NATIONAL BRIEFING / TEXAS
A contractor helping clear debris from Hurricane Ike is looking for the owner of an ammunition box he found buried in sand that contained keepsakes, including an 1863 Confederate $50 bill, war medals and diamond earrings.
The green steel Army ammunition canister found Jan. 7 by Michael Pate also held several clues that could help him confirm the owner: family photographs, a driver’s li- cense and a Social Security card.
Pate was working on a tractor equipped with a grappling arm, snatching storm debris from the sand at Galveston Island State Park, when he found the box. The can’s rubber seal preserved the treasures inside.
“I thought it would be an encouraging story for the community,” he said. “We’ve seen so much destruction.”
Hurricane Ike walloped the Gulf Coast in September.
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