US VET REUNITED WITH WALLET LOST IN ANTARCTICA 53 YEARS AGO

Sun 07 February 2021:

A meteorologist in the US Navy was pleasantly surprised to recover a wallet he had lost 53 years ago in Antarctica.

In October 1967, Paul Grisham shipped out to Antarctica, where he worked as a weather forecaster for a science station and airport on Ross Island. Thirteen months later, he returned to his family in sunny California, but without his wallet.

On Jan. 30, the now-91-year-old Grisham was reunited with his long-lost billfold, which was found behind a locker during the demolition of a building at McMurdo Station, the southernmost harbor on Earth.

The lucky discovery was made during the 2014 demolition of the scientific base on Ross Island, where Grisham had been stationed as a weather forecaster from October 1967 to November 1968.

The sailor’s wallet was hidden behind a locker and contained, among other things: his Navy identity card, his driver’s license, a reference card for what to do in case of a biological or chemical weapons attack… and a ration card for beer.

Inside was Grisham’s Navy ID, his driver’s license, a tax withholding statement, a recipe for homemade Kahlua and several items other so-called ice rats who worked at the station might recognize.

There was a beer ration punch card, receipts for money orders sent to his wife for his poker winnings at the station, and a pocket reference card with instructions for what to do in the event of an atomic, biological or chemical weapons attack. There was never any cash, as there was nothing to buy at the station.

The brown leather wallet arrived by mail in good condition after a weeks-long journey of emails, Facebook messages and letters among a group of amateur sleuths working to trace its owner. After 53 years, Grisham said he can’t even remember losing his wallet on the continent he calls “The Ice,” but he’s grateful for the efforts to return it.

Grisham said he was “blown away” that so many people had gone to great lengths to reunite the wallet with its owner.

It took a long line of Good Samaritans to return the wallet to him.

Photo: Paul Grisham, 91, recovered a wallet he lost 53 years ago in Antarctica.(Twitter/@sdut)

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