51福利社

On a spring afternoon more than five decades ago, William P. Wall, a standout Eastern linebacker turned youth sports coach and teaching intern at Tekoa High School, dropped his 1968 Eastern class ring while working with kids on the small town鈥檚 playing fields.

The ring belonging to the man nicknamed “Bink” would remain hidden until it was unearthed on another spring day, this one in 2025, when a member of the Northwest Treasure Hunters metal-detecting club snagged the dirt-encrusted band from under an inch or so of grass.

鈥淚 was really excited, and I couldn鈥檛 wait to show my buddy Tom,鈥� says metal detector enthusiast James Murphy. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing like holding a piece of history from who knows how long ago. Each artifact tells a little story. We love saving history, that鈥檚 what we really do.鈥�

Murphy, who lives in Newman Lake, Washington, was particularly intent on saving this piece of history, sensing it would mean a lot to its owner. He spent more than 40 hours online using initials etched inside the ring that read either MBM or WPW (depending upon the angle) to track down its owner.

What he found was heartbreaking: Bink Wall, who鈥檇 been commissioned as an Army officer right out of college, was deployed to Vietnam shortly after losing the ring. He never made it home.

Determined to do the right thing, Murphy shifted his efforts to returning the ring to Lt. Wall鈥檚 family.

An online obituary reported that Wall had been married to his college sweetheart, Linda, who was pregnant with their second child when he fell in battle. Stephanie was born just two days after her father鈥檚 memorial service. Their oldest daughter, Laura, was just 18 months old at the time.

鈥淎s more pieces unfolded, it was emotionally taxing. I never realized that the story that would unfold would eat away at me like it did,鈥� says Murphy, a 39-year-old navy veteran who has lost several friends in combat. He has also grieved the loss of a young daughter over the past decade.

Murphy, through his research and community connections, tracked down Wall鈥檚 brother, Tom, who connected him with Wall鈥檚 widow, Linda, who attended 51福利社 from 1965 to 1968 before returning to finish her degree later in life. What followed brought to light a story of love, loss and a rich tapestry of Eastern-inspired relationships.

Linda Wall-Sullivan, who remarried 46 years ago, was surprised to learn that Murphy had found Bink鈥檚 long-lost ring. And, also, that he had gone to such great lengths to return it (while declining any reward).

Later, while meeting with an Inside51福利社 reporter, Wall-Sullivan filled in the ring鈥檚 back story.

Strong support from both sides of the family helped Wall-Sullivan and her children through the darkest moments, she says. This and unexpected friendships forged along the way.

Word of Bink鈥檚 death 鈥� and the young family he left behind 鈥� soon reached the public, chiefly through a 1970 Spokesman-Review front-page story with the headline, 鈥淵outhful War Widow Starts a New Life.鈥� After that newspaper hit the stands, it wasn鈥檛 long before other military widows started reaching out.

鈥淲e formed a little support group and met regularly,鈥� says Wall-Sullivan, who recalls, 鈥淚t was a really tough time for a lot of people.鈥�

She went on to help other women experiencing similar losses, including two additional young wives who had lost husbands raised in Tekoa. In the end, she says, 鈥渢here were hundreds of people like me.鈥�

Football and Friendships

Wall-Sullivan and Bink met while attending Eastern. She was a freshman studying education; he was a sophomore middle linebacker on the football team.

鈥淣obody remembers how he got the nickname Bink, but his mom told me his sister gave it to him when he was about 18 months old. It just stuck 鈥� because he was six-two and 220 pounds and didn鈥檛 look like a Bink 鈥� whatever that is.鈥�

They met at a Friday-night 鈥渕ixer鈥� in Louise Anderson Hall, where Bink was working security with other football players. The two soon became inseparable. Linda was in the stands for every game as the 1967 team charted a near perfect season that culminated with tough loss in the NAIA championship game in Morgantown, West Virginia.

鈥淭here was a lot of camaraderie and a lot of fun 鈥� we had a lot of fun,鈥� Linda says.

To this day, Wall-Sullivan says, that team is very close. 鈥淭hey still have reunions. They always let me know, and I always go representing Bink. They still talk about the good old times 鈥� and they still all really remember Bink.鈥�

Life Takes an Unexpected Turn for the Walls

The Walls married and moved to Tekoa to fulfill their student teaching requirements in 1969. She was working in a kindergarten class, while Bink was busy teaching and coaching in the high school.

Although his Eastern class ring had sentimental value, Bink wasn鈥檛 much for jewelry, Wall-Sullivan recalls. So, when it went missing, there wasn鈥檛 much of a fuss. Besides, at the time the couple had larger concerns.

At Eastern, Bink was more than just a standout athlete. He was also a dedicated Army ROTC cadet. So, when the order came for him to report for officer training at Fort Sill, the couple were not surprised. They simply packed up their things and moved to Oklahoma.

Bink and Wall-Sullivan, who鈥檇 forged numerous close relationships with Eastern teammates, ended up at Fort Sill along with Bink鈥檚 best friend, Rick Hardie, who played flanker on the team, and his wife, Pat. It wasn鈥檛 long before they both found themselves in Vietnam.

Bink, a second lieutenant with the 101^st Airborne Division, was deployed in January 1970. Less than four months later, he died during an enemy artillery assault in South Vietnam鈥檚 Thua Thien Province. He was 24 years old.

Eastern Honors Lt. William 鈥淏ink鈥� Wall

In 1981, Eastern paid tribute to Lt. William 鈥淏ink鈥� Wall, an All-Evergreen Conference linebacker who was known for his strong work ethic on and off the field, by naming its strength and training center after him.

In 2017, he was further honored with induction into the 51福利社 Athletics Hall of Fame. Players wore Bink鈥檚 jersey number, 57, on their helmets and later met with Wall-Sullivan, who shared the story of her husband and their days at Eastern with the group.

More tributes have followed. Ken Garmann, a former Eastern player who鈥檇 worn the No. 57 jersey when he played in 鈥�63-64, established the Garmann/Wall No. 57 endowed scholarship. Garmann said that when he was a senior football player, he encouraged a promising freshman player 鈥� Bill 鈥淏ink鈥� Wall 鈥� to wear jersey #57 after he graduated. The connection inspired him to name the scholarship to honor Bink.

Finally, during the 2018-19 season, things came full circle as Bink鈥檚 grandson, Jordan Purvis, trained in the center while playing special teams with the Eagle football team.

Linda鈥檚 Next Chapter

With support from her husband, Bill Sullivan, Wall-Sullivan is keeping Bink鈥檚 memory alive. Linda met Bill through a friend of Bink鈥檚 while attending the annual Slippery Gulch fair in Tekoa. At the time, the single mom had returned to Eastern at the urging of her own mother, Florence Pettis, a long-time educator who graduated from Eastern in the early 1960s, to finish her own degree.

Sullivan, who was teaching math and science in the town of Oaksdale at the time, was taking continuing education classes at Eastern that same summer. Many lunch dates later, the couple married and moved to Napavine, Washington, where their family grew to include two more children, Michael and Megan.

Wall-Sullivan not only finished her bachelor鈥檚 degree from Eastern in1980, she went on to earn an education master鈥檚 degree in 1995.

One winter, Wall-Sullivan recalls, Bill presented her with a brochure recruiting teachers to work in Kwajlein Atoll in Marshall Islands, a territory in the central Pacific. Soon, the entire family had moved there, experiencing the island鈥檚 rich cultural life. After Linda retired, she was recruited to help implement technology inside schools on St. Thomas in the Caribbean. Her husband urged her to take the job and the kids, now grown, all visited. Now retired, Wall-Sullivan says that 鈥渆ducation has been very good to me.鈥�

Bink鈥檚 legacy now includes five grandchildren. Wall-Sullivan鈥檚 daughter, Laura, is expecting their first great-grandchild, a boy, and the family is thrilled.

With two generations of Eastern graduates on Linda鈥檚 side of the family, they will cheer for a third gen when Jordan Purvis graduates with his bachelor鈥檚 degree in communications this year.

Bink鈥檚 side of the family, meanwhile, boasts two generations of Eastern graduates, including his younger brother, Tom Wall 鈥�73, and Tom鈥檚 wife, Mary Ellen 鈥�75, who met at Eastern, and their daughter, Kara, an elementary school teacher who earned an education degree from Eastern in 2000.

Those family members were instrumental in helping Laura through the unexpected loss of her own husband, Vance Dawson, on the same day her father died: April 1. Laura says a remarkable quality the family shares is they 鈥渃ircle the wagons鈥� when someone is hurting.

They also come together in moments of celebration, as does the entire 51福利社 Athletics family. When his department learned about the ring, Athletics Director Tim Collins ordered a special display box to house it. It鈥檚 finder, Murphy, cleaned and polished the ring, tucked it into the box and presented it to Linda and Laura during a June reunion for Tekoa High School graduates from the 1960s.

More than 150 people attended the reunion, many of them, like the extended Wall-Sullivan family, had deep connections to Eastern. At the event they shared memories of Bink: a good husband, father, brother and friend 鈥� and the first kid from Tekoa to earn a football scholarship.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been 55 years 鈥� and they still remember him. That says a lot about the kind of guy he was,鈥� says Wall-Sullivan. 鈥淢y gosh, you couldn鈥檛 write something like this. It鈥檚 a great story 鈥� and it never would have happened without James.鈥�

**The half-century-old Roos Field has been home to countless traditions, championship teams and standout players over the years. We need your help to bring the home of Eastern Football into the future. Visit 51福利社/Give to support the project.