Susan Terry was thrilled with the little dresser that her husband, Clay, had just brought home from the charity shop.
Little did she know that the bottom drawer of this simple piece of furniture contained a set of WWII Naval medals issued to sailors serving in the European, African, and Middle Eastern campaigns, and a photograph of the man to whom they were awarded.
Susan opened the bottom drawer of the dresser and found the medals in a plastic bag along with other items of personal interest.
There were Social Security cards in the name of Paul John DiModica and Betty Marie DiModica and a photograph of a sailor, uniform patches and artifacts from the Moose Lodge in Freemont, Illinois.
Susan was determined to find the owner of the medals and the photograph, “He loved his country because he served,” Susan Terry told Fox 59 Indianapolis.
“I don’t know to what extent he served his country,” she continued, ” or whether he lived or died. I don’t know what his story is, but I sure hope to find out.”
Susan was inspired to intensify the search as her father served in the Navy for 22 years and her son is a Marine so returning these items to their rightful owner was very important to her.
She did manage to find the original owner of the dresser. The owner is the daughter of Paul DiModica who served on the USS McDougall during WWII.
She told the station that DiModica had died in 2005 aged 83. She had donated the dresser when her mother moved out of her house but was unaware of the personal items in the drawer, Fox News reported.
Susan said, “I think God knew I’d get it back to the right person.”