NEAH BAY — A dozen Coast Guard members honored two of their comrades by cleaning up their graves on Waadah Island earlier this month.
A group of officers who toured operational and historical sites on the North Olympic Peninsula mentioned the graves to those at Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles, Lt. Christian Polyak said.
“We were shocked that it hadn’t been maintained in many years,” he said.
Waadah Island, off the coast of Neah Bay, was set aside for military use on June 9, 1868.
It was previously occupied by three generations of a family, and the resident at the time of its sale was Young Doctor, who sold it to the government for $755.
The graves are those of two Coast Guard members, John Sundstrom and John Jacobson — their ranks were unclear in military documents — who died on Nov. 19, 1908, when those stationed on the island were doing a test run in a power lifeboat, according to the Coast Guard report.
Sundstrom, Jacobsen, Fritz Klintberg, Alfred Rimer and August Mullich were aboard the boat when it hit heavy waves.
The boat capsized. Klintberg, Rimber and Mullich all swam to shore.
Searches for the other two were unsuccessful.
Eventually, their bodies washed ashore.
Because their families could not be found, they were buried on the island.
Polyak said that, for some time, the spouses of those stationed at Neah Bay cared for the graves.
But no one had cleared the graves for many years, he added.
A group of seven Coast Guard members based in Port Angeles and five from the station in Neah Bay participated in the recent cleanup, Polyak said.
“Besides doing the right thing and taking care of those graves, it was a great thing because we at the air station in Port Angeles don’t get to interact very often with those on the boats, so it was very good to meet with them,” he said.
Those who cleaned the graves are Polyak, Capt. William Catelli, Lt. Larry Santos, Chief Petty Officer John Linnborn, Aviation Survival Technician 2nd Class Mikol Sullivan, Aviation Survival Technician 3rd Class Nicholas Gardner, Aviation Survival Technician 3rd Class Christopher Watson, Machinery Technician 3rd Class Jake Hetherton, Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Tim Mathis, Machinery Technician 3rd Class Daniel Langley, Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class John Pariser and Seaman Apprentice Todd Merritt.
“Now that we did all that work, it will be just a once a year thing and then cut back the brush in another five or 10 years,” Polyak said.
“It is really fantastic now.
“Before you couldn’t see anything, and now there is an unobstructed view from there to the water.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
