships.
