Man's wallet returned after 62 years

Associated Press

January 17, 2007 11:20 am

— MEXICO, Mo. — Ray Heilwagen has his wallet back — 62 years after he lost it in France during World War II.
Late last year, he received a call from Stephen Breitenstein of Palatine, Ill.
“He said, ‘Did you lose a billfold?’ and I remembered I did,” Heilwagen said. “Then he said, ‘I found it and will send it to you.’ I could hardly believe it.”
Breitenstein’s father, who also served in France during World War II, recently died. Digging through his father’s possessions — ironically on Veteran’s Day — his son found the old wallet. He figured his dad found it during the war and brought it home, but couldn’t locate Heilwagen.
Using the Internet, Breitenstein tracked down Heilwagen. After their phone conversation, he mailed the wallet to him. It included some francs, pictures and some receipts.
Heilwagen served with the Army’s 79th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army and he was in combat in France from its arrival in July 1944 until he was hospitalized that November with leg wounds. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
“I was impressed that a stranger would go to such trouble to locate me and return my wallet,” Heilwagen said.