U.S. soldier’s dog tags reunited with his son 76 years after loss on Massachusetts beach, Dog tags lost by a soldier on a Massachusetts beach more than 75 years ago have been handed back to his son — at exactly the same spot.
Cpl. William Benn was on a coastal artillery placement on Salisbury Beach, near Newburyport, in 1939 when he dropped his military ID, reports The Newburyport Current.
His badge lay undiscovered for 76 years, until Bill Ladd found them with a metal detector after a storm last year.
Benn went on to man a gun during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and won the Silver Award for shooting down several Japanese aircraft the following year.
He later fought in the Korean War.
Among other honors, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal and Presidential Unit Citation.
He died in May 2002 and is buried in Middletown, R.I., reports Fox News.
Ladd, from the Discovery Channel's "Dig Fellas" show, contacted Vermont-based Purple Hearts Reunited (PHR) organization after making his find. It locates lost or stolen medals and returns them to veterans or their families.
Zachariah Fike discovered that the military ID belonged to Benn.
And on Sunday he and Ladd reunited Benn's son, also named William Benn and living in Providence, with the tags at a ceremony on the spot where they'd been found.
His badge lay undiscovered for 76 years, until Bill Ladd found them with a metal detector after a storm last year.
Benn went on to man a gun during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and won the Silver Award for shooting down several Japanese aircraft the following year.
He later fought in the Korean War.
Among other honors, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal and Presidential Unit Citation.
He died in May 2002 and is buried in Middletown, R.I., reports Fox News.
Ladd, from the Discovery Channel's "Dig Fellas" show, contacted Vermont-based Purple Hearts Reunited (PHR) organization after making his find. It locates lost or stolen medals and returns them to veterans or their families.
Zachariah Fike discovered that the military ID belonged to Benn.
And on Sunday he and Ladd reunited Benn's son, also named William Benn and living in Providence, with the tags at a ceremony on the spot where they'd been found.
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