Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
James Clooney's 1943 Maine Maritime Academy Ring
Found by Dan C. in Saipan and Returned to Surviving Family Members.
Found by Dan C. in Saipan and Returned to Surviving Family Members.
This is what we do. The treasure hunters that I know do great things. I've reported before on how this blog's readers have reunited lost objects with the people that owned them, and sometimes with surviving loved ones. It can take a lot of time and effort before the reunion takes place. I posted about how the ring of Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. was found after being lost for many years and then was returned to the surviving family members. What I am going to tell you about today is similar in some ways. Dan C. from Orlando told me about finding a 1943 ring that was lost in Saipan during the war, and after many years and much research, he was able to return the ring to the family and provide them with some family history they never knew. I'll let that fellow tell you in his own words.
Below is the email that I received from Dan C. describing how the ring was found and returned.
Below is the email that I received from Dan C. describing how the ring was found and returned.
Your article on returning lost items was a good read and reminded me of my “best” find returned, but it took 20 years to locate the owner:
I located a class ring from Maine Maritime Academy, Class of 1943, with the owners name inscribed inside the band. (See photo above.).
The ring was found at the island of Saipan where one of the most massive WWII battles was fought. The 10k gold cleaned up OK, but the synthetic Onyx dye had leached out of the stone after 51 years or so underwater.
I re-dyed it with a black sharpie pen.
That was in 1996. In 1997 I got my first computer and one of the first things I did was look up Maine Maritime Academy and found that it was still in operation. The academy trained merchant marines and prospective Naval officers during WWII, so my thought was the ring was lost by a Navy officer during the war. I was excited to get it back to its owner or surviving kin. I emailed the academy looking for information on the gentleman whose name was inscribed on the ring, telling the story of how it was found.
I never got a reply back. I put the ring away in a small box of mystery items and other finds and forgot about it for years. Then in 2016 on a whim I decided to rekindle my search. By this time the internet had matured and I was able to find some MMA yearbooks posted online, and sure enough, there was Mr Cooney’s photo. Now I had his full name. From there I searched the internet using his name and found his obituary – he had died in about 2006- but it listed his surviving kin. From there I learned from further searches that his younger son had also died but that he had another who was a doctor in New York. Knowing the doctors name led me to a website for a hospital where he was the head of surgery, and the one thing I needed - his office telephone number. I called and spoke with a secretary and pleaded for her to listen carefully, to not hang up on me, as I was not crazy. I asked her to please tell Dr Cooney that I had found his fathers ring which had been lost at Saipan, proving the validity by naming MMA class of 43 and his fathers full name.
An hour later she dialed me back and said the doctor would speak to me. I spoke to him excitedly telling him the whole story. He told me that his father never spoke of his WWII experience, but only that he was an officer on a ship during the war in the Pacific theater. He had made his sons swear to him never to enlist in the military. His widow was in assisted living at that time, so the plan was for her to be presented with the ring during her Christmas visit with the family. The letter below was sent via email to Dr Cooney shortly after our phone call, and the ring was sent to him a few days later along with an aerial view with the exact spot where the ring was found marked on the map. I later received a card and a small box of edibles as a thank you but never heard how their reunion went. I suppose that in many ways it’s none of my business.
“ DR Cooney,
It was great talking to you today !
This brings closure to something that started 19 or 20 years ago.
As I mentioned, shortly after finding the ring, I had contacted Maine Maritime Academy seeking their assistance in locating your dad. I received no reply from them. Recently I decided to rekindle the search and after some time scouring the internet, here we are.
The ring was found about 200 feet offshore of the present day Hyatt Regency Hotel at Saipan.
Of course, the hotel was not there in 1944 and 45 when the USN was using the island as a staging area for further attacks on Japanese held islands.
The town of Garapan and nearby Tanapag harbor at that time were bustling with activity with warehouses being built, floating docks for offloading the battle supplies, a field hospital for the injured, ships being repaired out in the harbor anchorage, and Navy and Marine forces getting a little rest between deployments on Saipan's beaches.
The ring was found in about 1996 shortly after a typhoon moved some sand out of the area, exposing the long buried ring.
It was in about 4 feet of water, and probably under 2 feet of sand before the typhoon.
I found it with my submersible metal detector which I still own although it is undergoing repairs at this time.
As I recall, the ring was under about 10 inches of sand and coral debris.
My hobby at that time was finding lost jewelry from the Japanese tourists that now frequent Saipan.
So, by my estimation, the ring was buried in the sea bed for 51 years.
Your fathers name is as clear as the day it was engraved inside the ring.
He could have been part of USN Task Force 58, which was responsible for the capture of Saipan in June of 1944.
It would be great to learn which ship he was on.
But Saipan was also used as a staging area for the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, as far as I know.
So there may have been another Naval Task Force there after the initial capture of the island.
I will be sending a map and a detailed statement similar to this one in the upcoming days, and wish that the ring will be in your hands by Christmas, and that your mother will be in a lucid state to receive same.
You will hear from me soon !
It has been an honor speaking with you,"
Thank for sharing Dan. Great work!
It is one thing to rescue an item like that and wonder who lost it and under what circumstances, but it takes it to another level entirely when you learn more about the owner and can return an item to those to whom it means the most. It is very fortunate when an item is so clearly marked with a name or other identifying information.
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I'm working on a couple other posts and will address one archaeologist's article on why they are unable to convince the public.
I will also post some more personal detecting experiences.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
