- Oct 26, 2004
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- 22,901
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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- Minelab Explorer
- Primary Interest:
- Shipwrecks
Back in the later part of WW II, Sergeant Herbert Schueler from Columbia, Illinois was in the fight for freedom in France near the towns of Nantes and Heric. During the action, he lost at least one of his ID (‘dog’) tags. He was part of the 94th Infantry (think: Battle of the Bulge). He survived the war and never gave a second thought to the loss of that tag; it was replaced as soon as possible.
Skip forward more than 66 years to April 2011. French metal detector enthusiasts, Eric and his buddy Georges, while searching in a vacant field near Heric, France discovered a beat up dog tag and other artifacts. They wanted to return the ID tag to the owner-- or his heirs; posting the image on <treasurenet.com> with an ‘SOS’ for assistance--here: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=392637.0
I am aware there is a race against time to give back to the living heroes of WW II, so I took up the challenge. The short story is: After doing the research, I was able to locate the Sergeant--alive (!!)--in a retirement home in Illinois. In early May, at a casual gathering, the tag was returned to Sergeant Schueler. Currently, Georges, Eric and I are coordinating with the Sergeant's daughter and the local American Legion Commander, Bill Wolf, for a formal presentation ceremony on Memorial Day.
To make this an 'over the top' ceremony, Eric and Georges recently travelled to Utah Beach in Normandy, took video and pics--then they bottled beach sand and pebbles which will now be presented to Sergeant Schueler at the ceremony.
At this time, Sergeant Schueler is aware only of the 'formal' presentation (return of) the tag to him; he is unaware of the video, sand, pebbles and the local media being alerted to and ready to witness and video this event—in his honor.
When the presentation video is available, I intend to post it here.
And on Memorial Day, we may wish to pause and give thanks to those who defended freedom and gave their lives so that we can enjoy whatever we'll be doing on that holiday.
Don.....
Skip forward more than 66 years to April 2011. French metal detector enthusiasts, Eric and his buddy Georges, while searching in a vacant field near Heric, France discovered a beat up dog tag and other artifacts. They wanted to return the ID tag to the owner-- or his heirs; posting the image on <treasurenet.com> with an ‘SOS’ for assistance--here: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=392637.0
I am aware there is a race against time to give back to the living heroes of WW II, so I took up the challenge. The short story is: After doing the research, I was able to locate the Sergeant--alive (!!)--in a retirement home in Illinois. In early May, at a casual gathering, the tag was returned to Sergeant Schueler. Currently, Georges, Eric and I are coordinating with the Sergeant's daughter and the local American Legion Commander, Bill Wolf, for a formal presentation ceremony on Memorial Day.
To make this an 'over the top' ceremony, Eric and Georges recently travelled to Utah Beach in Normandy, took video and pics--then they bottled beach sand and pebbles which will now be presented to Sergeant Schueler at the ceremony.
At this time, Sergeant Schueler is aware only of the 'formal' presentation (return of) the tag to him; he is unaware of the video, sand, pebbles and the local media being alerted to and ready to witness and video this event—in his honor.
When the presentation video is available, I intend to post it here.
And on Memorial Day, we may wish to pause and give thanks to those who defended freedom and gave their lives so that we can enjoy whatever we'll be doing on that holiday.
Don.....
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An awesone way to celebrate a member of the "Greatest Generation". Salute!
