WWII Dog Tag of Lucie Snowder found in Apache Junction, AR

The text came in from Justin last week. Justin's grandfather Orville, a native of North Dakota, who owns property in Apache Junction, Arizona, ran across a rare find.

There, in a horse pen, he found an old dog tag bearing the name Lucie L Snowder.

Wanting to return the dog tag, Justin reached out to his friend Master Sgt (ret) Phil Atkinson for guidance. Atkinson, a NJ native who recently moved out to Arizona, contacted his friend Sue Quinn-Morris of Patriot Connections Dog Tag Project as he knew she would be honored to investigate and locate the veteran/family.

The call and text paid off - on Sunday, March 14th, Lucie Snowder's dog tag was reunited with her family.

Lucie Snowder

WWII veteran Lucie L Caron was born April 4, 1921 in Brunswick, Maine to Louis and Faboila Caron.

Lucie joined the Woman's Army Corps and attained rank of Sergeant before leaving in 1945. She was part of the WAC detachment at William Field in Arizona.

During her service, she married Cpl Albert Snowder and they had 4 children.

Her husband died at the early age of 51, in 1970. He is buried in Tempe Double Butte Cemetery.

Lucie L Caron Snowder passed away on July 18, 1998 in Arizona, her children by her side.

Lucie Snowder's daughters reunited with their mothers military dog tag

Lucie Snowder's daughters, Linda and Alison, were presented with their mothers dog tag at the VFW in Apache Junction, Arizona on Sunday.

Ironically, just a few short years ago, Lucie's daughter, Linda Gayles, was in the midst of returning a dog tag to a family who lost their son, Billy Bresnahan, in Vietnam.

In March 2018, Gayles had been traveling for two months through Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar and spent 19 days in Vietnam. On the last day of her visit, in a gift shop, she spotted a collection of old Zippo lighters, and a scattering of dog tags. In the end, one of the items she purchased was the dog tag of Billy Bresnahan, who she later found out had been killed in action in Vietnam. In May of 2018, Billy's family was reunited with his dog tag.

And now, 3 years later, things come full circle....

To read article about Linda Gayles return of dog tag to the family of KIA Billy Bresnahan, click here. (More to follow)