thedrifter
07-21-03, 02:08 PM
Posted on Mon, Jul. 21, 2003
Woman returns dog tag to Vietnam war veteran
Associated Press
BEDFORD, Ind. - A Vietnam veteran who lost his military dog tag when he was injured by an exploding grenade in 1971 recently got a surprise - his dog tag had been found.
A German woman who bought Phil Tatom's dog tag, which contains a soldier's name and other information, from a vendor during a visit to Vietnam in 2000 tracked him down a few weeks ago and mailed them to his home.
"If this dog tag could only talk, I'd have some incredible stories to tell. But just having it again means so much to me," Tatom said.
"Now I've got something besides the shrapnel in my backside. I've got something I can hold in my hand. I guess you could say this provides closure in a very special way."
In 1971, Tatom was serving in the Chu Lai region of Vietnam when a fellow soldier dropped a live grenade and it rolled to a few feet from where Tatom stood. The blast sent hot shrapnel ripping through his backside, sending him to a hospital.
"When I woke up everything was gone," he said. "All my equipment had vanished, even my dog tag. The only thing I have from Vietnam are the pictures I mailed home and the shrapnel in my backside."
After more than three decades, Tatom got a call from Holly Steese, the German woman who found his dog tag.
Steese and her husband visited Ho Chi Minh City in September 2000. During a trip to the city's War Crimes Museum, Steese saw a young girl who was selling American GI's dog tags out of a bucket.
"She must of had at least 20 of them," Steese said. "I bought two and now regret not buying the entire bucket. They were only 20 cents each."
Steese wondered for three years about to whom the tags she bought belonged before beginning to surf the Internet for information. She found that Tatom's name was not on a list of people killed in action.
"From there I went to Ancestry.com and other genealogy sites. In a little over an hour, I had found Mr. Tatom's phone number," she said. "I got hold of Mr. Tatom's brother and he assured me he would be happy to hear the news. It ended wonderfully."
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/6351235.htm
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Woman returns dog tag to Vietnam war veteran
Associated Press
BEDFORD, Ind. - A Vietnam veteran who lost his military dog tag when he was injured by an exploding grenade in 1971 recently got a surprise - his dog tag had been found.
A German woman who bought Phil Tatom's dog tag, which contains a soldier's name and other information, from a vendor during a visit to Vietnam in 2000 tracked him down a few weeks ago and mailed them to his home.
"If this dog tag could only talk, I'd have some incredible stories to tell. But just having it again means so much to me," Tatom said.
"Now I've got something besides the shrapnel in my backside. I've got something I can hold in my hand. I guess you could say this provides closure in a very special way."
In 1971, Tatom was serving in the Chu Lai region of Vietnam when a fellow soldier dropped a live grenade and it rolled to a few feet from where Tatom stood. The blast sent hot shrapnel ripping through his backside, sending him to a hospital.
"When I woke up everything was gone," he said. "All my equipment had vanished, even my dog tag. The only thing I have from Vietnam are the pictures I mailed home and the shrapnel in my backside."
After more than three decades, Tatom got a call from Holly Steese, the German woman who found his dog tag.
Steese and her husband visited Ho Chi Minh City in September 2000. During a trip to the city's War Crimes Museum, Steese saw a young girl who was selling American GI's dog tags out of a bucket.
"She must of had at least 20 of them," Steese said. "I bought two and now regret not buying the entire bucket. They were only 20 cents each."
Steese wondered for three years about to whom the tags she bought belonged before beginning to surf the Internet for information. She found that Tatom's name was not on a list of people killed in action.
"From there I went to Ancestry.com and other genealogy sites. In a little over an hour, I had found Mr. Tatom's phone number," she said. "I got hold of Mr. Tatom's brother and he assured me he would be happy to hear the news. It ended wonderfully."
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/6351235.htm
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: