Goodwill Employees Find Well-Preserved WWII Memorabilia in Hidden Compartment of a Donated Lockbox

An Oklahoma Goodwill employee found a hidden compartment storing WWII memorabilia and is able to give a family their history back.

The assistant store manager, Katie Duer, and donation door attendants were shocked by the discovery they made during a routine inspection of a donated lockbox, Goodwill said in a release.

The team found a hidden compartment in the lid of the lockbox that contained World War II documents including Navy discharge papers, a letter signed by then-President Truman and several medals in good condition, the store said. 

“The documents told the story of a young Navy sailor who was honorably discharged after serving his country,” the store said in a Facebook post.  

With the information on the documents, the team was able to find an obituary for the soldier whose papers were found and was able to track down a living relative, according to the release. 

“Based on the condition of the lock box and the papers, we were confident the person who donated these items likely did not know about the existence of the compartment or the documents,” Duer said in the statement. 

After finding the solider’s family, the Goodwill team was able to return the loved one’s history back to their family, the store said.

“Over the past year, we’ve been able to reunite several customers and donors with their items and it’s always a great feeling to be able to do that,” director of Donated Goods Retail Dianne Beltz said.

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