75 years ago

December 16, 1944

Private Harold Oestreich, former assistant manager of Pearson’s store, recently was wounded in action on the western front — but he went to his family physical for treatment just the same.

Oestreich was struck by a piece of shrapnel from an exploding shell,. He was picked up by members of the medical corps, who carried him to a front-line hospital.

Knowing that his family doctor, Major Kenneth Graham, was overseas and attached to the same army, Oestreich asked the medics if they knew Dr. Graham.

To his astonishment, they told him that (the major) was at the hospital to which he had been taken. Major Graham was called and personally attended his hometown patient.

The major removed a large chunk of shrapnel from Oestreich’s back and presented it to the patient as a souvenir.

50 years ago

December 16, 1969

Elmer Salstrom, who has spend a half-century as the Daily World’s press room foreman, will bow out of this position Jan. 1, but will remain with the newspaper as mechanical consultant. John Phillips, World production manager, announced today.

Replacing Salstrom will be John Jackson, who has worked with Salstrom for 25 years and who delivered papers for the Grays Harbor Washingtonian when Salstrom was press foreman there.

25 years ago

December 16, 1994

When they started they didn’t hit the nails on the heads.

“The first day we were hammering, we had smashed, bloody fingers,” said Mike Yonich, remembering when the group of young people building the new Farmer’s Market in Hoquiam began working. “Some of them really hurt themselves.”

But now (the 10 people, age 17 to 21) are putting up walls and tresses like pros, while earning money for college and helping their community.

“These kids are good workers,” said Yonich, a union carpenter who was hired by the City of Hoquiam to supervise the Americorps workers. “They’re just as good as anybody else.”

Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom