Fifty-three years after losing it in Antarctica, Paul Grisham finally has his wallet back.
Grisham, 91, of San Diego, California, arrived in Antarctica in October 1967 as a Navy meteorologist. At one point during his 13-month assignment, he loses his wallet and eventually forgets it – until last week.
“I was just blown away,” Grisham told The San Diego Union-Tribune after receiving the wallet by mail Saturday. “There was a long line of people who tracked me down and ran to the ground.”
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According to the newspaper, Grisham’s wallet had many memories of his time in Antarctica – which he called ‘The Ice’, as well as his navy ID and driver’s license.
Paul Grisham lost his wallet when he worked in the Antarctic in 1967 and 1968 as a naval meteorologist. Fifty-three years after he left the continent, Grisham’s wallet was returned to him. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
Some of the souvenirs contained a pocket reference card on what to do during nuclear, biological and chemical attacks, a punch card for beer rations, a statement of tax withholding and receipts for money orders sent to his wife.
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Grisham’s wallet and another lost pocket fold were found in 2014 when a building at McMurdo Station on Ross Island in Antarctica was demolished.
Paul Grisham and his wife Carole Salazar look over his wallet and the articles that were in it when he lost the wallet in 1968. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, both from New Hampshire, worked with Bruce McKee of the Indiana Spirit of ’45 non-profit foundation to track down Grisham and the owner of the other wallet.
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The trio had earlier returned a Navy service ID bracelet to its owner after Decato found it in a store and bought it last year. His daughter contacted McKee, who posted an online notice about the bracelet, which led them to the original owner.
Paul Grisham has his 1968 Navy ID card found in his wallet. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
After hearing about the bracelet, the former boss of Decato asked him to find the owners of the lost wallets dug up in the demolition. Decato previously worked for an agency conducting research on Antarctica.
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As with the bracelets, Decato worked with Lindbergh and McKee to successfully locate Grisham through various groups, including the Naval Weather Service Association, of which Grisham is a part.
Paul Grisham holds one of the items found in his wallet, a “pocket reference for atomic, biological and chemical warfare”. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
The trio was also able to return the other wallet to the family of its owner, a man who died in 2016.
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“If it was my father’s possessions, I would have appreciated it the way I think it would,” Lindbergh, whose grandfather served in the Navy, told The Union-Tribune. ‘It was a feel-good thing to do, and my dad and I went to bed and thought another family was as happy as we were. My grandfather would be so proud and my dad is proud to have things in their right places. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.