Adam Gross finds all sorts of unusual items with his magnet while magnet-fishing in Michigan, including numerous bikes and even a lawnmower.
But recently he found something that ended up being a very meaningful gift for a family.
Gross ended up pulling a set of World War II era dog tags from the Grand River off the Leonard Street bridge in Grand Rapids. Surprisingly, they were still in decent condition, good enough for Gross to read what was on them.
They belonged to a veteran soldier named Clifford J. Voight, and Gross was luckily able to get in touch with Voight’s family and gift them the family heirloom that had been lost for more than 50 years.
Voight’s family lives in Arizona and was beyond thrilled to receive the tags, which they assumed were gone forever. They were surprised the tags were in such good shape after being in the water for so long, considering Voight hadn’t visited Michigan since 1956.
When Voight was in the Army, he stormed the beach at Normandy and was one of the first platoons to enter Auschwitz. His family told Gross that Voight didn’t talk much about the war, so they feel lucky to now have a piece of his history with them.
This story just goes to show that history can be buried anywhere and uncovered when you least expect it!
Gross took a video of himself pulling the dog tags from the water and posted it on his YouTube page, which you can watch below: