Minnesota Family Reunited with WWI Dog Tag After More than 80 Years 

By Ryan Juntti
via the WDIO television station (MN) web site

Alan Carpenter often looks for buried artifacts in Hibbing's Cobb Cook Park using his metal detector. It's something he does for fun, but he and his partner Jim Kochevar also return lost items.

Last spring, Carpenter made his most important discovery, a World War I dog tag found buried under at least 6 inches of frost.

"At first I didn't know what it was, I thought it was some kind of token or something until I got home and rinsed it off, then I seen the United States Marine Corps on it," said Carpenter.

With Kochevar's help, this past Memorial Day he figured out the dog tag belonged to Anton Bernhardt, a World War I veteran, and former Hibbing police officer.

Then it was time to track down a family member who they could return it to. After a year of looking, they found Joseph Martin, Anton's great nephew.

"To find something like this after being lost for 80 years that's just unbelievable," said Martin.

And on August 19 at Maple Hill Cemetery in Hibbing where Anton is buried, Martin was given an American flag with the dog tag on top.

"It means a lot to be able to return it to a family member that deserves it. Anything found that we find, if a ring has a name in it, or something, we always return it to the owner. It makes you feel good," said Carpenter.

Read the entire article on the WDIO web site here:

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