Island cove could soon be named after WWII veteran Riley

Frank Sorba recalls sitting at the bar of the Mercer Island VFW Post 5760 one day and having a drink with Huston “Hu” Riley.

While they were chatting, Riley tossed an object on the bar that was about an inch-and-a-half long, bent and pointed on one end.

“It was, believe it or not, a copper or the head of a bullet that had been lodged in his spine, there in his back, neck since D-Day. A doctor pulled it out recently and he (Riley) said, ‘Well, I’ve been carrying this around (since 1944),’” Sorba said.

“He always had a story to tell,” added Sorba, noting that Riley enjoyed his bourbon on the rocks. “He was very genuine, very congenial and easy going and always had a smile on his face. Just an unbelievably great guy.”

Decorated World War II veteran Riley, a lifelong Island resident who died at the age of 90 in 2011, was immortalized as “the soldier in the surf” in Robert Capa’s photo of the D-Day Invasion at Omaha Beach. The famous photo was featured on the cover of Life magazine.

“We all jumped out,” Riley said in a 2008 Reporter story. “I went into (the water and sank) 14 feet, clear to the bottom.”

On Oct. 26, the state Committee on Geographic Names approved three final proposals during its meeting, one of which was Riley Cove for an approximately 60-acre bay on the northern coast of Mercer Island.

Next up in the naming process will be the committee forwarding its recommendations to the Board of Natural Resources, according to a press release. If the board approves these recommendations, the names will be added to the Washington Administrative Code and the board passes them along to the United States Board on Geographic Names for federal review.

“My father, a modest man, WWII veteran, and all around nice guy, would certainly be smiling,” said Riley’s daughter, Erin E. Riley Borden, PhD. Her brother, Padraic, still resides on the Island. “My grandfather, an architect, purchased the property around 1914 and built the house that still stands. My family owned and lived in the home on the cove until my mother’s passing in 2018.”

Rob MacAulay, a good friend and neighbor of the Rileys, was instrumental in the efforts to name the cove after the man who received three Purple Hearts during his years of service to his country. The dedicated local group that has worked with MacAulay in pushing to put the Riley Cove moniker on the map includes Sorba, Jane Meyer Brahm, Mercer Island City Council Deputy Mayor Wendy Weiker and Terry Moreman.

“Our group is so thrilled to have the committee’s final approval on our Riley Cove proposal. It has taken two applications and 12 years thus far, and in a couple of months we will hopefully be able to finally honor ‘Hu’ Riley,” said MacAulay, adding that along with being a famous World War II hero, Riley was an Island pioneer. “For those of us lucky to know ‘Hu,’ he was a prince of a man with a ready smile and an ever present twinkle in his eye. It will be so appropriate to have this cove forever be named after ‘Hu’ Riley.”

Past VFW vice commander Robert Harper said that Riley always had a quirky smile on his face like he was privy to something that no one else knew.

Harper added that Riley was a tough guy, as evidenced one night after a VFW meeting.

“After one of the meetings, at dark, I was walking him back to his house and I asked him about PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome). I said, ‘Did you ever experience that?’ And he says, ‘You know, I hear about this, I don’t understand that at all,’” Harper said.