1���� | January 2019 | Real Hero Report
In 2011, my husband and his father, Tim and Bill Dekryger, joined
the Military Historical Tour group that traveled to Vietnam. The tour
focused on action in Hue City during the 1968 Tet Offensive and visited
various military sites where members of the group served during their time
in Vietnam.
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of Hue City, my husband and father discovered a sidewalk souvenir
vendor selling military paraphernalia. The ‘merchandise’ that caught their
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Vietnam tour, Tim and Bill returned to the vendor and rummaged through
his pile of tags. Tim already had decided he was going to “rescue” as many
tags as he could. More than 30 dog tags were purchased. Their intent—
remove the tags from the souvenir market and return the tags home.
The story doesn’t end there. In 2013, the father-son duo returned to
Vietnam on the Military Historical Tours’ 45th Anniversary of the Battle of
Hue City Tour. Having had two years to contemplate their dog tag rescue
in 2011, they were on the hunt to rescue more of this vendor’s “souvenirs”
and our service member’s lost property. Tim and Bill did encounter the
vendor once again, but this time he only had a few tags for sale.
They told him they would only be there for three days, which meant
three days for him to locate all the tags he could. They would purchase
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ready to be brought back to our country.
Now, the real work has begun. Their goal is to return every single dog
tag to the named person or if no longer living, their families. At the time
this article is published, six have been returned. Here is the list of service
members’ dog tags Tim and Bill still must return home.
Baird, J. R. Bartel, J. H. Basker, G. F.
Bradley, K. A. Bush, J. G. Cammuse, J. D.
Cassady, J. B. Christiansen, E. K. Constance, C. L.
Conzemius, R. V. Corona, R. D. Crew, D. A.
Daldo, J. Diazmelendez, A. Doucette, K. W.
Edminster, J. A. Farnam, T. P. Fedena, C. V.
Ferguson, G. B. Fields, T. L. Fox, P. L.
Frey, S. N. Frostell, M. D. Goodale, W. H.
Greene, D. R. Guy, M. G. Harper, R. L.
Hendrick, M. S. Hendrix, R. Holsey, S.
Hunter, R. V. Johnson, W. G. Jones, D. L.
Josselyn, H. C. Karl, F. X. Kelley, M. T.
Kingery, J. R. Kirk, C. C. Jr. Knott, R. M.
Krezemien, G. Leonard, H. M. Jr. Lyon, A. G.
Mahoney, D. P. Marshall, L. A. Mciver, M. L.
Meadows, M. H. Medford, H. H. Miller, D. D.
Nordling, J. H. O Neil, T. D. Jr. Pate, A. C.
Phillips, J. L. Phillips, L. Plantz, M. D.
Rhone, S. M. Robinson, R. L. Sain, R. R.
Schaeberle, R. F. Schreiber, B. R. Selby, D. W.
Shelby, B. G. Jr. Silver, J. F. Simon, J.
Smith, J. O. Smith, M. R. Smith, N. B.
Snyder, A. L. Soloman, M. E. Starnes, R. L.
Sundeck, S. E. Taylor, M. Jr. Torrellas, R. L.
Triano, D. A. Triano, D. B. Voris, D. E.
Weaver, J. E. Wellard, S. L. Wilson, P. E.
Witner, T. S. Wood, E. L. Wright, D. H.
Read more about these dogtags’ journeys: http://thewordwarrior.net/
blog/real-warriors and reach out to Major Timothy deKryger, USMC (Ret)
here or by email at tjdekryger@hotmail.com for more information or to
help return these dog tags home.
Dog
Tags
Come
Home
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