Posted 12 years ago
eccentric1
(21 items)
Hi all,
I was digging this past weekend in a local bottle dump when I came across this. I am reasonably sure it is a WWII dog tag and am also reasonably sure through research that I have the soldier identified. He survived the conflict and passed in 2006 at age 84.
I am presently in the process of locating surviving family members so that I can return this artifact to the people that should have it. It just seems right.
I will post my progress if the community here is interested.
Happy Holidays everyone,
e1
Happy Holidays and yes would like to hear a follow up on the family members.
Good Luck eccentric 1. I tracked down some old letters from Vietnam to about 60 miles from here,called them, made plans to meet them at a pre designated place and they never showed up and I never heard another word out of them. I truly hope you have better luck in doing the right thing, as we all would do. They just dropped the ball for me.
Thank you all for the love and comments, I will post any progress.
Musikchoo, I have been on both sides of this sort of thing before. Years ago I copied down a pair of names on a marriage certificate I found in an antique store in Ohio. I was able to locate a grandson in New England who called the shop and bought a treasure trove of family records they had. Very fulfilling.
Years later I bought an old studio photograph of a pair of children at a shop outside of Pittsburgh. Their names were written on the back and the studio was in Jamestown NY. I found numerous relatives and wrote numerous letters, I could not find any that wanted it. I ended up sending it to the historical society in Jamestown. At least we try. That's what matters.
Some of those accounts gives credit to what I first thought when you mentioned your idea. If they live near that dump when you locate them, they probably put it there. Value of family & its history has certainly faded in recent years.
I have been on the buying end of a lot of family pieces-- many times they were a short drive away from the dump when I purchased.
I preserve what I can, but don't actively look to get it back to families.
scott
They usually don't appreciate it and a waste of time. There is an energy crisis you know, so save yours.
We have discussed possible scenarios of how it got to the dump amongst our family. Anything from empathy and lack of historical context to accidental disposers. We also discussed the possibility that this vet had seen enough of war and tossed it as ridding himself symbolically of the whole experience.
I found a newsletter from the local historical society fro 2008 that the family of this individual entered a few pages into their "Family Historical Album" so I am running on the belief that at least one descendant understands. I am one of four children and am the only one with a sense of history or sentimentality. That means end up with all the family artifacts.
I am also a veteran and have no clue what became of my dog tags.
For those who have seen the movie "Angel Heart", I do not have a thing about chickens. I guess that's a plus......
Enjoying this discussion with you all. Thanks
e1
Best of luck-- I hope that it works out.
scott
Alas, too many times people think no one is interested in something and throw it away, when there are many family members and/or Friends that would love to have it as a reminder of that person or Family. I guess it has happened to all of us at some time and thankfully you were in the position to retrieve those items ! Thats a Great story AR8Jason !!
Thank you all very much for the love and discussion. I have a pretty good feeling about reuniting this tag with the proper family. At very least I will take it to this veteran's gravesite, stand it on end and push it firmly into the ground. May have to wait until spring though...:-)
e1
Hi all.
Dog tag return update: fail, fail, fail and fail.
With the kind assistance of the local historical society descendants have been contacted and they have expressed doubts that they belonged to their ancestor. They specifically stated they did not wish to pursue this further. This item was excavated a short walk from the family home, and the name is rather uncommon.
After 25 years of genealogical research I am certain of my research. I guess it is a lot like the OJ trial, no further investigation is needed because I had my man. I just watched him slip away.
Vent over friends, thanks for listening,
e1
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I wouldn't call it a fail.
You found the family and offered a return-- what you saw as the right thing to do.
For whatever reason the family declined.
Your intentions were good.
scott
Thanks AR8Jason and scottvez for the comments.
If I found something similar tomorrow, I would likely attempt it again. just the way I am I guess....
e1