Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Dillon | Retired Coast Guardsman Robert R. Edwards (left) is given a shadow box by Corey Coker...... read more read more
HOUSTON – A retired Coast Guardsman was reunited with his shadow box at a presentation at Navy Recruiting District Houston headquarters Feb. 20 in Houston.
Robert R. Edwards, of Richmond, Texas, is a decorated Coast Guard veteran whose 26-year-career spanned from the Vietnam conflict to Grenada ending with the first Gulf War. He lost the shadow box three years ago and never thought he would see it again.
“The box was inside a storage container where a bunch of his stuff was,” said Rachel Edwards, Robert’s daughter. “Our family was in a really bad place when we lost that container.”
“I was in a really dark period of my life,” Robert Edwards said. “I personally lost a lot.”
Fast forward three years. Cory Coker, the vehicle coordinator for NRD Houston, was browsing around a local pawn shop as he occasionally likes to do.
“I was in a pawn shop looking around when I saw an item that shouldn’t have been there,” Coker said. “I saw the shadow box and knew that this piece was not in the appropriate place.”
As a result, Coker purchased the box with the intent of returning it to the rightful owner.
“I began to investigate, to see if I could track down Edwards,” said Coker. “I worked through the Coast Guard retirement pay department and explained the situation, and they forwarded my contact information to Edwards.”
“When I purchased the box, it was in pretty poor condition,” said Coker. “I knew if I was going to present this box to Edwards it needed to be in better condition.”
Subsequently, Coker recruited the help of Neail Tyson, NRD Houston’s financial management analyst. Together they refurbished the box for presentation to Edwards.
“I was so grateful Cory found the box,” said Edwards. “It really means the world to me; it brings back the memories of my 26-year Coast Guard career. I reflected on all of the memories I spent at sea, from the North Pole to the South Pole.”
Reuniting Edwards has positively affected Coker as well.
“This feels so good,” he said. “He worked hard to serve his country, he deserves to have this, it is meant to be his.”
The camaraderie and unity of this occasion was highlighted by Edwards.
“Once you’re in the military, you are always in the military, no matter what,” he said. “I am so grateful that dark period of my life is over with. Now my shadow box can proudly be displayed on the wall in my front room, next to my other Coast Guard memories, for everybody to see.”
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2013 11:15 |
| Story ID: | 102376 |
| Location: | HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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