Look for the little blue star by the big red rose

Run as fast and as far as you like, and you’ll still not be able to hide from history. That’s been my experience lately, anyhow.

But perhaps most curiously, all these inadvertent run ins with history I’ve been having hereabouts lately have had some sort of military motif tied to them, in one way or another.

Take my recent visit to Tacoma’s magnificent Point Defiance Park. How many dozens of times have I stopped by this jewel in the South Sound over the years while passing through the City of Destiny for one reason or another, and never noticed the little blue star by the big red rose there?

But that day, I just so happened to wander up by the Pagoda, once a rustic streetcar stop at the park, now a popular historic venue for holding all sorts of events.

Then I crossed the road over to the old but well preserved 1898 Point Defiance Lodge, now serving as the park’s Visitors Center, and wandered some more. And before I knew it, I was standing in front of a sign with a big red rose painted on it. Of course it designated the famed Point Defiance Rose Gardens.

But what was the story behind that little blue star posted atop the bronze plaque attached to what I assumed was a large erratic boulder some careless glacier dropped off there, thousands of years ago, before moseying its molasses-like way back north from whence it came?

The rock was off to the right of the sign with the big red rose on it. So, naturally, I walked over and took a gander. This is what was printed on the plaque:

BLUE STAR MEMORIAL BY-WAY

A tribute to the Armed Forces of America

Ophelia Garden Club

National Council of State Garden Clubs Inc.

See what I mean? You just never know when history is going to gobsmack you at the most unsuspecting times, just wandering around, minding your own business.

I had a good mind to call 911 on the matter, as if I’d been jumped by the juxtaposing of those two completely different things — a rose and a star, side by side!

Then I calmed down a bit and reflected some: Hey, you’re an old Navy veteran; relax and think this through. Likely the blue star refers to the tradition that started during World War II of American families hanging service flags in their windows, on their porches and such, with blue stars sewn on, signifying they had service members fighting in that war.

When I got home, I looked it up on the internet. Yup, that was it. And this touching tradition continues to this very day: Blue Star Memorial Highways and By-Ways and markers throughout our great land, thanking all the men and women in our armed forces for their service and sacrifice. What a country!

But should these same brave Americans make the ultimate sacrifice during their service, the blue star turns to gold, and their loved ones’ hearts are forever broken.

Yes, indeed, a big red rose stopped this old white hat in his tracks in a beautiful Tacoma park one day, just long enough to see a little blue star scintillating back at him. But why?

The way I see it, this was the quintessential red, white and blue story I just had to write honoring our revered Independence Day. Happy Birthday America!