I dont think he will be giveing it back because it dont look like panzer90 has even been on this site since 13/3/10. Shame it would be really smart to hand it back to the family.
I dont think he will be giveing it back because it dont look like panzer90 has even been on this site since 13/3/10. Shame it would be really smart to hand it back to the family.
Hi,
What a sad thing to put such an object on a thread and leave it at that, Items like dogtags are found all over the battlefields but not many are returned to the families. But this one seems different in that it has ID, and the family traced, I for one would love to have found it and returned it to the owners, they are nice to have in the collection but to give something like this back
would be an Honor.
Dave.
ps, Some of us have honor and some dont.
This has been a most interesting thread and especially the honourable members of this fine site insisting the dogtag should be returned to the mans family. It really should be returned to the family where it rightfully belongs and i think most of us would do the right thing and return it. This brings me to my main point-at the end of the 1991 Gulf War a member of 2nd Royal Scots battlegroup tasked with clearing up came across the body of a young Iraqi soldier who he at first thought was alive, but was sadly dead when checked over. Amongst his things ina green web bag was a small pvc coated diary dated 1990. In full compliance with the Geneva Covention he removed the diary and having documented its owners details and address etc he decided to keep it. Ten years later this diary was offered to me as the soldier didnt want to keep it any longer and didnt want it translated as he felt it may be upsetting to read. Now-as all of the mans details are in it and have been translated how might i go about returning this to the mans family???? He has a brother named Raad living in Basra at the same address and with the Iraq situation much better than it was it should not be too hard to return this document to the brother-but how might i do this? Would appreciate any ideas on this guys. Regards to all Tim.
Tim,a very difficult but honorable idea.
In my opinion,by calling Iraq embassy in London,they could really help you,cause,i think that your wish to give back this diary,could be the best example of" time has passed now".
Congratulations!
I concur that the return of the dogtag to the family is the proper action to take. Over my many years of collecting, I have returned several items to the relatives of a deceased soldier. To me, the items were an object. To the family, the item became a family treasure revered in the honor of a blood relative who made the ultimate sacrifice. Please give it serious consideration.
BOB
LIFE'S LOSERS NEVER LEARN FROM THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS.
I received a personal message and Panzer has offered to return the dog tag to our family! Thank you for all of your support. Once received, I will see about posting a video of the dog tag at his grave.
Will "Panzer" get a respectable reward for finding and "returning" the tags? Considering the story to them i expect they are quite valuable.
It has been more than a month with no communication from Panzer and nothing in my mailbox. I am beginning to wonder if he is indeed honorable! I have not told any family members, as I did not want to disappoint. I will continue to pray that Edward Stecz's dog tag can be returned to our family. I have learned from my cousin that he was awarded the Purple Heart and his only surviving sibling , her elderly and ill mother has it. It would be nice to present it to her.
Thanks for the ideas there as i didnt think to get in touch with the Iraqi Embassy but will certainly write to them now with all of the information. I have spoken to many refugees from the North of Iraq who are in the UK and many of them said that the dead mans brother and indeed his family would have waited for him to return home after the fighting and when he failed to come back home would have known the worst had happened. If the story of how the diary was found and indeed its very personal contents would give some form of attachment and closure to that family it would be a very honourable thing to do. Its something that has been gnawing away at me for some time as if it were my brother or family member i would appreciate such a personal possession. As for the contents in every respect Rfat Altimimi was an ordinary Iraqi soldier-he speaks of his training and the dull jobs meted out to the ordinary soldiers to the buying of food from a local town for a big celebration and visiting family and friends. Its a sad window into a very short life of one young man. The British soldier who found it told me how angry he was as the group of dead Iraqi soldiers were not armed and looks as if they were trying to get home across the dessert when the USAF caught them near Basra-and that maybe they should not have been fired on. Thats the sad thing with war though and after all these years one can hope that friendship is now possible in a very different Iraq from the one back in 1991. Regards, Tim.
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