"Casey’s boots are gone! His boots are gone."
Ummm. . . where did she get his boots? Weren't they left in Iraq? If he had army boots from a previous tour of duty, wouldn't they have been turned in someplace before he was sent overseas?
Don't know the answers, but have to wonder just exactly where these boots came from.
Either an old pair of boots he left behind or personal effects shipped home. I can almost guarantee you those weren't his working pair of boots.
You don't turn in your boots or shoes. My boots are the only thing I have left from my AF ROTC field training. The uniforms, 1505s (khakis) and fatigues, had to be returned. Oh I did have a ball cap and some low quarter shoes, but I continued to wear the shoes when in uniform. I rarely wore the boots, since I rarely wore the fatigues, and I still have them, 34 years later. They are even fairly well shined, since I did wear them as a Reservist a couple of times a year back in the mid 1980s and have only worn them a couple of times since then.