Lost Dog Tag Leads to Search for Serviceman
Posted on August 8, 2007
Filed Under Lost and Found News |
A lost dog tag from World War II was found at the bottom of a public park pond in Ipswich in the UK. And it led to a transatlantic search for what turned out to be an American serviceman.
The lost dog tag belonged to Edward H. Cunningham of Westville in Franklin County, New York state. Cunningham was an Irish-American born into a farming family. He was a truck driver and general laborer who enlisted in the service at age 30 in 1941. He served in England during WWII.
The lost dog tag was found at the bottom of a pond at Christchurch park during a refurbishment project. Then researchers and historians on both sides of the Atlantic tried to find the owner of the lost dog tag.
They made an appeal to find the lost dog tag’s owner in the Malone Telegram newspaper in Franklin County, New York. Edward’s nephew, Jack Cunningham of Massachusetts, responded to the appeal and provided some information about his deceased uncle.
He told searchers that his uncle was one of the first local men to get drafted in the war. He served in the Army Air Corps and was stationed near London while he was in England. But no one can figure out whether Edward ever indeed came to Ipswich himself, or whether his lost dog tag just somehow ended up there. Jack reported that his uncle never visited Ipswich after the war.
Jack also had some other stories to share with the lost dog tag researchers. He relayed that his uncle had a lot of good friends, liked a good time, and was married “to the nicest woman who ever lived.” And he was devastated when she suddenly dropped dead one New Year’s Eve when they were preparing to go out and celebrate.
Edward passed away due to a heart attack on January 22 in 1974, just two weeks before his 63rd birthday. He was being cared for at the Soldiers Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Edward’s name is listed on the war memorial in Westville. But still no one knows how Edward’s lost dog tag got to the bottom of the pond. But at least they got to the bottom of who Edward was!
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