The ties that connect us all are much stronger than they first appear.
For proof, look no further than the story of a young boy from Medina, Ohio, who came to possess a piece of a Texas family's past.
In July, 9-year-old Lenny Aydemir got a special visit from his uncle from France. He brought with him a set of World War II dog tags that had been found by a family friend more than 2 decades ago, News Net 5 reports.
According to Yahoo Shine, Lenny's uncle received the tags 10 years ago, and hadn't been able to find the family they belonged to.
The historical memento piqued Lenny's curiosity. "I asked some questions about it like, 'What was it and why am I having it?'" Lenny told News Net 5.
He then began to look for the tags' owner. Lenny learned that Jack B. Robbins, from Wichita Falls, Texas, was a WWII fighter pilot who lost the tags in France, when his plane was shot down in 1944. He survived and was able to return to the U.S., but wasn't reunited with the tags before his death in 1969.
Lenny spent the next few months learning all he could about Robbins and even reached out to Chicago historian Jackie Flannery, who has been researching Robbins for years for a book she's putting together on WWII pilots. She worked with Lenny to create a presentation of all their findings, and on Monday, Lenny will present his research and the tags to Robbins' family members, who are flying in for a special Veteran's Day ceremony at Lenny's elementary school, AP reports.
“It will be really cool to see the smile on their face when I give the dog tags to them,” Lenny told Yahoo.
"When I speak, I'm just like so emotional," Lenny's mother Deborah Aydemir told News Net 5, "because when you imagine that American people came to help France and now my son tried to do something to thank the family."
Correction: An earlier version of this article's headline incorrectly stated that Lenny Aydemir found the missing dog tags.
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