An army warrant officer’s medals stolen from a ute seven years ago are now on their way back to their owner – thanks to an eagle-eyed op-shopper.
Warrant officer Clive Douglas was devastated when his set of miniatures, worn on formal occasions, were taken from his ute parked at Wellington Airport in 2017.
He thought they were gone for good.
But last week, Porirua woman Leslee Chase was rummaging through a box outside a local charity shop, and spotted the set of medals under some paints.
Her own father’s World War 2 medals were stolen from her sister’s place in the eighties, and she was worried someone else had lost something special.
“I knew what it would be like for the family, to have those very precious things taken,” she said.
So Chase took the set to the local RSA.
Its welfare officer John Hannan contacted the veterans’ charity, the New Zealand Remembrance Army, which posted a photo of the set on Facebook.
Half a day later, warrant officer Clive Douglas saw it.
He was gobsmacked.
“It was an emotional moment, because you see something that’s dear to your heart, and the sacrifice that not only veterans make when they’re serving our country, but when you’re serving overseas… I’m still emotional about it now,” he said.
Douglas knew immediately they were his: a special set from missions in Somalia, Timor-Leste and Bosnia as well as a long service medal, which he earned after 15 years.
After they were stolen, he had some replicas made up, but they did not replace what he had lost.
“There’s nothing like the originals… they mean so much to me.”
Douglas, who has been serving in the army for 39 years, is currently posted in the United States.
He said a mate would pick up his medals from the RSA, and soon, he would be able to pin them back on to his mess uniform, thanks to Chase.
“I’m just really grateful for that lady to take that initiative,” he said.
Chase was over the moon to learn the RSA had found Douglas.
“I was so happy when he came to tell me he had found the owner,” she said.
“I gave him a hug, I feel so good about that.”
Simon Strombom from the Remembrance Army said the medals were a remarkable find.
When he called in to the RSA to see them and take a picture, he was expecting something from World War 2 – but realised it was a set that could only belong to a handful of people.
“I said to him, shit, that’s a modern veteran.
“I nearly fell over backwards.”
Strombom was even more shocked to find their owner in less than a day. It was a great ending, he said.
rnz.co.nz