Neat story!
Rip Cmdr. Robert Nicholls Glasgow.
Thank you. I hope that they can locate this family.
This story was of interest to me since a similar thing happened to a good friend of my grandfather’s.
Alton Joyner was among the first wave of troops to invade Anzio, Italy in World War II.
Sometime in the 1980’s, a local woman in Anzio found his dog tags on the beach and sent it to his mother’s address (which was stamped on the tag) with a very kind letter. Of course, his mother had long since passed.
Unlike the pilot in this article, Mr. Joyner survived his rendezvous with destiny. I believe he said at the time that he remembered he’d lost his dog tags when he hit the beach, but just got a new set and forgot all about it.
The Post Office tracked him down and the story was all over the local and regional news.
He passed away in 1994 within months of my grandpa, but treasured this symbol of his service to our nation till he died. I am sure his family still treasures it as well, as I do my grandpa’s WWII dog tags and memorabilia.