Military veteran Fabian Indalecio puts a dog tag on Jack Deeds, the son of an American soldier who saw action on Saipan in 1944.
THE son of a World War II veteran traveled to Saipan from Washington, D.C. to receive the dog tag his father lost on island in 1944.
Today, Nov. 11, Jack Deeds is also joining the people of the CNMI to celebrate Veterans Day.
As Deeds, 63, came out of the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport on Tuesday, he was welcomed by military veteran Fabian Indalecio who found the dog tag of Deeds’ father, Staff Sgt. Donald A. Deeds.
Staff Sgt. Deeds was the youngest among the ground crew guarding the B-29s at Isley Field in 1944. He lost one of his two dog tags when a Japanese aircraft blew up a plane next to him.
U.S. Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant Donald A. Deeds, second left with his fellow ground crew members stand next to one of the B-29 bombers at Isley Field on Saipan, sometime in 1944.
Staff Sgt. Deeds, who was an engine specialist with the U.S. Army Air Corps’ 887th Squadron, was hit by shrapnel, which injured his arms. He was 19 years old at the time.
Jack Deeds said his father died five years ago and would have been 97 years old now.
He is grateful to Indalecio for finding the dog tag and “connecting the dots” in an effort to find its owner.
Indalecio, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, saw World War II pictures on the internet and noticed that the name of a soldier in one of the photos matched the name on the dog tag that he found in the Kannat Tabla jungle 10 years ago.
Jack Deeds said he posted his father’s World War II pictures only because his father worried about “history getting lost.”
Jack Deeds said he posted 50 photos on the internet so that “they are preserved forever.”
He said his father told him about the local people on island and how the U.S. military had to protect them.
His father, he added, “cared about [the local] people.”
While on island, Jack Deeds said he will honor his father by learning more about Saipan.
“Dad flew a flag in front of the house his whole life,” he added. “This country meant everything to him.”
He said his father was “a really good soldier and the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. He was a soldier. I guess you know what that means. A lot of discipline, love of country, hard work, being fair and honest. He loved the country, and I think he loved the people who lived here. I am just so grateful to you guys for welcoming me here.”
