World War II vet's ID tag found in France

Mar. 8—RICHFIELD — Douglas Chubb received a Facebook message from a stranger in France in January informing him that a dog tag possibly belonging to his late grandfather had been found.

The message included a photograph of the tag that bore the name of Chubb's grandfather, Lee Chubb, a World War II Army veteran, his wife, Evelyn, and his hometown of Richfield.

"Nobody knew the tag was missing because my grandfather never talked about" his military and war experience," Doug Chubb said.

The tag has been on display at a bar in France owned by military history enthusiast Thierry Josse, who found it about 10 years ago near a World War II battle site in Saint-Martin-la-Garenne.

Josse's friend and fellow military history buff, Bruno Renoult, decided to look for the tag's relatives and posted a photo of it on a Facebook group, Friends of 79th Infantry Division, on Jan. 19 and let the online community do some investigating.

The Chubb family in Richfield was quickly notified.

"These people tracked me down. I've got respect for that," said Doug Chubb who immediately called his father, Warren, of Richfield, as soon as he learned about the found tag.

"I didn't even know about it," said Warren Chubb, who despite several attempts over the years was never able to get his father to open up about his service during the war despite earning two Purple Hearts "He wouldn't talk about it to anybody."

According to a Facebook post, Lee Chubb was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 and was wounded by artillery shrapnel near Luneville, France, on Sept. 22, 1944.

Despite visible wounds on his back, Lee Chubb never talked about how he was injured, his son said.

Doug Chubb marvels at the tenacity of strangers and military history buffs who made sure to get his grandfather's dog tag back to the family and appreciates the information they've provided about his late grandfather's military past.

"I've learned more in the past few months than what I ever knew," said Doug Chubb, who received the tag in early February and has stored it in a cedar chest with the flag that once graced his grandfather's casket.

Lee Chubb may have accidentally lost his dog tag on the battlefield in France decades ago, but it apparently meant something to him, said Doug Chubb.

"He carried his last set of dog tags on his key chain until he died," he said.

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