Army dog tag of fallen US WWII hero is found on Pacific island

Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y.

Dorothy Hollingsworth was just 7 when her brother Tom left the family farm in Indiana to join the Army a few months before the U.S. entered World War II.

She never saw him again.

Now, more than 70 years after Pfc. Thomas E. Davis was killed in one of the war’s final, major battles, a tangible reminder of her beloved sibling has been found on the Pacific island of Saipan – one of his Army dog tags.

“He was a great guy,” said Hollingsworth, 82, who lives outside Dayton, Ohio, noting that some of her earliest memories are of the tall, thin sibling 17 years her senior who always sat next to her at the dinner table. “He was always laughing and singing and whistling.”

Cultural historian Genevieve Cabrera told The Associated Press in an email that she found the discolored metal tag sticking out of the soil of a farm field on Saipan in early 2014. It was embossed with Davis’ name, serial number, hometown and other information.

Cabrera recently gave the tag to members of Kuentai, a Japan-based organization that has found the remains of five 27th Division soldiers on Saipan.

The group notified the AP this month about the dog tag’s discovery in the hope that his relatives could be found.

The AP tracked down members of the soldier’s family with the help of Anthony Barger, the archivist for the Putnam County Public Library.