A routine thrift-store stop in Kentucky turned into the recovery of a missing military memento: a metal mug bearing the name of a veteran who had never received it.
The $4.99 find eventually made its way back to retired Army lieutenant colonel Walter Duke Jr. after Kentucky resident Ryan Tindall and his son researched the item and located him, according to Kentucky New Era.
Here's what to know
Engraved with "Major Walter Duke Jr.," the mug also had an ornate handle and referenced his Vietnam service with the 224th Aviation Battalion (Radio Research) in 1965 and 1966.
Tindall passed the mug along to his son, Christopher Tindall, a history major at Western Kentucky University, after buying it.
From there, the two looked into where it came from and ultimately found Duke, now 95, who said the keepsake had been sent to him in 1966 but never reached him because he had already moved.
"It was something mailed to me in 1966, but I had moved out of the house," Duke said.
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While serving in Da Nang and Saigon, Duke flew RU-8D aircraft for U.S. Army Aviation. He had already transferred to Fort Rucker in Alabama by the time the mug was delivered.
More background
His military career lasted 22 years and included service during the Korean conflict, as well as another assignment in South Korea, before he retired as a lieutenant colonel.
What can be done?
This was not the first time Tindall had helped reunite someone with a meaningful possession. He also worked to identify a set of dog tags and return them to a family in Michigan.
As Tindall put it, "To know that cup is going to be passed down to him and the next generation as well, that's where the cup needs to be. It found its way home."
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