The Ritzville Adams County Journal - Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887

- Editor's note: This is the final installment of a three-part series.

RITZVILLE – When William "Bill" Sager completed his tour of duty in Vietnam and was discharged from the Army, he returned to a job in road construction with the Washington state Department of Transportation.

Assigned to an office in Mount Vernon, his crew worked on the Burlington interchange and a four-lane highway from Anacortes to Mount Vernon.

On one occasion he had to navigate an especially high bridge.

"The bottom of that bridge was 95 feet above high tide," Sager said. "Another guy and I had to walk out on th...