Editing Harry R. Truman (section)

== Career ==
Truman attended high school in the city of [[Mossyrock, Washington]], then enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in August 1917. He was assigned to the [[100th Aero Squadron]], 7th Squad, and trained as an aeromechanic. He served in France during the final months of [[World War I]].{{sfn|Gulick|1996|p=268}} While en route to Europe, his troopship, [[SS Tuscania (1914)|''Tuscania'']], was sunk by a German [[U-boat]] in a torpedo attack off the coast of Ireland.<ref name="cbs">{{cite news |date=May 18, 2000 |title=One Man Refused To Leave |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-man-refused-to-leave/ |access-date=December 28, 2017 |publisher=[[CBS News]]}}</ref>

During his service, he reportedly sustained injuries due to his audacious and independent nature.{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=350}} However, according to Washington State Archives, Truman served overseas from January 24, 1918, until February 1, 1919, but this record states he was not 
wounded or injured in action and did not participate in any engagements. The record also states that he had a disability rating of zero at the time of his discharge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harry R. Truman – Veterans Affairs, Department of, World War I Service Statement Cards, 1917-1919 |publisher=Washington State Archives |url=https://digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/7C5B1F1D79259052A075BF619CAAB93F |access-date=March 12, 2021}}</ref>

Truman was honorably discharged on June 12, 1919, and he began [[prospecting]], but failed to achieve his goal of becoming rich. He later became a [[rum-running|bootlegger]], smuggling alcohol from [[San Francisco]] to Washington during the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition era]].{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=350}}

Truman returned to [[Chehalis, Washington]], later that year, where he worked as an automobile mechanic and opened a [[Filling station|service station]], naming it "Harry's Sudden Service."{{sfn|Gulick|1996|p=268}} He married Helen Hughes, the daughter of a sawmill owner; they had one daughter, born in 1922.{{sfn|Kean|2017|p=16}}

[[File:St Helens before 1980 eruption horizon fixed.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake before the 1980 eruption]]
In the mid-1920s, Truman leased {{convert|50|acres|ha|abbr=on}} from the [[Northern Pacific Railway]]{{sfn|Gulick|1996|p=268}} overlooking Spirit Lake in the wilderness near [[Mount St. Helens]],{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=350}} a [[stratovolcano]] of the [[Cascade Range]] located in [[Skamania County, Washington]]. He settled near the base of the mountain and opened a gas station and a small grocery store;{{sfn|Kean|2017|p=17}} he eventually opened the Mount St. Helens Lodge,{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=350}} close to the outlet of Spirit Lake {{coord|46|15|56.8|N|122|09|34.4|W|region:US-WA_type:event}},<ref>{{cite map |title=topoView Map |date=2010 |url= https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#13/46.2293/-122.1899 |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |access-date=January 12, 2018}}</ref> operating it for 52 years.<ref name=usatoday>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/17/mount-st-helens-people-stayed/27311467/ |last=Grisham |first=Lori |title='I'm going to stay right here.' Lives lost in Mount St. Helens eruption |date=May 17, 2015 |access-date=December 28, 2017 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref><ref name=Bull>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GEFYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_vYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4741%2C5357605 |title=Mud, ash inundate old Truman's lodge |date=May 21, 1980 |work=[[The Bulletin (Bend)|The Bulletin]] |page=27 |via=[[Google News Archives]]}}</ref>

[[File:Justice William O Douglas.jpg|thumb|upright|Truman once refused service to Associate Justice [[William O. Douglas]] (pictured) at his lodge. Upon learning his identity, he chased Douglas down and convinced him to stay|alt=Black and white photograph; a man wearing a judge's robe looks off to the right]]
During the 1930s, Truman divorced his first wife; he remarried in 1935. The second marriage was short, as he reportedly attempted to win arguments by throwing his wife into Spirit Lake, despite her inability to swim.{{sfn|Kean|2017|pp=17–19}} He began dating a local woman, though he eventually married her sister, Edna, whom he called Edie.{{sfn|Kean|2017|pp=17–19}} This third marriage held, and he and Edna operated the Mount St. Helens Lodge together{{sfn|Findley|1981|p=2}} until her death from a heart attack in 1975.{{sfn|Kean|2017|p=20}}

In the Mount St. Helens area, Truman became notorious for his antics; on one instance, he had caused a forest ranger to become drunk so that he was able to burn a pile of brush.{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=350}} He poached, stole gravel from the [[U.S. Forest Service]], and fished on Native American land with [[Police impersonation |a fake game warden badge]]. Despite their knowledge of these criminal activities, local rangers failed to catch him in the act. When the [[Government of Washington (state)|Washington state government]] changed the state sales tax, Truman kept charging the old rate at his lodge. A tax agency employee rented a boat from him, but refused to pay his tax rate, so Truman pushed him into Spirit Lake.{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=351}}

Truman was a fan of the cocktail drink [[Whiskey and Coke]], made with [[Schenley Industries|Schenley]] whiskey and [[Coca-Cola]]. He owned a pink 1957 [[Cadillac]], and he swore frequently.<ref name=oldman/> He loved discussing politics and reportedly disliked [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], hippies, young children, and the elderly.{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=351}} In 1953, Truman refused to allow Supreme Court Justice [[William O. Douglas]] to stay at his lodge, dismissing him as an "old coot."{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=351}} When he learned who Douglas was, he realized his mistake and chased the Justice for {{convert|1|mi|km}} to a neighboring lodge and convinced him to return; Truman and Douglas became friends for the rest of their lives, often drinking together.{{sfn|Slatta|2001|p=351}} After his wife Edna died in September 1975, Truman lost interest in running his lodge and it gradually fell into disrepair. He rented only a limited number of cabins and boats during the summer months, with his temper worsening and his drinking becoming more frequent.{{sfn|Findley|1981|p=2}}