US Military Relics Return Home After 80 Years

Much has been written about the battles and soldiers of World War II, the generation that saved the world from Hitler's reign of terror and the infamous bombings at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, that drew the US into the war.

When reading about battles and wars it is imperative that we remember that these men were not just characters in a story but real men with real flesh and blood lives, families, and dreams. In the following narrative I will try to recount how our newest display in the Veterans Hall came about.

Charles Avon and his wife Shannon are avid race car enthusiast. He is a member of the National T-Bucket Alliance. Through their FB website he became great friends with another member, Gregory "Mac" McDonald from Christ church, New Zealand. Both served in the military and both loved hot rods so they became quick friends.

Over the course of a few years Mac planned a trip to visit the US. He told Charles he had some World War II military artifacts that he wanted to bring back to the United States. When Mac arrived at the home of Charles and Shannon he brought with him a display case with a single spent casing, a Marine's belt buckle, a 13 star Army metal button, and a buckle. Mac shared with his friends how he had acquired these things and why he wanted to bring them back to the United States.

Mac came from a long line of military men from New Zealand. His grandfather fought in World War I. His father fought in World War II on the Solomon Islands, which was the lengthiest and most bitterly fought naval campaign in the Pacific War. He himself served 26 years with the New Zealand Army. Some of his time was spent in special forces in Vietnam fighting alongside US soldiers.

Mac wanted to see for himself where his father had served during World War II, so he flew to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. Upon his arrival he found that the island was still littered with countless unexploded war era bombs and landmines.

He asked his guide about relics that had been found by the locals. His guide found some local children who had dug up many artifacts. Mac, recognizing the significance of the items knew he had to return them to the United States where they belonged. These things had once belonged to a U.S. Marine who served during one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific.

To some these items may have seemed like discarded junk but in reality they are tattered fragments of one soldier's fight for freedom. During this battle alone over 7,000 American soldiers died and 8,000 were wounded. It was a high price to pay for both the United States and the Allied troops, but their sacrifices insured the withdrawal and subsequent surrender of the Japanese from the islands.

The Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands along with many other notable battles allowed the US and their allies to seize the strategic initiative in the Pacific theater. The Japanese would later surrender to the US on September the 2nd, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Who the items belong to remain a mystery. Were they from a fallen US Marine who gave the ultimate sacrifice or just mere remains of a bloody war fought over 80 years ago. Whatever the case may be they are once again on American soil and to the Marine who wore them they are now "Home". This line from Rudyard Kipling's poem Recessional is a sobering warning to us all....."Lord God of hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget!