For keepsakes

Photo By Sgt. Jasmine Higgins | Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, deputy commanding general, I Corps, takes a look, the first in over 30 years, at his United States Military Academy at West Point class ring on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 19. Dahl lost his class ring in June of 1982, when his car, and all of his possessions inside of it, were stolen and was recently reunited with it. (U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Jasmine Higgins, 28th Public Affairs Detachment)  

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES

05.21.2015

Story by Sgt. Jasmine Higgins 

28th Public Affairs Detachment

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Finders keepers, losers weepers is a common saying many have come to experience first hand, especially the latter and for Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, the saying dates back 30 years, until recently he coined a new variation to the conventional old saying: Finders weepers, losers keepers.

On May 19, after 30 years of separation and the help of, Carolyn Coleman, an Oklahoma City native, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, deputy commanding general, I Corps, was reunited with his United States Military Academy of West Point class ring on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

“I’m glad that it finally found its way back to its rightful owner and where it belongs,” said Coleman. “I actually got a little teary-eyed knowing that he would get his ring back, because who knows what that ring may have meant to him.”

Class rings are generally worn to commemorate a student’s graduation, but for some, the rings take on a deeper meaning making them a keepsake.

“I think the West Point ring, for everybody who graduates from West Point, sort of ties you to those formative years,” said Dahl. “That’s when you go from being a 17-year-old in high school to being, in this case, a 21-year-old commissioned officer in the United States Army. An awful lot of change took place during those four years, and it took place at West Point, and that’s what this ring represents.”

Dahl was separated from his USMA class ring in June of 1982 when his car and all of his possessions that were inside it, to include the ring, were stolen. It wasn’t until 1985 when the ring would resurface and end up in the hands of Beulah Bee Irwin, mother to Coleman.

“My parents were into remodeling homes for rental houses,” said Coleman. “They were in a house one day in Oklahoma City and there it was, just sitting on the floor.”

Having little to go on, and even less resources and searching capabilities, finding the owner to the ring back then was virtually impossible, so Irwin stashed it away in her jewelry box for safe keeping.

“Back then, there wasn’t really much we could do with it,” said Coleman. “We didn’t have the Internet, so there was no way in finding who it belongs too."

It wasn’t until recently, nearly 30 years later, when Coleman stumbled across the ring while rummaging through her mother's belongings, that she was able search, find and actually make contact with the rings rightful owner, Kenneth Dahl.

“Obviously she understands that it means an awful lot, and I really appreciate her doing the right thing,” said Dahl.

Whether it be a rewarding feeling for doing something kind or being reunited with a long-lost keepsake, in the end, both parties had something to gain from this experience, whilst also sharing a mutual appreciation of one another.

“I want to say thank you for all your honesty and for your very deliberate efforts to finding who it belongs to,” said Dahl. “To do the research, then to make contact, and then to reconnect me with my ring after all this time.”

“I guess it’s just my little way of saying thank you for doing what you do, protecting our country. I’m just glad, and it made me feel like I had did something kind of neat,” said Coleman. “Because now we have a good ending to a long story.”

• Date Taken: 05.21.2015
• Date Posted: 05.21.2015 18:03
• Story ID: 164161
• Location: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US
• Hometown: OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US