But to my delight, Pam answered me. She was somewhat amazed and puzzled as to how I found it but she was also delighted to hear the news. As it happens, she was due to see her Mum, Robert’s wife, that very evening for her own son’s graduation and she couldn’t wait to tell her about the find. "He died 16 years ago but we talk about him daily" she said. "It will make my Mom very happy!”.
Bob's wife kindly sent me photographs of Bob as a child – probably at around about the same age as he would have been when he was wearing his ID tag. She also attended the same school as Bob, St Savior's Brooklyn and was 2 years behind him. She too remembers being issued with a metal ID tag.
It’s quite timely that this New York mudlarking find surfaced from the mud at a time when talk of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats have once again bubbled up to the surface. It's made me realise with some relief that I've made great progress in no longer becoming anxious over things that I really have no control over! I have mudlarking in part to thank for that.
Thank you to the Luchun family for allowing me to share Bob’s story. Thanks to Alex for enlightening me on the story of the tags and for the research. Thank you to Merrill Kazanjian of Metal Detecting NYC for taking me to DHB. And thank you to the author of the Forgotten History Blog.