A 104-year-old woman in Massachusetts has received her brother's military identification tags 83 years after he died in a plane crash during World War II.
asserted
he → receive → II
Dorothy Stewart, who was 21 when her brother Bernard Parnell died in 1943, was reunited with his dog tags at a ceremony held at a YMCA last month.
asserted
brother → die → YMCA
According to CBS Boston, the identification tags were found among old military records at Beverly Veterans' Services.
uncertain
tags → accord → Services
Officials did not know how they had reached the office, but spent several years trying to locate Parnell's surviving family members.
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they → know → members
Their search eventually led them to Stewart, who was still living in Beverly.
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who → lead → Beverly
For Stewart, the discovery brought back memories of her brother, whose body was never recovered after the aircraft crashed off the Florida coast.
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aircraft → bring → coast
Speaking to CBS Boston, she recalled his appearance and popularity when he was young.
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he → speak → appearance
The girls used to chase him all of the time," she said.
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she → use → time
The reunion became possible through the efforts of Ken McKay, assistant director of Veterans' Services in Beverly.
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reunion → become → Beverly
He had been examining old records when he discovered the tags.
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he → examine → tags
A document submitted more than five decades earlier eventually helped him identify Stewart and arrange their return.
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him → submit → return
How Bernard Parnell died
Bernard Parnell joined the US Navy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
asserted
Parnell → die → December
He subsequently travelled to Florida, where he was training to serve as a radioman aboard an aircraft.
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he → travel → aircraft
His life ended in 1943 when the aircraft developed engine trouble and crashed into the sea off Florida.
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aircraft → end → Florida
Stewart remembered what she had been told about the incident, including her brother's actions before the crash.
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she → remember → crash
"It had engine trouble and it crashed off the coast of Florida," she said.
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she → have → Florida
According to Stewart, Parnell gave a life jacket to the aircraft's pilot, Lieutenant James Digh.
uncertain
Parnell → accord → pilot
The pilot survived the crash, but Parnell did not.
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Parnell → survive → crash
My brother's body was never found," Stewart said.
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Stewart → find → ?
With his remains never recovered, the family had no opportunity to bring him home.
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family → recover → him
His military identification tags were also missing for decades, until their discovery among the records maintained by Beverly Veterans' Services.
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tags → miss → Services
The search began when McKay was going through a collection of historical documents stored in a tote at the veterans' services office.
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McKay → begin → office
Some of the records dated back to the Spanish-American War.
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Some → date → War
Among the documents were several military identification tags belonging to former service members.
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tags → belong → members
"This is the fourth or fifth maybe dog tag that we've pulled out of these files," McKay told CBS Boston.
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McKay → pull → Boston
McKay could not establish how the tags had originally reached the office.
uncertain
tags → establish → office
Nevertheless, he began looking for relatives who might still be alive.
uncertain
who → begin → relatives
For approximately four to five years, the tags remained hanging on a frame in his office while he continued his research.
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he → hang → research
According to People magazine, McKay would investigate available records, put the search aside when he reached a dead end and return to it later.
uncertain
he → accord → it
As more historical documents became available digitally, he was able to make progress.
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he → become → progress
One record proved particularly useful- an application for a headstone for Bernard Parnell, submitted in 1972.
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record → prove → 1972
The person who had filed that application was Dorothy Stewart.
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who → file → application
How McKay found Stewart
Finding Stewart's name was an important development, but McKay initially doubted whether she would still be alive.
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she → find → name
Given the number of years that had passed since the headstone application, he began by searching for her obituary.
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he → give → obituary
"Due to her age, I initially just searched for an obituary," he said.
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he → search → obituary
Instead, McKay came across a news article about Stewart's achievements in indoor rowing.
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McKay → come → rowing
She had won five consecutive world championships while competing in an age category she described as 95 plus.
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she → win → 95
The rowing article gave McKay a possible way to contact her.
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article → give → her
He approached the YMCA, explained his position and told staff why he wanted to reach Stewart.
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he → approach → Stewart
"With that, I called the YMCA, and explained who I am.
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I → call → YMCA
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
