A B.C. man is reaching out on social media in hopes of returning missing Second World War medals to their rightful owner.
Martin Bokesch, 61, put out a plea on Facebook Friday asking for help in identifying the four medals that he believes belong to a Canadian veteran.
As of Sunday night, the post had been shared nearly 23,000 times and Bokesch says that he has received between 450 and 500 Facebook messages with “leads and tips.”
“It has gotten way beyond what I ever imagined it would do,” Bokesch told CTVNews.ca by phone on Sunday.
“There’s so many sincere, and so many interested (people) and I’m just totally amazed, totally … overwhelmed with the response and the people that have stepped forward to volunteer and help.”
The resident of Vernon, B.C. says that his wife, Jeanne, discovered the medals about 18 years ago inside a box after cleaning out a used desk that she purchased in the Montreal-suburb of Kirkland, Que.
Bokesch says that at the time, his wife didn’t know how to track down the owners of the medals and put them aside, and “of course totally forgot about it.”
Recently, the pair was cleaning the clutter in their home in anticipation of a move. That’s when they stumbled upon the box with the medals inside.
“I opened up the box, and I went ‘Oh, we’ve got to do something about this, and we’ve got to do something now,” said Bokesch.
The box containing the medals was addressed to a Mrs. Dorothy I. Priest of Timmins, Ont. But, it also has the last name Nicholls, and an undecipherable first initial, handwritten across its centre.
Bokesch says he initially contacted the Royal Canadian Legion but they were unable to help him, and messages to the Department of Veterans Affairs went unanswered.
But since he reached out on Facebook, he says that he been put in contact with a woman who is believed to be the daughter of Dorothy Priest.
Bokesch says he sent the family a note earlier on Sunday asking to speak with them.
“There’s a chance it could be the grandfather’s, and there may not be a chance,” he said.
“The puzzle being, the box may not be the box that the medals were sent in.”
The second name on the box remains largely a mystery, in part because Bokesch can’t identify the first initial, which is written in cursive.
Since posting to social media, Bokesch says he has also been in contact with people inside Veterans Affairs who have offered to help him in his search.
As for the awards themselves, Bokesch says that medals given out for service in the Second World War bear no inscription or information that could help lead him to their owner.
He says he believes he has identified the four medals as a 1939-1945 Star, an Atlantic Star, aCanadian Volunteer Service medal and a War Medal.
Bokesch says that in his quest to find the medals’ owner many people have shared their own personal stories and he has come to truly realize their importance.
“They’re not just medals, I understand that,” Bokesch said. “There is a great desire from the people that have gotten in contact with me that these get to the proper home.”
He added that a potential return to the owner and their family would be “very special to me.”
“These people that had these medals, these people that served our country,” Bokesch said, adding, “They worked for them they’re entitled to them, they’re theirs.”
Source: www.ctvnews.ca