Florence Vietnam veteran finds lost dog tag after 56 years
LAKE CITY, S.C. (WBTW)– A Florence man and veteran who served during the Vietnam war lost his dog tags in 1968 and after 56 years later, he got one of them back.
Larry Morganti is an artist and was featured on The Vault Vendor Market’s Facebook page in March. The vendor market is located in Lake City.
Little did Morganti know, a man from Sweden found one of his dog tags two years ago while metal detecting in Vietnam.
“To have something that you lost 56 years ago and really have forgotten about it, and then to surface again, that’s the that’s a miracle,” Morganti said.
Debra Lane, manager for The Vault Vendor Market, posted on Facebook announcing Morganti as artist of the month.
Lane said the last thing she expected was someone reaching out to her saying, “do you know Mr. Larry Morganti, and I thought I don’t know if I need to open this or not or even reply,” she said.
Lane quickly found that named Kristoffer living in Sweden had been looking for Morganti for two years trying to return his dog tag.
Morganti was in the air force for four years and remembers the moment he lost his tags in 1968.
“Just running and hitting the ground,” Morganti said. “And I think that’s when I broke the chain, and they all came out. I had two, both of them came off.”
He said after they went missing, he got replacement dog tags and never thought of it again. He added his time during the Vietnam war brings up both good and bad memories.
Once Lane put the two in touch, Morganti said he couldn’t believe it was really his tag until just recently, when he got it back in the mail.
“I mean, it could have been somebody else’s, could have been a mistake,” Morganti said. “But it wasn’t. It was me.”
Along with the dog tag included in the mail, was a letter from Kristoffer.
“Dear Larry, thank you for your service and welcome home,” Lane said. “I hope that this letter finds you well. And look at you today.”
Morganti and Lane both said they can’t believe how this happened but are forever grateful. Lane said she’s glad to have had a part in this story.
“The fact that I see him now holding his tags is just puts a smile on my face,” Lane said.
Morganti said he plans to keep in touch with Kristoffer and continue to sell his art at The Vault.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.
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