Virginia WWII veteran’s long-lost dog tags returned to family

ORANGE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - A mystery has been solved and a lost treasure returned to a family in Orange County. The story starts with a set of lost World War II dog tags being rediscovered.

Through detective work and a little bit of good fortune, a son has something his marine dad had lost and likely feared was gone forever.

Rusty McGuire is a colonel in the Virginia Army National Guard. He is also the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Louisa County.

“The grandfather of Beth Lewis, he would go around to yard sales, thrift stores, estate sales, and he would buy things. And this just was in something he bought, whether it was, you know, 15 years ago or 50 years ago,” McGuire said.

Beth Lewis was going through her grandfather’s stuff when she found the dog tags. She gave the artifacts to McGuire: Metal medallions stamped with the name “Amos Yount,” a marine from WWII.

“I was able to find it so quick to find out not only that he had passed away in Orange County, but his son with the same name was still living in Orange County,” McGuire said. “In 15 minutes. I found out most of that information.”

That lead McGuire to Yount’s doorstep, and after double checking the information, he delivered the lost and found bis of history to the family.

“[Yount Sr.] was good. He was fighting for your county, you know?” Amos Yount Jr. said. “When the war was over, only five of them weren’t dead from the battalion. He was one of them.”

Amos Jr.’s father fought in the Pacific at Okinawa and Tinian.

“I wish he’d be here you know, but what all can I say,” Yount Jr. said.

For McGuire, this was a mission accomplished.

“That’s something his daddy wore, and on Tinian Island when he fought for his life. Something he wore on Okinawa fighting for his life at the end of the war,” McGuire said. “That piece of history is now back in his family.”

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