Wallet Lost in 1941 Returned to WWII Vet
United Press International
Jun 07, 2010
A World War II veteran has been reunited with a wallet he lost in 1941 while getting training in Chicago.
Robert Judson Bell, now 88 and a resident of an assisted-living facility in Sandy, Utah, was 19 when he last saw the wallet, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Any money it contained is long gone, but for Bell it held something more precious -- two photos of his girlfriend, who died three years after their marriage.
Getting the wallet back to its owner took about a quarter century. Bob Jordan, an electrician, found it on top of a junction box at the Chicago Vocational Career Academy sometime around 1985. Bell got training in hydraulics there in 1941.
The Hinsdale American Legion Post 250, which joined the hunt this year, finally tracked Bell down with help from the Social Security Administration. Joseph Craig, a member of the post, handed the wallet over Wednesday at a ceremony in Sandy.
"I'm just amazed at what's happened -- just totally amazed," Bell said.
His son, Robert A. Bell, 18 months old when his mother was killed in a car crash, said he had seen only one picture of her until the wallet turned up.
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