Posted on 09/04/2015 4:52:36 PM PDT by naturalman1975
After more than 50 years, a former Australian Naval petty officer has been reunited with a cap he swapped one night on shore leave in the Philippines.
The cap has travelled to Hobart from the United States where it was discovered languishing in a Massachusetts basement.
Roger Dewar is 73 now, but in 1964 he was a young petty officer serving in the Asia Pacific on the HMAS Quiberon.
On shore leave in the Philippines one night he met and fell in with a group of American Navy men, one of whom was an electrician's mate named Ray Silvia.
At the end of the night Mr Dewar and Mr Silvia decided to swap caps and parted company, never to meet again.
Fifty-three years later, the cap re-surfaced.
Mr Silvia's relative, Robert Musker, discovered it in a Massachusetts basement and decided to track down Mr Dewar and return the cap.
It had Mr Dewar's name stamped inside.
His search led him to Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, who took up the search on his behalf.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
Also some interesting anachronisms in the article - claims it happened in 1964, when there is a photo of the night it happened dated 1963 - that's just sloppy editing.
Why didn’t they say what became of Seaman Silva? Not a very informative story. Can we assume he’s deceased?
Great memories of that club. I was there in the ‘70s though. Some of these guys may have been my LPOs or shop Chiefs.
In fact the First Class inthe Service Dress Whites does look kind of familiar... LOL!
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