Gust John Damascus

John Damascus and Anastasia Muagapolous were both born in Greece. John was fifteen years Anastasia’s senior, and he immigrated to the United States at the age of fourteen in 1899. Anastasia followed seventeen years later, in 1916. They married in October 1919 and settled in Bellingham, Washington. In 1921, they welcomed their first baby boy, Nick, to the family. Wasting little time, the couple welcomed their second son to the family the following year and gave him his father’s first name for his middle name, Gust John Damascus. Three years later, in 1925, they welcomed a third son, Demitri, to their growing brood. By 1930, the family had settled in Spokane, Washington. The 1930 census shows that the family had expanded through the young John and Anastasia and by taking in Anastasia’s sister, Helen. Helen moved into the family home with their seventy-two-year-old mother, Eugenia and her own eleven-year-old son, Demeter. Every member of the family spoke both Greek and English, except for Eugenia who only spoke Greek. John supported the family through his career as a merchant at a Lake Resort in Spokane, and Helen worked as a clerk at an unspecified local business.

Young Gust had a busy upbringing in Spokane. While attending local primary school, Gust took part in many different community programs. In 1930, the Spokesman-Review newspaper published an article on fellowship week in which “Many nations represented in costumes and musical offerings. Flags of all nations were used in the decorations and picturesque costumes of many countries added a colorful note to the affair.” Many children donned the cultural garb that represented their own ethnic backgrounds. And like any good descendent of Pericles “Little Gust Damascus, of Greek parentage, gave a recitation.” In 1934, the Damascus family took part “in the order of AHEPA, a fraternal organization for Americans of Greek origin . . . the sixth annual picnic of Mount Olympus chapter” at Franklin Park. Gust was in the boys aged 8–14-foot race and came in first place. He later won the pie-eating contest for the same age group. Gust played baseball throughout his high school years and maintained good grades at North Central High School. In 1939, he graduated in a class of 332 students, the largest class in the school's history, reflecting the ever-growing population of Spokane.

1939 proved to be the most tragic year for the Damascus family. While the family had grown, listing a fifteen-year-old son, James, and a daughter, Eugenia (named after her grandmother), born in 1933 to the census, Gust’s father and patriarch of the family, John, passed away. The 1940 census does not mention young Demitri, either. Anastasia filed the census in Seattle, Washington, but still lists the children living in Spokane. Nick and Gust were old enough to be alone by 1940, but the younger children were not. It isn't easy to ascertain the living arrangements for the children. Anastasia moved to Cherry Street in Seattle after John’s passing, where she worked as a cashier at a local restaurant. After graduating from North Central, Gust attended Lewis and Clark College in Spokane before deciding to continue his education at Washington State College in Pullman, Washington.

Gust took to college life with the same vigor he had back home in Spokane. He declared a civil engineering major and maintained impressive academic performance throughout his career. Washington State College President E.O. Holland wrote that during his years on the WSC campus, Gust “made an excellent record; his graduation in June 1943 with high honors was a fitting close to a fine college career.” That is putting it mildly. The Spokane Chronicle ran a story in which Gust was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, a scholastic honorary society for engineers. In the 1943 Chinook yearbook, Gust is also listed in the Sigma Tau fraternity, a member of the Society of American Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The Spokesman-Review remembered him as “an active campus figure.” Unfortunately, while Gust worked tirelessly to carve out a life for himself and his family, the world plummeted into chaos. By the time Gust was set to graduate from WSC, the United States was dragged into World War II, and as his mother so eloquently wrote, “I was and still am so proud of my boy. He worked so hard, had many ambitious plans for his life’s work, yet was willing to give it all up for his country and honor.”

Gust was not the only member of the Damascus family to take up arms for the Republic. Both brothers also joined the military during the time of war. John Damascus, despite listing a “crippled left leg” possibly from Polio, even left his scholarship position at the art institute of Chicago to fight in the war. Gust had become a handsome man when he signed up for the service. With a square jaw, big eyes, and olive skin ubiquitous among people of the Mediterranean, he listed his height at 5’10, weighing 173 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He registered for the draft in Colfax, Washington, with his application approval coming through on April 19, 1943. While remaining at WSC, Gust continued his stellar academic performance, winning academic honors that more than 3,400 students competed to achieve. After graduating, Gust began training for the service. In November of 1943 The Spokesman-Review ran an article with the headline “Former W.S.C. Men studying at Harvard,” explaining that:

In further preparation for building military roads, three army lieutenants—all 1943 engineering graduated of W.S.C.—are not taking a seven-week course in soil mechanics at Harvard University. They are: Lieutenant Richard Busch, Uniontown; Lieutenant Joel Johansen, Everett; and Lieutenant Gust Damascus, Seattle.

After his training was completed, Gust was assigned to his unit.

As a university-educated engineer and an officer, Gust was assigned to one of the unique units in the United States Army Air Corps. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 902 Engineer Air Force Headquarters Company operating out of Bray, Berkshire, England. The 902 was attached to the Ninth Air Force. It would play a pivotal role in beating back Nazi forces in Northern France and establishing a beachhead for allied forces to conduct operations on the continent. The 902 was responsible for building vital bridges in combat zones that allowed Allied armor, vehicles, artillery, and much needed supplies to flow to troops across the front. Equally important, they were assigned to building airfields. Air power was the dominant advantage that the Allies, especially the Americans, relied upon when fighting the battle-hardened Wehrmacht; men like Gust Damascus made this crucial advantage possible. After the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944 the Allied forces, including the 902nd and Gust Damascus pierced Axis lines and formed their beach head. As Allied forces battled German armies through July, engineering companies engages in combat and constructed the vital logistical infrastructure needed to carry on the war effort. On August 22, 1944 Gust Damascus was killed in action in Northern France as Allied forces fought to break through German defenses. The news of his death hit those that knew him and the institutions that benefited from his presence hardest.

On August 21, 1944, the Spokesman-Review published an obituary with a picture of Gust in his military uniform. As word spread, WSC President E.O. Holland penned a letter to Anastasia Damascus: “I was grieved when Registrar Bernard informed me the other day that your son, Second Lieutenant Gust John Damascus, was killed in action in France” wrote President Holland. “I know this letter can do little to relieve your sorrow; yet I hope it may be some satisfaction to you to know that your son is remembered with respect and affection by those of us who knew him while he was at the State College of Washington.” Anastasia penned her thoughts in a thank you letter to President Holland. She wrote “I am praying that his sacrifice with that of thousands of other fine boys will not be in vain, and that my other boys may return to me.” Both other Damascus brothers did indeed return to their mother, they survived the war and lived out their lives back home, though forever absent the presence of Gust and everything he would have done with his exceptional skills and talents. As newspaper articles, the Chinook yearbook, and the Damascus family grieved the loss of Gust, President Holland set out to ensure that WSC men who lost their lives to make a “finer, brighter world for those who are to follow them” were remembered accordingly.

President Holland endeavored to create brochures and memorials for each and every WSC man that lost his life battling the tyranny of Nazism and Imperialism. In a tragic case of bad timing, it took several years for time Gust’s remains to be returned home. When they were finally returned the states in 1948, President Holland was out of town on university business. Letters between Holland and Anastasia reveal that they had both hoped President Holland could have been present. Gust Damascus is forever immortalized in gold letters inscribed on the World War II memorial located at his alma mater in Pullman, Washington. He was laid to rest in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at the Evergreen Memorial Park in Seattle, Washington. President Holland sent a memorial plaque to Anastasia, as he did with all other Fallen Cougars. He also plans for more memorials and a brochure with all fallen cougars biographies in it. Unfortunately, the planned brochures were never completed. The Fallen Cougars Project is a modern day incarnation of President Holland’s desire to properly memorialize, remember, and thank those Cougars that sacrificed their lives so that all could live free. We hope that this research, this biography, and the accumulated efforts of the Fallen Cougars team do justice to his memory and sacrifice.