DES MOINES, Iowa - A priceless wooden box of war mementos has been returned to an Iowa family, thanks to a National Guard member and a Department of Natural Resources worker.
The story began on April 28, when the Iowa Army National Guard's Alpha Company held its annual "Guard the Environment" volunteer mission.
More than 120 recruits gathered at Big Creek State Park north of Des Moines to clean up trash while building camaraderie, esprit-de-corps and teamwork. When done, they filled three dumpsters with garbage.
One, soldier, however, found something special while cleaning the beach near a fishing area. That's where Pvt. Nathan Swaim stepped over an old, wooden box decorated with Japanese lettering.
"It looked like it was neatly placed, kind of pushed up against a fallen tree," says Swaim, a Marshalltown native and recent graduate of Green Mountain Garwin High School.
Inside was a treasure trove of memories; the box was stuffed full of photos, letters, jewelry, silk handkerchiefs, military patches and memorabilia from France, Belgium, Australia, the Philippines and the South Pacific.
"I kind of felt like a treasure hunter," says Swaim. It was fitting that a young Iowa private would find this box, once belonging to another young private, a World War II veteran and Iowa native, Darrell Evans.
"It was such a surprise to find this time capsule of history tucked away, under some brush, just waiting for a fellow soldier to find it and help bring it home," says Linda King, DNR volunteer coordinator who oversaw the soldiers' volunteer efforts. Once the box was given to King, she made it her mission to find its owner and unravel the mystery as to why it was left in a remote park area. First she dried out the wet and mildewing contents.
"I was anxious to get information from the letters to find the family," says King, who quickly rifled through the contents to try and track down the owner. "We all knew it was something very special that had to get back to the family."
Found inside were a few solid pieces of evidence, including a small newspaper clipping about a Pfc. Darrell Evans of Madrid, who saw combat in France and Germany.
From that 100-word blurb, King and her team were able to initiate a furious Internet search. They learned that Evans died in 1996. But they discovered his daughter, Darra Kennedy, lived in Madrid.
The box was given to Kennedy during a ceremony at Camp Dodge less than a month after the original find.
"I know Linda went through a lot of work to get this back to me," says Kennedy. "I had no idea this existed, but the shock of finding the box 17 years after my dad's been gone, and the location where they found it, is great," Kennedy says.
Like many service members who saw combat at that time, Kennedy's father never spoke about the war in front of his family.
"I know he saw a lot of war, but he didn't talk about it. A buddy would come over and go upstairs and they'd spend hours talking Army, but we weren't allowed to go up there. We knew that was off limits," she says.
Unfortunately, all of Evans' World War II memorabilia was lost during an estate sale after his death, including this box. Any hope of piecing together what he did was considered lost after the sale. Now, all those memories that were once off limits to a young Darra, then lost to her family, are now in her possession.
"I hope her research will help her find out the basics, like where her father served, what he saw and what he encountered," says King. "Most importantly, this will give her some insight as to who her father was as a soldier and as a friend during a horrible time of war. This is a gift."
More than 20 letters were contained in the box-many between Evans and buddies he served with during the war. There were also letters from his brother Dean, serving in the southwest Pacific. Through the letters, clues about Evans' service are coming to light. One recalls a mortar barrage in Brest, France. The Battle of Brest, 1944, was one of the fiercest battles fought on the western front. Evans' efforts in that battle helped the Allies to regain control of a key supply port.
"I think I'm going to learn a lot more about my dad and his younger days. I think it's all going to be very interesting."