Gig Harbor resident Harold (Hal) Roberts, 90, needs your help. During the snowstorm this past January, the World War II veteran accidentally lost a prized possession - his combat jump wings - when the pouch he always carries them around in fell from his pocket. Roberts thinks they were dropped and lost while out running errands in Gig Harbor near his home. In the months since, Roberts has searched high and low, turned out every coat pocket, but to no avail.

"I've always treasured those wings - there is little that means more to me," said Roberts, though his dear wife of 70 years, Jeanne, is undoubtedly in the running. "I'll admit that losing them has caused me to shed a few tears."

Roberts served with the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company during WWII and during that time he saw fighting in Italy, parachuted into southern France with Operation Dragoon, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, before moving into highly occupied areas in Germany. Throughout all of those epic events, his jump wings were attached to his uniform.

The wings had even more sentimental value though; when a young Technician 5 (now Specialist) Roberts was in Nice, France, he ran into a man scavenging for food and Roberts selflessly handed over his K-rations because, as he succinctly said, "I knew I could get more."

Roberts was ushered to the man's home to meet his wife and an orphaned niece and to dine with them. Following the meal, the family requested to have the wings blessed for Roberts as a thank you and when the wings were returned, they had a St. Christopher medal attached with the young girl's name inscribed on the back.  

"I often looked at these wings and wondered if they and those blessings were what saved me and kept me alive," Roberts said quietly. "The attention that I am receiving because of this is overwhelming, the fact that so many people care to help me find them - all I can do is pray and acknowledge that there is something greater than me."
"Hal is the nicest man you could ever meet," said David De Boer, who met Roberts nine years ago and is at the helm of making this search public. "Since I've known him he has been an inspiration to me and is truly one of my best friends. Seeing him this distraught is hard."

If you locate the missing wings, please contact Roberts immediately at (253) 225-1506.