9-year-old Ohio boy returns WWII dog tags to Texas veteran’s family

This summer, 9-year-old Lenny Aydemir of Medina, Ohio, received a set of World War II dog tags from an uncle visiting from France.

"I asked some questions about it like, 'What was it and why am I having it?'" Lenny told News Net 5.

Lenny's uncle, Christophe Zielinski, told him the dog tags had been found in a field by a family friend more than 20 years ago. And after having them in his possession for a decade, the Zielinski hadn't been able to track down the original owner's family.

The name on the tags read "Jack B. Robbins" from Wichita Falls, Texas.

Lenny decided to start his own search for the dog tags' rightful owner. He started his online search using Robbins's military identification number, which led him to Chicago historian Jackie Flannery, a researcher for the Lacey-Davis Foundation.

Flannery was three years into writing a book about pilots who flew in the U.S. Air Force 396th Fighter Squadron. Included in her book was Robbins's story.

"Anything associated with Jack online, my name comes up, and I thought someone was playing a joke on me," Flannery told the Medina-Gazette. "I kept up with him and asked a lot of questions, then I found out he was 8, in third grade in Medina!"

"I was in disbelief," Flannery said. "I just could not believe. We didn't even know that he had lost his dog tags."

Flannery told Lenny that Robbins had been shot down on June 24, 1944, near St. Giles, France. A French family cared for him until they were forced to evacuate their farm.

Robbins spent the last 10 months of World War II as a prisoner of war, escaping on April 29, 1944.

He died in a fishing accident in 1969.

This afternoon, thanks to help his dad and Flannery, Lenny will make a PowerPoint presentation about Robbins's life at his elementary school. At the Veterans Day ceremony, he'll hand over the dog tags to Robbins's family, who are flying in from Texas and Colorado.

"I feel a little scared, but I feel really good," Lenny told Yahoo Shine. "It will be really cool to see the smile on their face when I give the dog tags to them."

"When I speak, I'm just like so emotional because when you imagine that American people came to help France and now my son tried to do something to thank the family," Lenny's proud mother, Deborah Aydemir, told News Net 5.

"It's a treasure. It's like jewelry. I still can't believe those tags have been found," said Marcus Tucker, Robbins' nephew from Colorado.

"I'm truly convinced that this little boy should be telling this story," Tucker told Yahoo Shine. "We are reaching out to the great-grandchildren of Jack, and this is the generation that needs to hear it."

As a surprise for Lenny, the local Army-Navy store has crafted a replica of Robbins' dog tags so he can have his own set. Lenny be presented with them at the ceremony.

Lenny hopes he'll have the opportunity help reunite other veterans and their families with missing dog tags.

"When we started building the presentation and finding information, I was really into that, and I really like working with my dad," he told the Medina-Gazette. "I want to find more dog tags in France, and find the families."