More than 60 years after he and his brother returned from fighting in the Philippines, the thoughts of New York Mills resident Charles Stevens
once again have turned to the South Pacific.
Stevens, 96, learned earlier this month that dog tags belonging to his brother Ferris were found on a beach in the Filipino province of Oriental Negros.
Ferris Stevens, 82, died in 2003. But for his older brother, the news stirred up many memories of what they experienced as soldiers during World War II.
Read the full article about Ferris Stevens’ WWII dog tags in the March 23, 2009 edition of the Wellsville Reporter.
My brother was a Vietnam Veteran; he passed away in January, 2009 from cancer caused by Agent Orange.
Several weeks afterward we were contacted through legacy.com by a man not far from our home whose next door neighbor had found some dog tags they believed might have been my brothers. My brother owned his own concrete company. When he returned from Vietnam he worked for a concrete company and they laid the foundations for some VA loan homes in 1971. The woman had found his tags in her flower garden approx. 6 years ago. Her husband was a Veteran and had developed cancer shortly after she found the tags, so she put them in a drawer and took care of her husband until his death 2 1/2 years later.
We matched the Service Number and they are indeed my brother’s. The story above is amazing; we thought ours was too – but 60 years beats our almost 40 years of being buried in the ground and then returned.
I am so happy for Mr. Stevens – I know how much this means to him. It certainly did my family. What wonderful stories and the kindness of those that take the time to return items to the rightful owners.