WWII Dog Tag returned to its owner 66 years later!

[cmjordan77]

I had to post this. Its a great story of some teenagers finding a dog tag in New York City, and finding the owner still alive today and returning his original dog tag.

 

Its really a great story!

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=101443140

[TomV]

Thanks for posting!!!

[Teamski]

That is one great story!!! Excellent! Thanks for sharing!

 

-Ski

[oldfireguy]

That is a great story.

[willysmb44]

I'm reminded of this story I'd read years ago. It took a few minutes to find it online:

Soldier gets his mess kit back

St. Petersburg Times, Sep 14, 1993

Marvin Carroll never had much use for his Army mess kit and wasn't particularly saddened when he lost it after being wounded during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. But two Belgian historians found it last year in the Ardennes Forest and began searching for Carroll, a native of Vernal, Utah, who had etched his name and "Utah" on its side.

This summer, they delivered it to him. Carroll, now 69 and living in Salt Lake City, shook his head in disbelief and relegated the mess kit to his garage.

"I thought, `Well, what are they getting so stirred up about an old mess kit for?' " he said. "I wouldn't give a dime for one. Not even a new one."

But he does get a kick out of it.

"There's a lot of people in Vernal, my relations and that, who called and said, `Did you know they found your mess kit?' I said, `I'll be durned,' " Carroll said. The mess kit was found by Jean-Phillippe Speder and Jean-Louis Seel, whose hobby is scouring old battlegrounds. The two have helped locate the remains of four of 33 soldiers missing from the 99th Division, the unit in which Carroll was a rifleman.

Can you imagine how those Belgian guys must have felt when they read this?

[cmjordan77]

Here is one more, from DEC 2008. I dont know if this was posted before or not, but here is another story of a canteen returned 63 years later.

The original owner seemed to have lost it full of whiskey. When he got it back, he commented about missing the whiskey, ha!

I love these stories about things getting returned so many years later.

 

I am pretty shocked though about the mess kit and the owner could have cared less. I bet the Belgians were hurt. I thought that was pretty rough.

They were trying to do the right thing. O well, I guess the loss is not always "Missed" by some.

[cmjordan77]

Oops, forgot to add the other story.

 

http://wjz.com/local/canteen.braddock.art.2.885274.html

[FriscoHare]

Great stories everyone. I wish I could find things like that.

~Rabbit

[Brig]

Here is one more, from DEC 2008. I dont know if this was posted before or not, but here is another story of a canteen returned 63 years later.

The original owner seemed to have lost it full of whiskey. When he got it back, he commented about missing the whiskey, ha!

I love these stories about things getting returned so many years later.

 

I am pretty shocked though about the mess kit and the owner could have cared less. I bet the Belgians were hurt. I thought that was pretty rough.

They were trying to do the right thing. O well, I guess the loss is not always "Missed" by some.

having survived the Bulge, I doubt their feelings were on the top of his list. I've lost things in Iraq I could care less if I see again...maybe some day some Haji will mail them to me, haha

[gunbarrel]

Brig,

 

We'll check back with you in 2074 and see if you still the same way. Hopefully, you won't be a crotchety old man.