Mailer with medal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nItems are usually placed in the lost and found in case the owner is looking for them. Illyana Vereen, patient representative, knew he had something more than just the routine lost and found items.<\/p>\n
He gave the tube mailer with a three-cent postage stamp and a WWII commemorative medal to Derrick Bridges, chief of enrollment eligibility in the Dorn welcome center. Vereen asked Bridges to find a living relative to return the items. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to research [to] whom the items belonged and I was running into a few dead ends. I had shown Mr. Bridges the full photo and signatures and we were just in awe,\u201d Bridges said.<\/p>\n
Bridges was able to determine their identities from the address label on the tube mailer and the name inscribed on the back of the medal. Decades ago, before concerns over identity theft, service members used to include their service number and Social Security Number on outgoing and in-coming mail. The return address label was partially torn away and the name was missing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing I noticed was this number, which I associated as a service number,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cI was able to plug it into one of our VA systems that looks up Veterans with service numbers and was able to find Charles Knight.\u201d The name on the back of the medal was Edward C. Knight, Charles\u2019 brother. <\/p>\n
Bridges determined that Charles had been treated at Dorn and had since passed away.\u00a0Preliminary searches were unsuccessful, so Bridges contacted the Lexington County Veterans Service Office. It was determined that the brothers were from Gaston, South Carolina, but little more could be found.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, his son goes to church here.\u201d<\/h2>\n
They started searching various genealogy and search engine sites, eventually finding an obituary for Edward C. Knight Sr. with listings of his family. Phone numbers were found but most were disconnected or no answer.<\/p>\n
The memorial service and burial for Edward Sr. was at Beulah Methodist Church in Sandy Run, South Carolina. A phone number for the church was located, and after explaining what Johnson was looking for, the church secretary said, \u201cOh, his son goes to church here. I\u2019ll be glad to give him your phone number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later, Edward Jr. called back.<\/p>\n
According to Edward Jr., his father didn\u2019t talk much about his service. \u201cI knew he had been stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. When they found out he was an experienced carpenter, he was selected to build new barracks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team\u2019s enduring commitment to honoring Veterans<\/h2>\n
\u00a0\u201cMy dad had four brothers; three of them were in combat. When they would get together, there would be some stories about their service,\u201d Edward Jr. shared.<\/p>\n
On March 13, a small ceremony was held with family members of Edward Sr. to return the items. Edward Jr. and his wife, Collette, attended the ceremony.<\/p>\n
A magnifying glass was found and Edward Jr. and his wife scanned the photo, trying to find either Charles or Edward Sr. Collette found one that could have been either, since they look similar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look a lot alike, but this guy right here is definitely my father,\u201d Edward Jr. said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReturning these cherished mementos to the families of our WWII Heroes is more than just an act of goodwill. It is a testament to the team\u2019s enduring commitment to honoring our Armed Forces men and women\u2019s service and sacrifice,\u201d said Oscar G. Rodriguez, acting medical center director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Columbia VA employees worked together to help return WWII items to two brothers\u2019 families. Both brothers were WWII Veterans. A tube mailer with a large group photo mailed during WWII from Fort Dix, New Jersey, and a WWII commemorative medal with the Veteran\u2019s name inscribed were dropped off at the front desk of the Dorn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":397043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1269,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-visn-7","category-wwii-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397047,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041\/revisions\/397047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/397043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>Mailer with medal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nItems are usually placed in the lost and found in case the owner is looking for them. Illyana Vereen, patient representative, knew he had something more than just the routine lost and found items.<\/p>\nHe gave the tube mailer with a three-cent postage stamp and a WWII commemorative medal to Derrick Bridges, chief of enrollment eligibility in the Dorn welcome center. Vereen asked Bridges to find a living relative to return the items. <\/p>\n\u201cI was trying to research [to] whom the items belonged and I was running into a few dead ends. I had shown Mr. Bridges the full photo and signatures and we were just in awe,\u201d Bridges said.<\/p>\nBridges was able to determine their identities from the address label on the tube mailer and the name inscribed on the back of the medal. Decades ago, before concerns over identity theft, service members used to include their service number and Social Security Number on outgoing and in-coming mail. The return address label was partially torn away and the name was missing.<\/p>\n\u201cThe first thing I noticed was this number, which I associated as a service number,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cI was able to plug it into one of our VA systems that looks up Veterans with service numbers and was able to find Charles Knight.\u201d The name on the back of the medal was Edward C. Knight, Charles\u2019 brother. <\/p>\nBridges determined that Charles had been treated at Dorn and had since passed away.\u00a0Preliminary searches were unsuccessful, so Bridges contacted the Lexington County Veterans Service Office. It was determined that the brothers were from Gaston, South Carolina, but little more could be found.<\/p>\n\u201cOh, his son goes to church here.\u201d<\/h2>\nThey started searching various genealogy and search engine sites, eventually finding an obituary for Edward C. Knight Sr. with listings of his family. Phone numbers were found but most were disconnected or no answer.<\/p>\nThe memorial service and burial for Edward Sr. was at Beulah Methodist Church in Sandy Run, South Carolina. A phone number for the church was located, and after explaining what Johnson was looking for, the church secretary said, \u201cOh, his son goes to church here. I\u2019ll be glad to give him your phone number.\u201d<\/p>\nTwo days later, Edward Jr. called back.<\/p>\nAccording to Edward Jr., his father didn\u2019t talk much about his service. \u201cI knew he had been stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. When they found out he was an experienced carpenter, he was selected to build new barracks.\u201d<\/p>\nTeam\u2019s enduring commitment to honoring Veterans<\/h2>\n\u00a0\u201cMy dad had four brothers; three of them were in combat. When they would get together, there would be some stories about their service,\u201d Edward Jr. shared.<\/p>\nOn March 13, a small ceremony was held with family members of Edward Sr. to return the items. Edward Jr. and his wife, Collette, attended the ceremony.<\/p>\nA magnifying glass was found and Edward Jr. and his wife scanned the photo, trying to find either Charles or Edward Sr. Collette found one that could have been either, since they look similar.<\/p>\n\u201cThey look a lot alike, but this guy right here is definitely my father,\u201d Edward Jr. said.<\/p>\n\u201cReturning these cherished mementos to the families of our WWII Heroes is more than just an act of goodwill. It is a testament to the team\u2019s enduring commitment to honoring our Armed Forces men and women\u2019s service and sacrifice,\u201d said Oscar G. Rodriguez, acting medical center director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Columbia VA employees worked together to help return WWII items to two brothers\u2019 families. Both brothers were WWII Veterans. A tube mailer with a large group photo mailed during WWII from Fort Dix, New Jersey, and a WWII commemorative medal with the Veteran\u2019s name inscribed were dropped off at the front desk of the Dorn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":397043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1269,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-visn-7","category-wwii-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397047,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397041\/revisions\/397047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/397043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250311_152507000_iOS_r1-2.jpg\"){kind=link}