pagesofhistory A Forgotten Gift

A long-forgotten suitcase full of World War II-era memorabilia is found in the attic of an empty home and returned to its rightful — and surprised — owner.

R

ita Shane of Waldorf, Md., received an unexpected gift on Veterans Day: a suitcase filled with

memorabilia once belonging to her father, much of it dating back to his days as a sailor during World War II.

The suitcase had been given to the

Laurel Police Department by an anony- mous person who found it in the attic of an empty home. Police determined the suitcase had once belonged to Shane’s father, Armando Custodio, and contacted her after finding her name on the back of a photograph. Upon collecting the suitcase, Shane was amazed to find it filled with love letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera from her father’s days in the Navy, where he served as a cook. “When I read some of the letters, it was like reading someone’s diary,” Shane says. “I felt like I was snooping, in a way.” Many of the letters expressed Cus-

todio’s love for his wife and family and how much he missed them when he was away. “The letters helped me understand the loneliness my parents went through and how their life was interrupted when my father went off to serve his country,” Shane says.

The house in which the suitcase was found had belonged to the Custodio family. When they moved nearly 25 years ago, the suitcase apparently was forgotten. It was found hidden between two rafters. Shane plans to create a special scrap-

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

book using many of her father’s letters and other items, including photographs yet to be processed. “It’s really exciting because it’s part of our family history,” she says.

P

Remembrance Wall Planned ending congressional approval, the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Wash-

ington, D.C., might one day feature a Wall of Remembrance to honor those who made the ulti- mate sacrifice. The Korean

War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act of 2015, sponsored by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), would authorize such a memorial. The proposed wall would include a list of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed in action; the number of mem- bers who were wounded or listed as miss- ing in action or prisoners of war; and the number of members of the Korean Aug- mentation to the U.S. Army, the Republic of Korea armed forces, and other nations of the U.N. Command who were killed, wounded, missing, or prisoners.

MO

— Don Vaughan, a North Carolina-based free- lance writer, authors this monthly column.

FEBRUARY 2016 MILITARY OFFICER 71

History Lesson On Feb. 20, 1962, then- Marine Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit Earth in his spacecraft Friendship 7. Glenn orbited Earth three times in less than five hours.

A recently proposed House bill might add a circular glass Wall of Remembrance to the Korean War Veterans Memorial.