WW2 vet reunited with his mess kit

When 79-year-old Hank Arend, a decorated veteran, tossed aside his heavy mess kit during one of the deadliest battles in World War II, he thought little of it.

But 60 years later, as Arend's grandson surfed a computer Web site, he stumbled across a posting by a collector with a photograph of the modest aluminum pot. Arend contacted the Belgian collector, who agreed to send the pot - replete with Arend's name and serial number, 36738409, scratched into the bottom.

Posted by David on January 26, 2004 10:08 PM